Disney Likes Anaheim Results, So Far

by Ray Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

November 8, 2018

The Walt Disney Company likely is quite pleased with the results in races for mayor, and two city council seats in Anaheim, California. However, the final result is still not in regarding a vote on a minimum wage ballot measure targeted at Disney.

The winner in the mayor’s race, Harry Sidhu, and the two leaders in the council races, Jordan Brandman and Trevor O’Neill, received campaign donations from Disney. As the Los Angeles Times noted, “If the final election results follow Wednesday’s voting trends, Sidhu, O’Neil and Brandman are expected to join strong Disney advocate Councilwoman Lucille Kring to form a pro-Disney majority. Kring has two more years on her term.”

The Walt Disney Company also spent resources opposing the minimum wage Measure L – though it was far outspent on the ballot question by labor unions.

A coalition of labor unions got Measure L on the city ballot. If it passes, it would jack up the minimum wage mandate on hospitality businesses located in the city’s entertainment district that receive a city subsidy, with the obvious target being Disney. The measure would impose a $15 minimum wage, which would increase $1 annually to reach $18 per hour in 2022, and then rising  subsequently each year according to changes in the Consumer Price Index. The measure defines “City subsidy” as “any agreement with the city pursuant to which a person other than the city has a right to receive a rebate of transient occupancy tax, sales tax, entertainment tax, property tax or other taxes, presently or in the future, matured or unmatured.”

Measure L apparently holds a lead of less than 500 votes, with mail-in and provisional ballots still to be tallied up.

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels, with the two latest books being Reagan Country: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel and Heroes and Villains: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story. He can be contacted at raykeating@keatingreports.com.