General (15)
Susana Barrios
From:Stephanie Mercadante <burglin.stephanie@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, June 9, 2026 6:58 PM
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] On Behalf of Dave Duran, District 1, Councilmember Ryan Balius
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.
For public comment on June 09, 2026:
Pete Garcia, Water Transmission & Distribution Superintendent who reports to Craig Parker, was
reportedly transferred out of his position overseeing Water Production and Maintenance after
employees raised numerous concerns regarding workplace safety, intimidation, retaliation, staffing
levels, and excavation practices.
Keith McDonald, the Water Systems Operations Manager, has also reportedly been removed from
many of his previous operational responsibilities and transferred to a position overseeing laboratory
functions.
This is the same laboratory operation that reportedly failed to complete required monitoring
identified in the Annual Water Quality Report.
This is the same laboratory operation that observed the brown drinking water conditions at the Lenain
Water Treatment Plant.
This is the same laboratory operation that ordered excessive flushing before required state testing.
This is the same laboratory operation whose observations regarding those events were not disclosed
in the Annual Water Quality Report and were not discussed during the City's April 21st presentation to
residents.
So again, where is the ethical accountability and legal responsibility?
Linda Andal’s repeated failure to investigate complaints and failure to protect employees is
unacceptable and should not become the defining legacy of any Human Resources department.
Because from the public's perspective, the City's response to management failures appears to be
remarkably consistent…ignoring and looking the other way is not acceptable.
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When employees make mistakes, they face discipline.
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When this Mayor and council make mistakes, THEY WILL FACE DISCIPLINE on November 3.
When residents ask questions, they are interrupted and called the “disinformation brigade.”
When whistleblowers raise concerns, they are attacked, disciplined, singled out, and even terminated.
But when management decisions result in controversy, public distrust, regulatory concerns,
grievances, tort claims, and lawsuits, management is protected, promoted, and continues to receive
pay raise after pay raise. And the voting resident taxpayers are forced to continue paying the bill.
Residents deserve to know the truth about how much these decisions have cost the City. How much
has been spent responding to grievances? How much has been spent defending lawsuits? How
much has been spent investigating complaints?
How much has been spent cleaning up problems that may have been prevented if concerns had been
addressed when employees first raised them?
The silence from the Mayor and Council was a sign that they were apparently either complicit and/or
unwilling to hold Jim Vanderpool accountable. We were just lucky he snuck out the back door on a
Saturday morning before he could embarrass the City further.
If Anaheim truly wants to rebuild public trust, management should not get a free pass from being held
accountable.
One thing is for certain. Residents will continue asking questions. Residents will continue demanding
answers. And we will continue to demand accountability from every level of City government.
How many more lawsuits have to be filed before the Mayor and City Council figure out who the
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real problems are?... November 3might be the residents' retribution day if the mayor and
council continue failing as elected representatives…
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