ANAHEIM : Complaint Filed in Disney Ticket Case

Alleging that three City Council members violated the state’s Political Reform Act, a homeowners group filed a complaint Monday with the agency investigating the officials’ acceptance of hundreds of free Disneyland tickets.

In their notice to the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission, board members of Anaheim Homeowners for Maintaining a Better Environment said that council members’ acceptance of free tickets worth more than $8,000 represented a conflict of interest that sullied their votes on Disney-related issues in the past year.

Howard Sachar, vice president of the homeowners group, said Monday that Mayor Fred Hunter and Councilmen Irv Pickler and Bob D. Simpson had all surpassed state limits on political gifts accepted during 1991.

Because state law bars elected officials who accept more than $250 in gifts in a year from voting on issues involving the donor for a year, Sachar said the council members should have been disqualified from voting last year on three issues related to the theme park’s planned $3-billion expansion in the city.

Last year, the council approved the hiring of an attorney to lead expansion negotiations with the entertainment company; retained agents to study financing options for the park; and employed consultants to prepare the environmental impact report for the project.

“If the citizens don’t like what’s going on, they really ought to raise their voices,” Sachar said, explaining the group’s reason for filing the complaint.

“In our opinion, there seems to be a conflict of interest.”

The FPPC is expected to issue a ruling in the Anaheim case within the next few weeks.