General (24)
Susana Barrios
From:Stephanie Mercadante <burglin.stephanie@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, July 14, 2026 5:56 PM
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] On Behalf of Jeanine Robbins, District 2, Councilmember Carlos Leon
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 July 14, 2026:
When is Anaheim going to learn its lesson? After everything this City went through with Harry Sidhu and
Todd Ament, you would think transparency would be your first instinct—not your last. Yet here we
are again, the City trying to conceal wrongdoing rather than correct it. And don’t think for one second
that we are letting the poisoned drinking water issues go - but this new scandal of the Police Officer
overtime “cash grab” needs our undivided attention.
Does everyone remember the Mickey Mouse Club? The good old days of innocence, when integrity
actually meant something.
Well, Anaheim has its own Mickey Mouse Club.
And this club is pretty exclusive and very lucrative, too.
I'm talking about the Anaheim Police Department's Downtown Disney Detail.
The club has about a dozen members, but tonight I'd like to introduce you to one of its biggest stars.
According to payroll records, Tony Lee made $181,000 in regular pay and nearly $250,000 in overtime,
making him the highest overtime earner in the entire Anaheim Police Department. How does no one
notice that a police sergeant is earning more than both the Chief of Police AND the City Manager?
Officer Jose Duran, President of the Police Union, was also among the department's highest earners,
receiving approximately $380,000 in total compensation in 2024. And guess who approved his
timesheets? Sgt Tony Lee.
Isn’t Debbie Moreno responsible for the finances? Isn’t Linda Andal responsible for personnel
investigations? Is Rob Fabela the City Attorney, or the City’s criminal defense attorney? Isn’t the City
Council responsible for oversight?
Former Chief Rick Armendariz was concerned enough about overtime at the Downtown Disney detail
that he ordered an audit.
And turns out his suspicions were correct. The LA Times reported command staff officers concluded that
“potential overtime misuse resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime
1
compensation.”
Chief Armendariz retired BEFORE this audit was completed, so who was responsible for burying it? Chief
Cid? Greg Garcia? Linda Andal? Debbie Moreno? Rob Fabela? Mike Lyster?
And perhaps the most important question of all: Did this City Council know that taxpayers were funding
overtime at levels that allowed a single sergeant to earn more than both the Chief of Police and the City
Manager?
If you knew, why didn't you ask questions?
And Rubalcava, we are very aware of your public support of Jose Duran and the Police Union. Why
should we believe those relationships played no role in the Council’s silence regarding the audit?
You can’t blame Jim Vanderpool anymore - this dumpster fire is burning on your watch.
2