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Susana Barrios
From:Stephanie Burglin <burglin.stephanie@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, May 7,
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] City Council Meeting (May 07, 2024) - Item 3
Warning: This email originated from outside the City of Anaheim. Do not click links or open
attachments unless you recognize the sender and are expecting the message.
Good afternoon,
While I appreciate the opportunity for Public Comments at these Hearings and City Council meetings,
it is clear that this Council does not give them any weight.
At the April 16 vote, Anaheim residents were denied adequate time to share their views. Despite
promises by the Council and legal obligation, the two separate Public Hearings were combined into
one. This reduced by half the time permitted to speak about street abandonments and the
DisneylandForward project. Review of the Public Comments portion of the meeting shows numerous
residents running out of time prior to completing their thoughts.
Moreover, some Anaheim residents opposed to the project and to the closure of Magic Way were
denied a reasonable opportunity to speak altogether. The City of Anaheim deviated from its past
practices and made it physically impossible for some to retain their places in line to speak during
Public Comments. This included, but was not limited to, failing to reserve seating for residents within
the Public Notice area, failing to collect Speaker Cards thereby forcing residents to stand in line for
hours, and failing to provide accommodations for those with mobility issues.
During the hearing, testimony from those opposed to the project was not fairly considered. It was
wholly disregarded or, in the case of the resident complaint regarding Deputy City Manager Ted
White offering misinformation to the public, dismissed without further examination. For the record, the
City is still peddling this misinformation on public sites, intentionally misleading Anaheim residents
about DisneylandForward plans and the closure of Magic Way.
Mayor Aitken, your actions on April 16 were unconscionable for a public servant. While one of your
constituents was imploring you for support and understanding, you quite literally laughed as you
ignored her. Upon the release of the JL Report, you stated, quote:
“But now that the report has been concluded and we have an outside source that has looked at
us and has documented all of these wrongdoings, I think it is time to look at our election
system because the biggest losers in all of this are the people…We're diluting our own
residents' vote and our own residents' voices by allowing these actions and lobbyists and
these PACs and \[independent expenditures\] to just go unfettered."
Do you see the role you have recently played in diluting your residents’ votes and voices? You, as
Mayor, led the City Council in suppressing constituent speech. You, along with the other members of
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the City Council, accepted and adopted all DisneylandForward-provided studies as being true and
accurate. Independent appraisals/studies were not ordered or completed by the City of Anaheim for
verification of information, in violation of City Policy (Council Policy 5.5). There is evidence that the
City of Anaheim may have engaged in ex parte communication with the applicant. Did you not run on
a platform of transparency?
The Anaheim City Council was willfully and grossly negligent in their respective duties during the April
16th vote. You acted as uninformed decision-makers, and failed in your duties to fairly represent the
people of Anaheim. It is my sincere hope that you rectify this tonight.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Mercadante
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