Anaheim’s top administrative executive resigned Tuesday night, just a week after he left a closed session questioning seemingly unscathed and with vocal support from at least two councilmembers.
The City Council unanimously accepted City Manager Jim Vanderpool’s request to move up his plans for retirement and step down, which he put in for days after he was questioned behind closed doors by city leaders for having attended an Anaheim Chamber of Commerce-funded retreat to Lake Havasu without listing the trip as a gift in his 2020 statement of economic interest.
Vanderpool’s resignation “in connection with his retirement,” was effective at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3, according to his notice, which was signed by Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, who was the one to call for his closed session questioning and, later, a review by an ethics officer — the results of which she asked be public.
The council tapped Deputy City Manager Greg Garcia to serve in the interim, to oversee the day-to-day operations of Orange County’s most populous city, with more than 350,000 residents and an annual budget of more than $2 billion.
The Lake Havasu gathering was shortly after Vanderpool joined the city; he told council members he was invited by then-chamber CEO and President Todd Ament, who FBI prosecutors later alleged to be part of a group of business leaders who held undue sway over City Hall. Ament was also a key witness in the FBI’s investigation into former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu and the sale of Angel Stadium.
Vanderpool, in a Dec. 23 email he sent to councilmembers ahead of media reports, said he “did not engage with any subsequent social or business travel with Todd Ament.”
In another email to councilmembers last month, Vanderpool said he didn’t know that the chamber paid for his lodging in a mobile home unit he and his spouse shared with then-chamber Vice President Laura Cunningham and her spouse.
He estimated his two-night stay at Lake Havasu would have cost $190 and “food and beverage provided by me would have offset any reporting requirement,” he said. He told council members he had “confirmed this theory” with Ethics Officer Artin Berjikly.
Vanderpool was hired out of Buena Park in 2020 to assume the city manager position in Anaheim, after predecessor Chris Zapata was dismissed by the Sidhi-led council. Garcia also served as the interim for a few months that same year before Vanderpool began the job in September.
Per his employment agreement, Vanderpool could have received a severance payment “equal to six months of (his) monthly base salary,” which was $386,000 annually, but his signed resignation agreement said he “voluntarily waives his right to severance.”
“Our city manager’s decision today to resign comes after years of extraordinary pressure. And I want to acknowledge the resilience and professionalism he demonstrated throughout the time he served our city,” said Councilmember Natalie Rubalcava, who in recent weeks has consistently voiced her support for Vanderpool.
“Despite difficult circumstances over the past six years, he delivered for our city and served as a steady source of stability for our employees and our residents alike,” she said. “While this was not the outcome many of us on this dais had hoped for, the foundation he set for the city will remain here.”
Councilmember Ryan Balius also praised Vanderpool’s job performance during Tuesday’s meeting.
“Jim provided very consistent leadership for the city through many challenging periods,” he said, mentioning Vanderpool’s role in advancing the Beach Boulevard renovation project in District 1, which Balius represents, and shepherding the city through the pandemic.
“Jim was the longest-tenured city manager that we’ve had in the last 15 years. And I believe stability and city leadership are important factors in maintaining confidence in our local government,” he said.
“I hope as we move forward,” he added, “we’ll focus on the qualifications, the experience and the capacities to effectively lead our city.”
This developing story, please check back for updates.