Visit Anaheim CEO publicly apologizes for comments critical of oversight

Prompted by comments that appeared dismissive of city oversight efforts, Anaheim City Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava grilled Mike Waterman, Visit Anaheim’s new chief executive, during Tuesday’s council meeting.

Waterman previously stated that the advisory board created in the aftermath of a state audit of Visit Anaheim contracts might not be needed in the future.

“Selfishly, my belief is over time, maybe after the second or third or fourth meeting … we will all decide this is not necessarily the most effective use of our time and we will disband it,” he said at an Oct. 16 advisory board meeting.

Rubalcava quoted Waterman’s comments during Tuesday’s discussion in requesting an update from him on advisory board matters.

“I was out of line and definitely did not use the appropriate words,” Waterman said. “What I was trying to articulate is many of the state’s [tourism improvement district] boards that were created, usually years ago, have been disbanded because some of those cities found it to be redundant.”

Waterman stated that he did not know his comments during the advisory board meeting for the local tourism bureau were recorded.

“If you would have probably read the binder that you referred to, that might have been helpful,” Rubalcava responded.

The tourism bureau chief previously apologized in media reports following the meeting.

Visit Anaheim has come under increased scrutiny after an independent corruption report commissioned by Anaheim City Council in the wake of an ongoing FBI investigation alleged that Visit Anaheim’s past president engaged in a grafting scheme involving $1.5 million in COVID-19 relief funds.

No criminal charges have been filed to date, but Jay Burress, Visit Anaheim’s chief executive at the time, resigned in November 2023.

“The past president made some mistakes and paid for those with his job,” said Waterman, who was hired in April. “My promise was we’re going to be much more transparent, we’re going to be much more communicative.”

In January, a state audit ordered by Assemblyman Avelino Valencia found that Visit Anaheim misused funds with little oversight of how public money was spent. The audited contracts between Visit Anaheim and the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, which the city didn’t approve, found that some of the funds were improperly used for political lobbying and to back tourism-friendly council candidates.

Anaheim City Council created the seven-member advisory board in June in response to the audit’s findings and recommendations.

Rubalcava made suggestions for future advisory board meetings, including having Waterman be more engaged with what’s on the agenda.

She also asked questions about the status of the $1.5 million that the city has requested Visit Anaheim return in light of the corruption report.

“We are having conversations with the city to try to figure out how to rectify that,” Waterman said.

The tourism bureau is funded by a 2% Anaheim Tourism Improvement District tax on nearly 100 hotels in the area, which collected about $30.5 million between June 2023 and June 2024.