| ANAHEIM, CA - (January 5, 2005) - Today, the City of Anaheim filed a formal legal complaint in Orange County Superior Court against the Anaheim Angels for breach of contract and violation of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The Angels are in the middle of a 33-year lease agreement with the City to play their home games in a City-owned stadium. The complaint is Case #05CC01902 has been assigned to Judge Peter Polos, Department 26, Orange County Superior Court.
The City intends to seek a temporary restraining order which restricts the Anaheim Angels from implementing a name change. In the complaint, the City claims "there has been a conscious, systematic, and pervasive elimination of Anaheim from references with the (Anaheim Angels) team name." In addition, the City contends "that shortly after Mr. (Arte) Moreno purchased the team from Disney, he formulated and gave instructions to implement a two phased marketing and branding plan. Phase one, which was implemented immediately, was to eliminate references to Anaheim in the team name so as to disassociate Anaheim from the Angels brand. Phase two, for the future, was to change the name of the team to the Los Angeles Angels." The City has designed a website for fans to voice their concerns about this issue at www.savetheanaheimangels.com. The full complaint can also be viewed on the City's website at www.anaheim.net. Additional documents: Ex Parte Application Media Contact: Ruth Ruiz 714.765.5060 more city news
### ABOUT ANAHEIM - The City of Anaheim, founded in 1857, is one of the nation's premier municipalities and is California's 10th most populous city. Anaheim covers 50 square miles with more than 345,500 residents and more than 3,200 City employees. The municipal corporation's annual budget is $1.4 billion. Anaheim supports a thriving business community with companies such as Carl Karcher Enterprises, Inc., L-3 Communications, Pacific Sunwear, and Disneyland Resort. Successful sports franchises call Anaheim home, including Angels Baseball, Anaheim Ducks, the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal winning U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team, and the 2008 Olympic Silver Medal winning U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team. Anaheim also boasts world-class meeting and entertainment venues with the Anaheim Convention Center, the largest on the west coast, Honda Center, The Grove of Anaheim, The Shops at Anaheim GardenWalk, and Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Annually, Anaheim welcomes millions of visitors to the city, truly making it where the world comes to live, work and play. For more information, please visit www.anaheim.net. |