Jordan Brandman, a 43-year-old former Anaheim City Councilman, was found dead in his home Friday, city officials announced.
Anaheim Police went to Brandman’s residence at about 7:45 p.m. Friday night, in response to a request for a welfare check, according to a city news release announcing Brandman’s passing.
Officials say there were no signs of foul play at the home, with no other details available as of Saturday.
In a Saturday news release, Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken expressed her condolences.
It is with sorrow and sadness that we learned of the passing of former Council Member Brandman,” Aitken said. “Any loss of life in our city is a tragedy, and my heart goes out to all who knew Jordan and who are now coping with the news of his passing.”
Aitken’s father, Wylie Aitken, chairs Voice of OC’s board of directors.
Officials didn’t state a cause of death, saying the Sheriff’s Coroner Office is investigating the matter.
“Anaheim Police responded to Brandman’s residence at about 7:45 p.m. Friday night in response to a request for a welfare check,” reads a Saturday news release. “There were no signs of foul play at the home. No other details are available at this time.”
Brandman, a Democrat who served on the council from 2012 to 2016 and from 2018 to 2021, often sided with resort interests on the dais as part of the controversial council majority under the disgraced former mayor, Harry Sidhu, who pleaded guilty in September to federal corruption charges, including lying to investigators.
[Read: Ex-Anaheim Mayor Sidhu Agrees to Plead Guilty to Corruption Charges]
The former councilman voted with Sidhu on controversial proposals like the now-dead and illegal Angel Stadium land sale and a $6.5 million bailout for Visit Anaheim, a resort advertising bureau, when the pandemic first kicked off in March 2020.
Disneyland and the resort would be closed for another year.
[Read: Anaheim Council Funds $6.5 Million Bailout To Advertise Disneyland Resort Area]
That bailout package was heavily scrutinized by independent investigators in their corruption probe released in late July, alleging $1.5 million of that was siphoned off to an Anaheim Chamber of Commerce-controlled nonprofit.
State auditors are currently taking a hard look at the bailout.
[Read: State Auditors to Probe Anaheim’s Rerouting of Federal Funds to Chamber of Commerce ]
Brandman was also close to Disney’s chief representative at city hall, Carrie Nocella.
Disney heavily backed Brandman’s last city council campaign in 2018 through their chief local spending vehicle, Support Our Anaheim Resort.
[Read: Will Mickey Mouse Continue to Cast a Big Shadow Over Anaheim’s Election Campaigns?]
Bill Taoromina, a prominent Anaheim businessman, told investigators that Nocella had control over Brandman and a host of other elected officials.
“Carrie Nocella (Disney Government Affairs) also backed Sidhu and he states Nocella knows how to just stay out of the fray because she is a smart attorney and owned Lucille Kring, Ron Kring, Jordan Brandman, Kris Murray, and Sidhu,” investigators wrote in their report.
Amidst speculation about his well-being while he was on the dais, Brandman resigned before finishing his term in August 2021, after leaked text messages showed him violently disparaging a council colleague, former Councilwoman Denise Barnes.
Barnes was often critical of Disneyland resort corporate tax subsidies and clashed with Brandman and the majority under Sidhu.
Brandman most recently served as director of labor relations at Irvine-based Building Industry Association of Southern California.
He also previously served on Anaheim Union High School District Board of Trustees.
Spencer Custodio is the civic editor. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerCustodio.
Brandon Pho is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at bpho@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @brandonphooo.