Visit Anaheim CEO Jay Burress has resigned from his job leading the tourism agency, as the city waits for word on its demand that $1.5 million in pandemic relief funds be returned by the marketing organization.
In a report out of a wide-ranging, city-commissioned probe into questions of City Hall corruption, investigators alleged Burress helped surreptitiously divert the money to an Anaheim Chamber of Commerce nonprofit in 2020.
The city asked for that money back this summer, but Visit Anaheim hasn’t responded yet. Anaheim spokesperson Mike Lyster said the city expects an update from Visit Anaheim on that demand within the next week or two.
Visit Anaheim is under investigation by the California State Auditor, who is reviewing how that money was ultimately used. The state auditor’s office expects a report to be released this winter.
Burress resigned on Nov. 10. In a statement, Burress said he is “very proud of the work we have done as an organization since my arrival in 2013.”
“I will always look back fondly at my time in Anaheim and Orange County,” Burress said. “I wish the best for the organization and the team at Visit Anaheim as a new chapter begins.”
Visit Anaheim, in a statement, said Christina Dawson, senior vice president of operations, will take over as the interim president and CEO.
“Christina, who has been with Visit Anaheim for more than 23 years, will oversee daily operations as we move forward in the search and selection process for a new president and CEO who will continue our mission of promoting and marketing Anaheim as a premier tourist and convention destination,” the statement said.
Burress made $486,858 in 2019 and earned $309,949 in 2021, according to Visit Anaheim filings with the IRS.
Visit Anaheim, legally the Anaheim Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau, markets Anaheim as a tourism destination and books the city-owned convention center, the largest one on the West Coast. Burress had been with Visit Anaheim for more than a decade.
In 2020, the city gave $6.5 million to the tourism agency during the early months of the pandemic to promote tourism recovery. Investigators from the JL Group said in their final investigation report that $1.5 million of that may have gone to a chamber nonprofit, but they couldn’t determine how it was used. Former Mayor Harry Sidhu directed Burress to divert the money, according to investigators.
Dawson said in an August statement that Visit Anaheim’s board of directors had launched an internal review overseen by an outside law firm. Dawson also said they were cooperating with city officials and the state auditor in separate reviews of the agency’s operations.
Visit Anaheim is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit funded by getting the majority of a 2% assessment on hotel room rates in the Anaheim Resort and the Platinum Triangle. Burress said in a podcast interview this year that Visit Anaheim grew from a $7 million organization to a $22 million organization thanks to a 2010 agreement with the city to receive those funds.
“The vision of becoming the destination marketing organization of the future has guided us along the way,” he said in his statement Friday. “The team at Visit Anaheim is second to none and will continue achieving greatness moving the destination to new heights.”
