Storm Brews Over Shelter in Anaheim

Given Anaheim’s ranking as California’s 10th largest city, voters might expect some heady election day issues, including whether to build a professional football stadium, the direction of downtown redevelopment and how to beautify aging neighborhoods.

But the hot topic these days is a shelter for abused children and their mothers.

And while election issues usually are aired in Rotary Club debates and Chamber of Commerce forums, this one is discussed in anonymous e-mails, hushed gossip and a website with the face of the shelter’s executive director -- a City Council candidate -- morphing into the devil.

The center of controversy is the nonprofit Eli Home and its emerging role in City Hall politics.

The organization stirred a neighborhood controversy in 1994, when it bought a seven-bedroom house in upscale Anaheim Hills. Neighbors complained of illegally parked cars and heavy traffic at the house, the location of which is unpublicized for residents’ safety.

In the 10 years since, the not-in-my-backyard complaints have developed into political intrigue.

At issue is the shelter’s core operation and the claim that donors give it money to curry favor at City Hall, because the mayor and two council members are big supporters of Eli Home.

Council member Shirley McCracken acknowledged the possible conflict of interest. “Are these people [donating money] the same people that now want things from City Council?”

Critics of Eli Home are hesitant to be identified by name, for fear of political reprisal. Instead, unsigned fliers have appeared on windshields directing people to an anonymously sponsored website that questions the organization’s financial management.

Among the few public opponents is neighbor Gene Secrest, who says the house is nearly devoid of children and mothers, and merely a shell to raise money for personal and political profit.

Eli Home executive director Lorri Galloway dismissed the allegations. “If we were so dirty, so dishonest, you’d think by now that they’d have found something on us,” she said. “They are chasing the wind.”

The Eli Home relies on donations, fundraisers and grants to operate its Anaheim Hills home and two other, longer-term shelters in Orange.

While emergency shelters are frequently lightning rods for criticism and try to avoid the limelight, Galloway has hardly minimized the Eli Home’s profile in Anaheim. Instead, she is running for City Council, saying she wants to “be a part of moving the city forward.”

She said she had no respect for people who snipe anonymously at her organization. “They are cowards,” she said.

“If I allowed them to scare me or stop me from doing what is right, then I have no business even being in the room. Whatever things they’re trying to do will not derail my campaign.”

If elected, she will join a council she already has befriended.

A majority, including Mayor Curt Pringle, support her shelter by hosting pricey fundraisers attended by lobbyists, developers and business leaders -- the very people who frequently bring business before City Hall.

Among those who question the propriety of that relationship is Richard LaRochelle, a former city code enforcement officer and one of 13 candidates seeking to fill two open seats.

He said that while he wants to talk about neighborhood rejuvenation, others keep harping about Eli Home’s growing role in local politics. “I think nonprofits should be out of politics,” he said.

Indeed, politics and charity seem to intersect at the Eli Home. A huge, Galloway-for-council sign hangs on a fence outside the shelter. Other campaign material greets visitors at the shelter office.

The Internal Revenue Code prohibits such tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations as the Eli Home from supporting political candidates. Galloway said she sought advice from the state attorney general’s office in 1998 about the legality of posting campaign signs on shelter property. She received no warning and has posted political signs without incident, she said.

Some Eli Home advocates say the shelter is more a victim of politics than a political animal. Councilman Richard Chavez -- who until this summer was a paid employee of the home -- believes criticism has been leveled in part because of the roster of politicians who support it.

The anonymous e-mails and informational booklets floating around the city accuse Galloway and her husband of fraud, suggesting that she has used charitable contributions to buy herself nice homes and cars.

Neighbors, such as Secrest, have also said they rarely see women and children at the shelter -- or at least nowhere near the 1,000 victims the Eli Home claims to assist annually.

Bill Taormina, who owns a trash-hauling business, said Galloway turned over to him canceled checks, financial audits, bank statements, deposit slips and other material when he examined the charity on behalf of the Anaheim Community Foundation.

After spending hours reviewing the books and visiting the shelter, Taormina said he found nothing to support the fraud allegations. As a result, he lobbied for a grant on its behalf, joined its board and has contributed to Galloway’s campaign.

Complaints lodged over the years, Taormina determined, “are fabricated, untrue, and abusive” to the organization.

Pringle agreed.

“No one has shown me anything that is verifiable regarding some of these outrageous accusations regarding the Eli Home,” he said.

But aside from the political forays by Chavez and Galloway, some believe the nonprofit also has become Pringle’s political tool. By supporting the shelter, Pringle has won an important City Council ally in Chavez, cynics say.

Now Pringle is campaigning for Galloway in a move to retain his majority bloc; he will lose council ally Thomas Tait because of term limits.

After winning Pringle’s support, the Eli Home has quadrupled its fundraising revenue from $52,288 in 2002 to $201,520 in 2003.