On Tuesday, the Anaheim City Council voted unanimously to approve ocV!BE, an ambitious $4 billion development project by the owners of the Anaheim Ducks to transform the 100-acre area around the Honda Center with new entertainment, dining, residential, officce, hospitality, and lifestyle amenities. OcV!BE is an initiative of Henry and Susan Samueli, the longtime owners of the Anaheim Ducks and ...

We have just come through a test — and triumph — of our local democracy. As coronavirus challenged voting this year, Orange County’s democracy emerged stronger, with a smooth election and nearly 90% turnout, the highest in half a century. In Anaheim, Orange County’s largest and most prominent city, voters sent a clear message of support for our city’s ongoing ...

The Anaheim City Council elections are over, and as noted earlier, candidates supporting of economic growth and law enforcement swept the races in council districts 1, 4 and 5: Jose Diaz defeated Councilwoman Denise Barnes in District 1 by 42% to 37%; Avelino Valencia dispatched his opponents with 50% of the vote; Councilman Steve Faessel won re-election with 52% of ...

The Anaheim City Council elections were swept by candidates supportive of economic development, law enforcement, neighborhood investment and re-opening the local economy. Council seats in Districts 1, 4 and 5 were on the ballot. In Districts 1 and 5, incumbents Denise Barnes and Steve Faessel, respectively, were seeking re-election to a second four-year term.  District 4 was open, as term ...

Election Day is here at last. While most eyes are focused on the presidential election, there’s a lot at stake in Anaheim, with elections in three council districts that will decide whether the current council majority retains control or if District 3 Councilman Jose F. Moreno controls the dais for the last two years of his term. One measure of ...

Anaheim Independent reported last week how District 4 council candidate Annemarie Randle-Trejo has been blowing off laws governing disclosure of her campaign donors. She isn’t the only one. Over in District 5, Ken Batiste has been having trouble complying with campaign finance disclosure law. The period during which candidates are required to disclose contributions of more than $1,000 within 24 ...

They’re at it again. In August, it came out the Kenneth Batiste campaign was in disadvantaged neighborhoods in District 5, handing out food boxes topped with Batiste for City Council campaign flyers. Using food to appeal for votes was the brainchild of local blogger and Democrat activist Vern Nelson. A backlash prompted him to admit having the campaign use food ...

A split Democratic Party of Orange County Central Committee was unable to make an endorsement in the District 5 city council race last night, as committee members deadlocked between the two Democrat candidates, Kenneth Batiste and Sabrina Quezada. Councilman Steve Faessel, a lifelong Anaheim resident, businessman and city historian with many years of active civic and community involvement, is running ...

The District 5 council race is the scene of some questionable vote-buying by the Kenneth Batiste campaign, plus a related bout of left-wing cancel culture. On Facebook this Sunday, Yesenia Rojas, a union member and community activist who has generally sided with the Tait-Moreno side in Anaheim’s civic battles, called out left-wing blogger Vern Nelson for putting Kenneth Batiste campaign ...

Dear Friends, I hope you are staying safe and healthy. I wanted to take a moment to provide you with an update on how the City of Anaheim has been responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. On April 23rd, Anaheim saw a smaller increase in cases, similar to what we saw earlier in the week and now is at 247 cases ...