‘All roads in Anaheim lead back to Disney’

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Tuesday, July 25. I’m Adam Elmahrek, an investigative reporter for The Times.

Disneyland has long been one of California’s most iconic tourism destinations. It’s an economic powerhouse for the city of Anaheim and the region, drawing millions of visitors every year from around the world.

Many Anaheim residents assume that Disney wields power over the city government, but most city leaders don’t talk about it, and evidence of its behind-the-scenes influence rarely surfaces.

That was until I got a phone call several months ago from a former council member named Jordan Brandman. He was an important member of the council majority, and he was a key Disney ally. I had been trying to speak with him for years. Before I joined The Times, I covered the city and its government for Voice of OC.

He had always dutifully avoided me, never once calling me back. But now Brandman, who is Jewish, was asking my forgiveness in a Jewish ritual of atonement. And he said he was ready to tell me everything.

What emerged from our many hours of conversations was a picture of City Hall where a group of unelected power brokers — including a particular Disney official — wielded significant influence over the city.

Disney’s deep influence

His account, backed by city records, text messages and emails, largely supported the portrayal in FBI affidavits unsealed last year of a self-described “cabal” of lobbyists and political consultants who wielded power over Anaheim. The former mayor resigned amid the headlines, and the federal corruption investigation remains ongoing.

The FBI affidavit described Carrie Nocella, Disneyland Resort’s director of external affairs, as one of the group’s ringleaders “to some extent.” (Nocella wasn’t accused of criminal wrongdoing, and her attorney told me she is not a target of the investigation.)

Brandman showed me text messages that indicated just how close he was to the lobbyists and Nocella. Brandman and Nocella were friends before he was elected. They called each other “twin” and shared the same birthday. They said they loved each other (platonically) in text messages.

He was also a reliable friend on the council. He voted to shield Disney from admissions taxes in exchange for the resort building Star Wars Land, and to give the resort a $267-million room-tax subsidy for a planned Disney hotel. (Later, the resort asked the City Council to cancel both agreements. Disney declined to comment for my story.)

Brandman said he considered Nocella among his closest confidants. He looked at her like a sister, he said.

But that friendship would soon be tested.

The pandemic upended Brandman’s life. His health declined while he was isolated, and he began exhibiting disturbing behavior. At one point, he allegedly spoke about wanting to commit a mass shooting at City Hall, according to a letter his former council aide sent to the city manager.

Five police units were dispatched to his apartment shortly after the aide sent his letter, an incident that the city manager and police chief coordinated to keep secret, according to text messages that I and my colleagues Nathan Fenno and Gabriel San Román obtained from the city.

Months later, Brandman found himself embroiled in a public scandal that city officials couldn’t sweep under the rug. He had written a series of texts using misogynistic and violent language to describe a councilwoman, and the messages were leaked to a local blog.

Amid the public furor, he was called to a meeting at the commercial office of someone an FBI affidavit referred to as a “ringleader” of the cabal. A small cadre of lobbyists and consultants who were present demanded he resign, telling him he needed to prioritize his health and job in the private sector, Brandman said. They gave him a 24-hour deadline.

A friendship falls apart

Brandman called Nocella, the only person he said had the clout to extend him a political lifeline, thanks to her role with Disneyland.

“All roads in Anaheim lead back to Disney,” he told me.

But Nocella wouldn’t answer the phone, and she texted him the final nudge off the council: “You should know the 24-hour date is real,” she wrote before expressing her usual affection for him: “love you.”

In a statement to The Times, Nocella said she considered Brandman “a friend and colleague within the Anaheim community.” She described the group’s meeting with him before his resignation as an intervention by people who were motivated “out of care and concern for his physical and mental well-being.”

Brandman, in a sobbing interview, recalled what Nocella wrote him on a Mickey Mouse birthday card months before he resigned.

“‘Love you more than you know,’” Nocella had written. “And she didn’t even have five minutes to come to the phone.”

You can read the whole story here and here’s more reading on the FBI investigation.

And now, here’s what’s happening across California from Ryan Fonseca:

Note: Some of the sites we link to may limit the number of stories you can access without subscribing.

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

A South L.A. high school teacher and his students are among the first in the nation to explore a new AP African American Studies class. My colleague Howard Blume writes: “The pages of their syllabus became an entry in the nation’s culture wars as this teacher and his students — all Black or multi-race Black — engaged in discussions that in many states could be against the law.” Los Angeles Times

Santa Barbara’s longtime legacy newspaper has shuttered. The company that owns the Santa Barbara News-Press declared bankruptcy last week and promptly ceased its online publication, having already stopped the physical presses a month prior. Times reporters Connor Sheets and James Rainey note what Santa Barbarans can expect: “less scrutiny of public agencies, less coverage of breaking news and fewer enlightening features on local people and issues.” Los Angeles Times

For sale: one ancient petrified forest, possibly yours for $12 million. The undeveloped forest in Sonoma County has been in the same family for more than a century, and they’re hoping the buyers will preserve the pristine site, which has been a tourist draw since 1870. It contains remnants of a now-extinct sequoia species blanketed in volcanic ash millions of years ago. San Francisco Chronicle

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

A cache of warships is docked in San Diego Bay as the Navy and Congress spar over their fate. The Navy would like to decommission several vessels, some of which are nearing or past retirement age, but Congress has been pushing back. San Diego Union-Tribune

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the “Keep Families Close” bill last week, which requires placing some incarcerated parents close to their children. The new law, which takes effect next year, won’t apply to all incarcerated people with children but will allow many to request transfers to a state facility closer to their child’s home. The Mercury News

CRIME, COURTS AND POLICING

A former USC dean who admitted to bribing L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas was sentenced Monday to 18 months of home confinement. Marilyn Flynn pleaded guilty in a scheme to funnel $100,000 of Ridley-Thomas’ campaign funds through USC and then to a nonprofit led by Ridley-Thomas’ son, Sebastian, in exchange for the supervisor’s help securing the renewal of a county contract. Prosecutors have not yet filed sentencing documents for Ridley-Thomas, who was found guilty of the crimes in March. Los Angeles Times

Some Medicare patients are being billed for COVID-19 tests they didn’t order. As you might have guessed, it’s the work of scammers who found a way to make money off billing Medicare for tests using stolen Medicare numbers. Los Angeles Times

HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The “heat dome” is still hanging over SoCal, but it won’t be as scorching as it was last week. Still, above-average temps are slated to continue into Friday. Forecasters say to expect temps in the 70s along the beaches and into the 80s for inland coastal areas, with valley areas hitting the mid-90s to 105 degrees. Los Angeles Times

The extreme heat broiling much of the West is especially dangerous for unhoused Californians. “The risk of heat-related illness or death is especially high for people experiencing homelessness,” The Times’ Ruben Vives and Akiya Dillon wrote, “particularly those in isolated rural towns like Blythe, where there are fewer resources for helping this vulnerable population, whose members often struggle with addiction and severe mental illness.” Los Angeles Times

The state is expanding an experimental “contingency management” program to address meth addiction: rewarding patients with gift cards for negative drug tests. The approach has produced successes elsewhere, including at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which began its own program in 2021. CalMatters

AND FINALLY

Today’s California landmark is from Julie Hatoff of San Clemente: Fossil Falls, “a must-see geological display” near Little Lake in Inyo County.

Fossil Falls near Little Lake, photographed in September 2019.

(Julie Hatoff)

Julie writes:

What are California’s essential landmarks? Fill out this form to send us your photos of a special spot in California — natural or human-made. Tell us why it’s interesting and what makes it a symbol of life in the Golden State. Please be sure to include only photos taken directly by you. Your submission could be featured in a future edition of the newsletter.

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