TO: Orange City Council / City Clerk (For the Official Record – Item 3.1 & General Public Comment)
FROM: The Allegro Coalition
DATE: March 24, 2026
SUBJECT: THE MORAL AND LEGAL COST OF CORRUPTION: Formal Objection to Item 3.1
To the Honorable Mayor and City Council:
The Allegro Coalition formally objects to the approval of the Mid-Year Budget Status Update (Item 3.1). This Council is now in possession of certified evidence proving that the current budget cycle has been compromised by systemic payroll fraud, the theft of public funds, and the operation of an unlicensed "Shadow Law Firm" within City Hall.
The Failure of Professional Ethics: As a veteran attorney, Wayne W. Winthers understood the distinction between Right and Wrong better than anyone. There is no excuse for the evidence produced via the City’s own records: certified IntelliTime logs showing 9-hour workdays signed at 9:07 AM—a physical impossibility—subsequently approved by City Manager Jarad Hildenbrand at 9:32 AM. This is not a clerical error; it is the intentional exploitation of public funds and the misuse of City personnel. We have documented that Senior Legal Assistant Gaby Sevilla facilitated the production of private legal filings and acted as an "official process server" for private interests while on the City’s clock. The City Attorney’s office was used as a conduit for a "Shadow Law Firm" to operate with impunity, breaching the public trust in an insatiable pursuit of private wealth.
The Human Cost and the "Shadow Law Firm": While the "powerfully connected" use their positions to accumulate wealth through concealment, the marginalized citizens of Orange—our seniors, our disabled, our Veterans, and our hardworking families—pay the price. Every dollar misappropriated through "phantom billing" is a dollar stolen from the people this City is entrusted to protect.
Furthermore, we have documented that Mr. Winthers utilized City resources to operate an unlicensed law office at 2222 N. State College Blvd for years. By failing to register this business, he denied the City of Fullerton the tax revenue and licensing fees required of every legitimate business. The City of Orange effectively subsidized this unlicensed firm, using Orange taxpayer dollars to enrich a private official and his associates while he bypassed the legal requirements of a neighboring municipality.
The "Andrew Do" Warning: In the wake of the fall of OC Supervisor Andrew Do, Orange County residents are no longer in a forgiving mood. This Council has a choice: let this be a "teaching moment" where ethics are restored, or allow the credibility of the City of Orange to be further destroyed by silence and complicity.
Our Demand: We demand an immediate stay on all budget approvals pending an independent, professional forensic audit. Furthermore, we demand a formal referral of these findings to the OCDA Public Integrity/Special Crimes Unit and the CalPERS Office of Audit Services.
The truth is now a matter of public record. Silence is complicity.
Respectfully submitted,
The Allegro Coalition
Concerned Residents and Friends of Allegro
eStatement
Official Public Comment / eStatement
TO: Orange City Council / City Clerk (For the Official Record – Item 3.1 & General Public Comment)
FROM: The Allegro Coalition
DATE: March 24, 2026
SUBJECT: THE MORAL AND LEGAL COST OF CORRUPTION: Formal Objection to Item 3.1
To the Honorable Mayor and City Council:
The Allegro Coalition formally objects to the approval of the Mid-Year Budget Status Update (Item 3.1). This Council is now in possession of certified evidence proving that the current budget cycle has been compromised by systemic payroll fraud, the theft of public funds, and the operation of an unlicensed "Shadow Law Firm" within City Hall.
The Failure of Professional Ethics: As a veteran attorney, Wayne W. Winthers understood the distinction between Right and Wrong better than anyone. There is no excuse for the evidence produced via the City’s own records: certified IntelliTime logs showing 9-hour workdays signed at 9:07 AM—a physical impossibility—subsequently approved by City Manager Jarad Hildenbrand at 9:32 AM. This is not a clerical error; it is the intentional exploitation of public funds and the misuse of City personnel. We have documented that Senior Legal Assistant Gaby Sevilla facilitated the production of private legal filings and acted as an "official process server" for private interests while on the City’s clock. The City Attorney’s office was used as a conduit for a "Shadow Law Firm" to operate with impunity, breaching the public trust in an insatiable pursuit of private wealth.
The Human Cost and the "Shadow Law Firm": While the "powerfully connected" use their positions to accumulate wealth through concealment, the marginalized citizens of Orange—our seniors, our disabled, our Veterans, and our hardworking families—pay the price. Every dollar misappropriated through "phantom billing" is a dollar stolen from the people this City is entrusted to protect.
Furthermore, we have documented that Mr. Winthers utilized City resources to operate an unlicensed law office at 2222 N. State College Blvd for years. By failing to register this business, he denied the City of Fullerton the tax revenue and licensing fees required of every legitimate business. The City of Orange effectively subsidized this unlicensed firm, using Orange taxpayer dollars to enrich a private official and his associates while he bypassed the legal requirements of a neighboring municipality.
The "Andrew Do" Warning: In the wake of the fall of OC Supervisor Andrew Do, Orange County residents are no longer in a forgiving mood. This Council has a choice: let this be a "teaching moment" where ethics are restored, or allow the credibility of the City of Orange to be further destroyed by silence and complicity.
Our Demand: We demand an immediate stay on all budget approvals pending an independent, professional forensic audit. Furthermore, we demand a formal referral of these findings to the OCDA Public Integrity/Special Crimes Unit and the CalPERS Office of Audit Services.
The truth is now a matter of public record. Silence is complicity.
Respectfully submitted,
The Allegro Coalition
Concerned Residents and Friends of Allegro