Suspicious of MCA : Burbank Council Angry Over Anti-Disney Mailer

Burbank City Council members are angry over a mailer that criticized a tentative agreement between the city and the Walt Disney Co. to develop a multimillion-dollar complex in downtown Burbank, with some accusing a Disney business rival, the giant MCA Corp., of secretly financing the attack.

MCA officials did not respond to requests for comment.

The mailer, which was sent to about 5,000 Burbank residents in July, called the agreement a “giveaway” of taxpayers’ money, and claimed the council acted irresponsibly in making the deal with Disney without seeking competitive offers from other developers.

Exclusive Option

The council, acting as the city’s redevelopment agency, gave Disney an exclusive option to purchase a 40-acre site in downtown Burbank for $1 million to develop a shopping center and entertainment complex expected to cost $150 million to $300 million.

Despite intense questioning by council members during Tuesday’s council meeting, Tom Kaptain, the author of the mailer and chairman of “Burbank Citizens Against the Tax Giveaway,” refused to disclose who financed the mailer, which he said cost about $6,000.

He also refused to disclose who organized the committee.

Kaptain’s refusal to disclose his financial backers led some council members to believe that Kaptain’s committee is linked to entertainment giant MCA, a rival of Disney’s that has filed two lawsuits against Burbank seeking to block the tentative agreement. MCA wants to negotiate with the city to develop the land itself.

“I think this whole thing is tied to MCA,” said Councilwoman Mary Kelsey. “We’ve heard from a reliable businessman here that MCA has admitted to him that they’re doing this. They’re trying to fight us through our own citizens.”

Kaptain, 29, who has been active in local, state and national politics on the organizational level for several years, denied direct involvement with MCA.

“Not a cent that went into putting together the mailer came from MCA to me,” Kaptain said.

But he added that he had been getting advice from Dan Shapiro, one of the attorneys representing MCA in the lawsuits. “I also asked him to give my number to anyone who calls him who opposes the deal,” he said.

The main council concern, said Mayor Michael R. Hastings, was that the mailer contained false information and innuendo about the Disney project.

“There were serious omissions and false statements,” Hastings said. “It was an attempt to mislead the citizens of this city.”

Although no final agreement between the city and Disney has been reached, Kaptain’s mailer characterized the deal as concluded.

“In a back room deal with no public input, the Burbank City Council gives a $42-million piece of city-owned property away to a multibillion-dollar corporation,” the mailer said. It also said that the city had agreed to give Disney “all of the property taxes the project will generate--in perpetuity. This means up to $3.6 million-a-year taxpayer subsidy of the Disney project.”

According to the tentative agreement, the city could provide $1 million to $3 million in property taxes toward the construction of a parking structure.

Kaptain said he intended the mailer to have a negative tone, and to attack the council’s action.

Hastings said the mailer also lacked credibility because of the “steering committee” members listed on the mailer. He said at least one of the members, Jean Smith, had never given Kaptain permission to use her name.

Kaptain conceded that at least five of the 41 people whose names were listed on the mailer as members of the committee have said they do not belong to the organization, with two of them ordering him not to use their names again.

“They’re trying to find out more about who’s paying for my mailer, and not about what they’re doing to our city,” he complained.

Failure to Gain Post

Councilwoman Mary Lou Howard said much of Kaptain’s ire may stem from the council’s failure to appoint him to the city’s Park and Recreation Board earlier this year.

“I’m sure he was very upset,” Howard said. “But Tom has been around. He does care about the community.”

Kaptain told the council that he could say only that one of the financial backers of the campaign lives outside Burbank, while another is a city resident.

He said he has received about 1,000 responses to the mailer, which sought contributions for the committee. He declined to disclose the amount raised but said it was “substantial.”

He said he is sponsoring a community meeting to discuss the Disney project Sept. 16 at the Burbank Ramada Inn.