Anaheim City Council votes unanimously to void Angel Stadium sale
The city of Anaheim is looking to its leaders for direction after Mayor Harry Sidhu turned in his resignation over a scandal involving the sale of Angel Stadium.
One day after former Mayor Sidhu resigned amid a federal corruption investigation, the remaining city council members unanimously voted late Tuesday night to kill the $325 million dollar deal.
Dozens of Anaheim residents showed up to blast city leaders — calling for an end to the proposed Angel Stadium sale.
"That deal needs to be completely redone in the face of public good," said Jorge Gavino, an Anaheim resident.
While Sidhu has not officially been charged with a crime, the calls for him to step down were deafening. This comes in the wake of an FBI probe of alleged bribery and corruption surrounding the Angel Stadium deal.
"The minimum that we could do tonight is withdraw from the deal or ask our city attorney to immediately void the deal," said Jose Moreno, a member of the Anaheim City Council.
The deal between the city and Angels' owner Arte Moreno calls for building housing, hotels, restaurants and shops around the stadium.
The FBI says it has a secret telephone recording of Sidhu asking for a million dollar campaign contribution to help with his upcoming reelection in exchange for helping to push the deal through. He has also been accused of leaking confidential information about the sale to the team.
Related: Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu resigns amid FBI probe
The FBI has not filed any charges against team employees or Sidhu.
"Any individual who commits those types of actions has no business holding a public position," said Anaheim City Council member Avelino Valencia.
The FBI affidavit mentions no wrongdoing on the part of the Angels organization, but questions are floated over what else happened in secret and who else could be involved in the corruption scandal.
"We are not shocked by these reports as you claim to be because we've been calling out this corruption since it began," said Fred Sigala, an Anaheim resident.
Linda Lehnkering, an Anaheim resident, hopes that negotiations begin again.
"I'd like to see more affordable housing particularly for extremely low income folks," said Lehnkering.