Skift Take

After a scathing state audit report, Visit Anaheim has a new CEO. Expect full transparency from now on, he says.

Dawit Habtemariam

Becoming the top tourism boss for Anaheim ought to be a fairy tale dream, given that Disney plans to invest $2 billion in enhancing the city's flagship attraction there. But Mike Waterman, who was named CEO of Visit Anaheim in April, has some tough issues to tackle.

Waterman's predecessor, Jay Burress, resigned last November after allegations of wrongdoing at the destination marketing organization.

In January, California published a scathing audit of Visit Anaheim's activities, finding oversight failures. Key findings included:

Visit Anaheim failed to properly account for tourism assessment funds. It lacked meaningful oversight of contracts. It improperly subcontracted $1.5 million in work to an entity controlled by the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce without the required approval. Making a Fresh Start

Waterman said he felt confident he could get past the controversies.

"My predecessor got caught up in some questionable activity, and there were some opportunities for me to come in and sort of apologize and say, it's not going to happen again," Waterman said.

"Bottom line is Jay didn't do anything wrong," Waterman said. "He just should have gotten board approval, and he didn't. And unfortunately, that'