Former City Leader Found Dead While Being Investigated For Dealings With Disney

Disneyland Resort has always been essential to the city of Anaheim, California. The Happiest Place on Earth brings millions of people to Anaheim each year, and along with that, millions of dollars. Anaheim was essentially built on Disney. The area was mainly farmland before Disneyland Resort. Now, it is full of hotels, restaurants, and other businesses that rely on tourism dollars.

While Disney and Anaheim may need each other, the relationship has not always been great, especially over the past few years. Disney has always been able to lobby for favorable laws to be passed, but recently, those laws and benefits have been criticized.

While Disney may get favorable laws because of its importance to the city, it is also reportedly because the company was part of a “cabal”. The “cabal” was made up of powerful business executives and lobbyists who would pull the strings of city officials. This cabal was first identified last year in an affidavit released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

And now, one of the city officials who helped pass those laws and fought for Disney is dead.

On Friday, September 29, former Anaheim City Council Member Jordan Brandman was found dead in his home. He was just 43 years old. He was found after a welfare check was requested. The coroner said that no foul play is suspected. However, he has not yet listed a cause of death.

Brandman and Disney

According to multiple reports, and even Brandman himself, he was incredibly close with Disneyland Resort’s Director of External Affairs, Carrie Nocella. Brandman said that he met Nocella before he became a City Council member, but the two remained close after his election. They even dined together multiple times per week.

In 2015, Council Member Brandman voted for a controversial deal that would allow Disney to keep the money that the city taxed the company for admission to its parks. Then, the next year, he also voted to allow Disney to receive a $267 million tax break.

Per The Los Angeles Times:

Brandman recently defended his votes, saying he used his leverage as the council’s swing vote to successfully push Disney to guarantee union jobs, wages and benefits for construction workers on the planned hotel.

However, Disney tried to cancel the tax agreements that Brandman boasted about when the city of Anaheim passed a law requiring Disney to pay its Disneyland Cast Members a minimum of $15 per hour.

In 2016, Brandman lost his bid for re-election to the City Council. However, he was Disney’s biggest ally. So, in 2018, the company spent more than $1 million to try to get Brandman back into office. Disney also spent money supporting Harry Sidhu, who would become mayor of Anaheim.

Sidhu recently pled guilty to federal obstruction charges based on the same FBI investigation that identified Nocella and Brandman as members of the “cabal”.

Nocella is still employed as Disneyland’s Director of External Affairs.

Disney’s Questionable Benefits

While Disney claims to bring a lot to the city of Anaheim, it seems that the city brings a lot more to the table for Disney.

For example, Disney’s Mickey & Friends parking garage holds more than 10,000 cars. Each car pays a minimum of $35 to park. That means that Disney makes nearly $400,000 PER DAY on parking in just ONE of its garages. There is also the Pixar Lot, which is connected to Mickey & Friends, The Toy Story Lot, and The Simba Lot. The city of Anaheim technically owns the lot, but Disney pays just $1 per year for the lease. One dollar.

However, it looks like Disney’s favorable tax benefits may be coming to an end. The Anaheim City Council is now made up of a majority of people who do not believe Disney should be benefitting as much as it should. Those Council Members are now fighting for more favorable deals that will benefit the city of Anaheim and its residents.