Angst and Envy In Anaheim
Posted by: Jubal | 06/14/2008 6:40 PM
The OC Register ran an article today by Tony Saavreda today regarding the tickets available to Anaheim city officials due to the fact that Anaheim owns three major sports and entertainment venues.
The inflammatory style of the article, clearly calculated to excite envy and anger, are a comment in themselves on the bloggification of print media.
The Mimi Walters for Senate campaign sparked this as an issue with a hit piece accusing opponent and Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu of taking hundreds of tickets "tax free" during the course of three years.
Now FPPC Chairman (and long-time former OC-based legislator) Ross Johnson has put this practice in sights and wants either classify them as reportable gifts or require Anaheim officials to pay taxes on them as income.
"A gift is a gift is a gift," Ross claims.
The City of Anaheim responds, reasonably, that they are not gifts, but simply perks of office.
I'm just curious: how would Assemblyman or Senator Ross Johnson have reacted to calls that legislators be required to pay taxes on their generous per diem payments or that their state cars be classified as income on which they had to pay taxes?
Ross served in the Assembly from 1978 to 1995, and in the state Senate from 1995 until 2004. It was no secret that Ross lived and raised him family in the Sacramento area, not in Orange County. I'll check on it, but I would be surprised to find out that Ross turned down a state car and never collected that tax-free per diem payment intended to defray the living expenses of legislators having to maintain two residences (which Ross didn't).
Apparently, a gift wasn't a gift wasn't a gift back then.
For his part, Harry Sidhu, fresh from a severe shellacking in the SD33 primary race, is going to run as far away from this issue as possible:
However, Harry's nearly 50-point defeat practically guarantees he runs for re-election. Not to do so means Sidhu leaves office a weak political loser and likely oblivion.
Though the Senate primary blowout weakens him at least somewhat, Sidhu's enormous fundraising ability and incumbent status are huge advantages that make re-election likely. It'll be interesting to watch.
The inflammatory style of the article, clearly calculated to excite envy and anger, are a comment in themselves on the bloggification of print media.
The Mimi Walters for Senate campaign sparked this as an issue with a hit piece accusing opponent and Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu of taking hundreds of tickets "tax free" during the course of three years.
Now FPPC Chairman (and long-time former OC-based legislator) Ross Johnson has put this practice in sights and wants either classify them as reportable gifts or require Anaheim officials to pay taxes on them as income.
"A gift is a gift is a gift," Ross claims.
The City of Anaheim responds, reasonably, that they are not gifts, but simply perks of office.
I'm just curious: how would Assemblyman or Senator Ross Johnson have reacted to calls that legislators be required to pay taxes on their generous per diem payments or that their state cars be classified as income on which they had to pay taxes?
Ross served in the Assembly from 1978 to 1995, and in the state Senate from 1995 until 2004. It was no secret that Ross lived and raised him family in the Sacramento area, not in Orange County. I'll check on it, but I would be surprised to find out that Ross turned down a state car and never collected that tax-free per diem payment intended to defray the living expenses of legislators having to maintain two residences (which Ross didn't).
Apparently, a gift wasn't a gift wasn't a gift back then.
For his part, Harry Sidhu, fresh from a severe shellacking in the SD33 primary race, is going to run as far away from this issue as possible:
Councilman Harry Sidhu, when contacted by the Register, asked if he could call back "in 15 minutes" - and then had the city attorney return the call.A number of Anaheim political observers expected that if Harry ran a very strong second to Walters, he would forgo a council re-election bid and instead run for Mayor in 2010. Anaheim's arcane term limits law prohibits a councilman from running for Mayor in the middle of their second term.
However, Harry's nearly 50-point defeat practically guarantees he runs for re-election. Not to do so means Sidhu leaves office a weak political loser and likely oblivion.
Though the Senate primary blowout weakens him at least somewhat, Sidhu's enormous fundraising ability and incumbent status are huge advantages that make re-election likely. It'll be interesting to watch.
CATEGORY:
Politics Behind the Orange Curtain
Mr. Ayer registered as a Republican to be electable in an interim election with no incumbents. He did...
Anaheim officials getting freebies from the city's major attractions is a story the Register has been repeating since the early 1990s--some have spurred reforms, others haven't. By the way, though I've been a fan of blogs from the time they started popping up, to say Saavedra's story is "a comment in [itself--check your grammar!] on the bloggification of print media" is a stretch--you're probably too young to remember the dead papers of Los Angeles (Mirror, Herald-Express and Examiner), or don't read the New York Post or Weekly. Rage is the bread-and-butter of rags--if anything, the Reg's newfound writing approach is further proof of them devolving.
What's in a name? that which we call a gift by any other name would smell as sweet...
I'm just going to say this - it should be taxable income reported on their taxes. For tax purposes, courts have defined "gift" as proceeds from a "detached and disinterested generosity."
That doesn't seem to be the case here. This "perk" is valuable income, and not a gift.
Each of these three venues are owned by the City of Anaheim.
Policymakers should be expected to have oversight of how these assets are managed.
Yes, oversight is part of their job. The tickets are part of their pay. If they fail to report this as income, it looks like tax evasion.
Someone should complain to the IRS so that they are investigated.
Question: Do the owners of the Ducks or Angels count their tickets and respective suites as income?
If the market value of rent for a city owned facility is $3 million a year. The city would charge something like $2 million plus $1 million in tickets. The people of Anaheim don't need their sidewalks and streets repaired anyway.
Does anyone really think that any of these Anaheim officials are going to Disney on Ice, or American Idol??? Those Council Memebrs give almost all of those tickets to Boys and Girls Clubs, and other charities and non-profit groups. If they were selling them or something, I would understand, but this attempt by Johnson is political payback and grandstanding! Same ol' stuff.
The same ol' stuff is public officials feeding at the public trough by receiving a valuable tax-free benefit at the public expense.
These tickets have economic value that should accrue to the taxpayers, not these guys.