The long-awaited city of Anaheim response to the state of California in the dispute over whether the city’s sweetheart land sale to Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno violated state affordable housing law was issued Friday, and it is hilarious:
The city’s response to the Department of Housing and Community Development didn’t offer any remedy for the violation or say whether Anaheim officials plan to pay a possible fine of as much as $96 million.
In its letter, the city said the notice of violation the state issued in December “relies on an erroneous interpretation of law and mistaken facts” and should be rescinded. Also, because the development proposed in the stadium deal includes a “significant amount” of affordable housing (777 of the 5,175 units, paid for by the city and the buyer), the state’s finding “violates the spirit and intent of the Surplus Land Act and is inconsistent with (the department’s) core mission to facilitate the development of affordable housing in California.”
The Orange County Register’s Alicia Robinson sums this up as “We continue to disagree that the deal was covered by the law in question, and you should withdraw the assertion.” That’s pretty good, though even more accurate would be “Thank you for informing us that we have broken your state law. However, we’re right and you’re wrong, so nyahhh!”
This is not quite the “we’ll work with [the state] to come up with a solution” that Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu promised back in December, but then the Anaheim council also met then to consider going to court over the ruling, so this turn of events isn’t 100% a surprise.
The legal ball is now actually in the state’s court, with the Department of Housing and Community Development having to decide whether to 1) fine Anaheim up to $96 million for its transgression or 2) seek an injunction against the sale. Door #1 would leave Anaheim with just $54 million left for selling its $500 million worth of land (though it would still get to use the $96 million for affordable housing in Anaheim if it wanted); door #2 would lead to a court battle. DHCD issued a statement late on Friday saying the city’s response “doesn’t change anything,” and saying “we’re going to review their response and evaluate our options and next steps.”
And then there’s still Door #3, in which Anaheim loses the lawsuit charging it with violating open meetings laws by allegedly approving the sale before holding public hearings. All this could mean it’s a while yet, if ever, before Moreno can start renovating the stadium and building on the surrounding parking lots; but given that he hasn’t committed to starting anything until 2035 and finishing until 2050, there’s probably no huge rush.
Having as little faith in sports franchise owners and elected officials as it is humanly possible to have… I must ask:
Can Anaheim simply pay the fine then say they are using the money for Affordable housing but give it to “The Arte Moreno Institute for Affordable Housing” to spend on the units he already claims he is building anyway?
Does the state retain control of the $96m until they are satisfied with what is proposed or is this just another paper shuffle that sounds good to the voters but doesn’t really do anything for anyone other than Mr. Moreno?