Anaheim Insider here.
It took King Henry VIII 38 years to go through six wives.
Mayor Tom Tait is working on five City Managers during just six-and-a-half years in office – and there’s still time to make to match Henry’s record.
Topping the closed session agenda for Tuesday’s council meeting is “Public Employee Resignation/Release/Dismissal” and the second item is the appointment of an Interim City Manager. SO it stands to reason Tait and his council majority are going to fire City Manager Paul Emery.
Emery served as Interim City Manager from February 2014 until July 2015, when he was appointed city manager. As the city’s top administrator for the last three-and-a-half years, who has led City Hall longer than any city manager during the Tait era, which has been marked by instability and turn-over in the top ranks of city government.
Emery ably led and managed city government through tumultuous years of trench warfare between the mayor and a majority of his council colleagues, plus the transition to an enlarged city council elected from voting districts. The Anaheim Police Department has increased the number of police officers. The city accomplished major economic development initiatives such as the expansion of the Anaheim Convention Center, a TOT incentive program has attracted three 4 Diamond hotel projects to the Anaheim Resort, a $2 billion expansion of the Disneyland Resort and the protection of Disneyland guests from having a gate tax imposed upon them. A major investment in the economic revitalization of West Anaheim is underway.
Normally, that would be cause for re-appointment. But in the upside-down world of the Tait majority, it merits being fired and a return to instability. No good deed unpunished.
Speculation is rampant that Tait and his council wingman, Jose F. Moreno, want to bring Anaheim Union High School Superintendent Mike Matsuda in as either the Interim City Manager or appoint him to the permanent job after going through the motions of an “exhaustive” nation-wide search.
Matsuda is a left-wing political hack so obviously unqualified for the City Manager position that such speculation would ordinarily be dismissed out of hand. But this the Tait-Moreno council majority we’re talking about here, and Matsuda is joined to Moreno’s political left hip. Matsuda is the sort of highly-political progressive activist that Moreno would love to have in the City Manager’s office to steer city government leftward in the dawning post-Tait era.
What qualifications could Matsuda cite? He’d never run a school site, let alone an entire school district prior to being appointed superintendent of the AUHSD in 2014. His short tenure has been marked a political campaign against charter school waged on the public’s dime, lack of transparency and the steady expansion of the budget and staffing of the superintendent’s office. And lots of Facebook photos with Moreno, Tait, Al Jabbar and assorted progressive political activists.
L to R: Jose F. Moreno; blogger and litigant against Anaheim Greg Diamond; Mike Matsuda.
He did join Tait and Moreno to pour wood chips on the Palm Lane Park playground in the wake of the after-school brawl between a mob of his students and a local resident. Guess that qualifies him to run a billion-dollar local government enterprise.
Anaheim city government used to be marked by stability, expertise, institutional knowledge, succession planning and forward-thinking. Since 2011, it’s been marked by turn-over, fractiousness, churn and instability that undermines leadership and planning. There was an reprieve during Emery’s tenure, however uneasy at times. Now it’s looks like the politicizing the city manager’s office by the crew who accuse everyone else of playing politics.
This is ridiculous. Tait, Barnes, Moreno and Vanderbilt need to be recalled. Just think what this will do to the city and its employees!!?! WAKE UP ANAHEIM!!!!
Anaheim does not need anymore lefty unqualified leadership. I pay too much in taxes for that!!!
i agree
I don’t know? Maybe stop further privatization efforts like garbage disposal that have led to people no longer being able to dump at the transfer station and lined the pockets of already wealthy corporations with money that had previously gone to pensions for blue-collar workers after a lifetime of hard work.
We need to wake up and stand up! We need to keep publishing these tactical current events and get people to understand them. Anaheim voting residents need to make educated decisions and speak with our votes.
Wow. Tait’s vindictiveness- I mean kindness- knows no bounds!
mr tait group is trying every way to destroy anaheim mr tait i have live in anaheim longer then all your group i move here in in 1955 you are the worse mayor we had your group should dont care about anaheim or disneyland or angels your trying to chase them both out of anaheim and sell that area to the china group he hate the police he take the side againist mr tait you live in a gated area so nobody but one day your gonna need their help i want the mayor to call me
The man has a new job.
Jesus, princesses of negativity over here.
Wow, that is a whole lot of “info” for something that has not even been discussed yet.
Cynthia, it’s no secret the Mayor and his allies have been waiting to fire Emery. And the talk about hiring Matsuda isn’t new either. You and your cronies blew your collective gaskets when Arturo Fiero was hired as City Attorney because his son was a part-time aide to Jordan Brandman.
Mastsuda goes to Moreno and Tait fundraisers, endorses them, campaigns for them, has his students campaign for them. Not in a million years will you, The Truth Teller, spit fire and brimstone in protest if Tait and Moreno and their allies hire an unqualified crony due to personal and political connections.
I don’t argue that it appears Anaheim leadership has been looking to get rid of the City Manager hired by the prior majority. I daresay I believe they have better grounds rooted in documented poor behavior than the prior majority had for dumping Cristina Talley, (or chasing off Bob WIngenroth) which seemed just fine with the crowd around here. Personally, I would have gone after a number of departments with a far bigger broom and a bottle of disinfectant, the stench of self-interest is pretty bad among many of the department heads and their immediate circles, very much to the detriment of the people of Anaheim. But then I am not in charge of anything, nor do I understand the fascination with what I think over here when I am not in charge of anything. But we all have our quirks, I guess.
Perhaps the Paul Emery Fan Club can cite anything Emery has done in this position to streamline government, save money on internal functions, or otherwise do a single thing other than being the lapdog of Kris Murray? Or is that what is meant by him being a great City Manager, that you are looking for a municipal errand boy who does as he is told and never pushes back? I would love to see a Keith Murdoch go-getter step into the office and bring forward reform ideas that could lead Anaheim into our next century. We have non-economists who put forward ideas that are at least worth considering–would a tax rebate help sell more cars and generate more revenue? What about a hotel tax incentive? But instead of investigating ways to improve revenues or the local economy in an unbiased and neutral study, the CMO has staff run off and reinforce the predetermined outcome that benefits the Council majority’s friends and donors, without looking at downsides, without consideration of ANY economic downturns even though professionals are all talking about another one around the bend. Instead of wondering if they can fudge the numbers to enact the “brainstorm” of elected officials who don’t know diddly about the economy, how about we get real economists to tell us what the City could be doing to improve our tax base and jobs? Sure they can get a schlock-house to write a report on the “positive benefits” of their favored outcome, but where is the investigation of whether something else might work better? If a subsidy to the corporate body generates revenue on paper where is the “clawback” in case it doesn’t? Would a rebate TO THE END USER induce more incentive? We never see anything other than confirmation bias, and frankly I expect more than that from a CMO.
We need to figure out how to internet-proof our local economy, and QUICK, and subsidies to retailers and restaurants won’t win the game. Where is the innovation? If the Murray Majority and Emery were in charge in 1857, they would have been chasing Ontiveros over the hill to Santa Maria begging him to take a subsidy check to keep raising cattle here, instead of throwing in with the winemakers who understood the soil conditions could produce something better and more profitable for those with the backbone to TRY something new. Where are the great thinkers who welcomed Disney, back when he was paying his own bills and not making demands of taxpayers to underwrite his investment? Where are the jobs that let Resort workers step up and out of the working poverty into careers? THAT is the thinking of the CMO who needs to be leading the 10th largest City in CA. Once upon a time, Anaheim led the region in innovative thinking. But then, once upon a time we were “the City of Beautiful Parks.” No lie, it was on our postcards. Instead of demanding the best we learned to compromise and settle for “good enough” and that is how we ended up with a seat warmer like our current CM.
You assume that rumors of Mike Matsuda are somehow fact. I don’t know one way or the other, I have not spoken to anyone about this. Truly, the belief we all sit around and plot how to run the City for our own benefit is disturbing. Might it reflect the only example you have seen from past majorities?
I don’t know Mr. Matsuda, but clearly he lacks municipal government qualification outside of education, and offering that position outside of the profession, leapfrogging over the candidates within our own staff, I suspect is a recipe for a lawsuit, and I don’t see anyone on that dais being that stupid. That said, if I am wrong i would certainly join in the outrage, the City is far too large and economically central to the region to be handled by a CEO lacking experience. Education is not civic upkeep or public safety, they are not remotely connected and an education executive should not be considered for a CMO position. Now if I know that, and I am not elected to anything (something y’all seem to forget often) I assume those who ARE elected also know this. So any talk of Matsuda must surely be the craft brew talking. But I will wait and see what happens before becoming hysterical over a rumor.
And the constant “recall” threat to Denise is getting old. She has done more to actively aid West Anaheim than any elected official in the history of Anaheim, she is a true example of a citizen-servant trying to get it right, instead of the professional politician trying to get re-elected. Clearly, there is some personal animosity dripping in those comments, and you aren’t hiding your identity despite the fake user name. BTW–if you want things in West Anaheim to improve you should understand that takes money, you know, like the fees collected from small home-based businesses with business licenses for operating in Anaheim. You know anyone depriving the General Fund of those fees that could have been put to use aiding West Anaheim? No? I didn’t think so.
Y’all can run around with your knickers in a knot, I am going to wait and see how this plays out. Have a nice day.
Cynthia, I don’t think you run the city. Did anyone here say you do? And do you have any evidence that all these city initiatives were pursued merely to benefit “friends and donors” of the former council majority? Of course not. But you’ve repeated that talking point so many times you apparently believe it.
You’re a piece of work. One day you’re Ms. Can’t We All Get Along and the next day you launch vicious personal attacks on political opponents. Pick a personality and stick with it.
It IS encouraging that you’re on record as opposing making Matsuda the city manager. And you did it without attacking the motives of his would-be appointers. It’s too bad you can’t give equally respectful treatment to opponents as you do to politicians you support. You should find a happy medium between attack dog and sycophant.
I’m pretty sure that 4 or 5 court losses by Cynthia and her crew, at the expense of our tax dollars, have proved that there isn’t evidence of the claims she makes.
Cynthia- who is paying your legal bills as an individual? Last time I check you file a form 700 and are unable to accept any gifts. I smell a Mike Carona situation. LOCK HER UP!
Sounds like a complaint to the FPPC is in order.
Cynthia,
Good for you to be a truth telling conservative. At some point you, Tom Tait and Kathryn Smith must hold Jose Moreno to the same ethical standard.
Everybody knows it is Jose that is pulling the strings in auhsd. Hiring Matsuda broke every ethical rule and has put the district in financial distress. Hundreds of students are fighting for the right to escape to neighboring districts. (matt should repost the recent Oc register article that chronicled this fact).
Time after time, Jose, Mike and Al do things that are politically motivated and self serving….yet all we hear from the great truth sayer is crickets.
I do not care for Tom Tait either i think he is a really bad mayor i wonder how he got elected
Cynthia, it’s no secret the Mayor and his allies have been waiting to fire Emery. And the talk about hiring Matsuda isn’t new either. You and your cronies blew your collective gaskets when Arturo Fiero was hired as City Attorney because his son was a part-time aide to Jordan Brandman.
Mastsuda goes to Moreno and Tait fundraisers, endorses them, campaigns for them, has his students campaign for them. Not in a million years will you, The Truth Teller, spit fire and brimstone in protest if Tait and Moreno and their allies hire an unqualified crony due to personal and political connections.
Thanks for bringing this to light Matt. People should not take this lightly. Matsuda has no qualifications, no experience, zero leadership ability and is a horrible public speaker. Add that to his paranoia and insecurity and you understand why auhsd is in such a mess. Matsuda must have pictures of jose moreno in Vegas or something because his devotion to this lower is hard to figure. Jose is normally not loyal, but he engineered the first attempt to sneak mike in as a superintendent in the local elementary district. We were shocked because this guy was never even an elementary school teacher let alone an administrator at any level or any capacity. Thank god we blocked jose on that one. One year after that Jose spread false rumors about Liz Novack and got his buddy Al Jabbar to fiber one year salary at taxpayer expense and fire her without cause. An outside search form was hired and selected anyone but Matsuda and yet Jabbar, Trejo and Smith ignored the professionals and hired the amature. Voters must get involved and demand this not happen, then vote these three school board members out next election and obviously dump Jose Lorenzo as soon as possible.
Lets quick them out on the next election, we do not idiots running our city…
Lets quick them out on the next election, we do not need idiots running our city…
Would be nice to start looking for a new candidate from the West Side of Anaheim.
Lets make Anaheim Great Again..!
Agree- recall Denise Barnes. She is horrible and a puppet of Tait and his aide Mishal Montgomery and Denise’s aide Matt Holder. Denise only reads scripts that Holder and Montgomery give her. She is a pawn and is being used- much like Cynthia Ward is a sad pawn. Recall Tait and Barnes and Moreno! That would solve all.
The great thing about districts is that it makes it much easier to recall candidates.
Thank God.
Getting this guy out of AUHSD is of paramount importsnce.
He barely has command of the english language. He is a TERRIBLE communicator. Seriously, this guy makes Loretta Sanchez (or Josh Newman) sound like Shakespere!
Seriously. This is a great day for the students and parents of Anaheim.
Emery is an excellent city manager. And Tait is a hothead when he can’t get his way. Matsuda is unqualified to be a janitor at Disneyland.
Mike is a fabulous fella. Of course we really should refer to him as dr. Matsuda now because recently “earned” his honorary doctorate degree at Chapman university.
Anyway this would be a huge loss to the school district, but its only fair to share. It would be selfish of us to hog up all of his talent.
Great- keeps him at the school district. He is terrible and not suited to run a city…any city…
This Tait/Moreno corruptions must be stopped. We now need to Drain Our Swamp in Anaheim. I challenge each and every concerned citizen to attend the next City Council meeting and let our voices be heard. Emery is a fine City Manager. It appears if you challenge or disagree with our Kindness Mayor, you’ll get his wrath and Moreno plays the puppet and follows. I don’t trust either..both are enemies of our city and must be stopped and not re-elected!!!!
Wow. You could not have gotten more wrong. Seriously, you need to check your sources. Magic 8 Ball is so unreliable these days.
4-3 vote to request and accept Emery’s resignation. Tait, Moreno, Barnes, Vanderbilt YEAS.
4-3 vote to give Emery 2 months’ salary as a settlement. Murray, Kring, Faessel, Vanderbilt YEAS.
INTERIM CITY MANAGER IS LINDA ANDAL!
Actually, I think the post was pretty accurate. Tait and his cronies FORCED out the fifth city manager in as many years. Two months severance is pittance for a manager of this caliber (it’s a MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BUDGET RIGHT?). So he took his “bump” and will bail.
Jose has BRAGGED recently about Matsuda being “introduced” into a wider band of Anaheim politics. So it’s only natural to assume Tait would fire someone for his own gain.
You’ve sued the city FOUR TIMES (anonymously) Cynthia, you are not exactly the pillar of society.
Good to see Cynthia is on better behavior when commenting here. Apparently she prefers pouring out her dishonest, vicious bile on OJB and NextDoor.com.
This is the city clerk you lost your lawsuit to, right? It’s a matte of time until Tait’s abuse makes her quit too
Awesome that Chewchewa thinks Abdoo will be great for the “residence” of Anaheim.