Food Program Will Move From Anaheim Center

ANAHEIM — Anaheim officials said Tuesday they will move a food distribution program out of a city-run community center, after residents complained the program was mismanaged.

The planned change at the Jeffrey Lynne Community Center is one of a series of steps city officials said they will take to improve services at the center, which has been criticized in recent months by residents alleging widespread misconduct in its operations.

A city-sponsored investigation by an outside consultant found no basis to allegations that records were falsified at the center and donated computers misappropriated.

But city officials acknowledge that the center, which since its opening in 1992 has served as a city services annex in one of Anaheim’s poorest neighborhoods, is not meeting the community’s needs.

“There are some procedures that can be improved at the center, and this action plan gives us a clear course of action for implementing changes,” city spokesman Bret Colson said.

The two-week inquiry into the center was conducted by former Placentia and Orange police chief Norm Traub.

Pending changes include toughening of procedures to ensure that balloting for the center’s citizen board is kept secret, stepped-up staff training and supervision, more community outreach and a toughening of rules on what organizations can use the center.

The center is run by the city’s department of parks and recreation and staffed by city employees. Decisions on its activities and finances are made by a board of community members elected at large.