Anaheim City Council Members Call On Mayor Harry Sidhu To Resign

ANAHEIM, CA — Several members of the Anaheim City Council called on Mayor Harry Sidhu to step down following allegations of public corruption connected to the sale of Angel Stadium.

Mayor Pro Tem Trevor O'Neil and Council Members Stephen Faessel and Jose Diaz sent a letter to Sidhu's lawyer asking that he resign.

"The deeply troubling issues that have come to our attention involving Mayor Sidhu since May 16, 2022, raise serious concerns and questions about his ability to continue as mayor of Anaheim," the trio said in the letter.

The request followed Tuesday's City Council meeting, in which Council Members Avelino Valencia and Jose Moreno called on the mayor to step down.

Sidhu did not attend the meeting and has not publicly addressed the allegations or the calls for him to resign.

Patch could not reach Sidhu for comment.

"I suspect he's watching this meeting from home," Valencia said. "You have one last opportunity to do the right thing for our city. Please resign from the mayorship of Anaheim."

Council Member Gloria Ma'ae said the mayor's conduct felt like a betrayal.

The calls for Sidhu's resignation followed Tuesday's news of a federal corruption probe targeting the mayor's conduct after an Orange County Superior Court Judge Glenn Salter issued a two-month hold on the $320 million sale of Angel Stadium to Arte Moreno, owner of the Los Angeles Angels.

The probe is looking into allegations that Sidhu rushed the stadium sale as a way to solicit campaign contributions, according to an affidavit filed last week by FBI Special Agent Brian Adkins.

The affidavit alleged that Sidhu illegally provided insider information to Angels officials during negotiations for the stadium's sale to a development company owned by Moreno.

The mayor relayed the information through private emails and deleted the correspondence to cover his tracks, the affidavit said.

A confidential informant recorded a conversation with Sidhu in which he talked about having the Angels start a political action committee that would donate money toward his re-election campaign after the stadium sale closed, according to the affidavit, which included transcripts of the conversation.

"I've said, you gotta at least, minimum of a million dollars to come up with my election. They have to," Sidhu said, according to the affidavit. "And of course ... if [the Angels stadium sale] would conclude next year is approved, hopefully, we'll push them at least have a million dollars."

City News Service contributed to this report.