Small SoCal business fumes at ‘power’-hungry local official after its utilities were cut during a permit dispute, family claims

A SoCal family business is feuding with a local city councilmember after he allegedly told the city to shut them down.

Ontario City Councilmember Alan Wapner allegedly told the sibling owners of Treasure Banquet Hall that he holds “the power in this city” as their business remains without electricity after the city cut the power over a permit dispute, according to ABC7.

Marianne and Andrew Hanouneh described the enormous impact the closure has had on them over the last year and a half at a city council meeting Tuesday.

“We relied on the permits the city issued us. We invested our family’s resources in good faith,” Marianne Hanouneh said.

“Then overnight it was gone. The permit we had invested millions of dollars relying on simply disappeared. No due process, no warning, just gone,” she added.

As they sought help from Wapner, he rebuffed them and revealed himself to be a culprit in their problems. “I showed him photos of our building, hoping he might understand what our family had created.

“As soon as I named the building, he said, and I quote, ‘I know your building. I know exactly where that is. No need to show photos. I’ve been telling them to shut you down for months,’” Marianne Hanouneh said.

“When I asked him to meet with another official, he said, ‘No, no, it doesn’t matter. I hold the power in this city,’” she said.

For unclear reasons, the FBI has recently examined Wapner. Federal officials have served search warrants at several locations in SoCal and at Wapner’s residence. There’s no current evidence connecting the power issue and the search warrants at Wapner’s home.

Marianne Hanouneh also said she’s been contacted by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office and by the FBI.

The Ontario City Council has sought to remove Wapner from his committee assignments, a major piece of discipline for the local politician.

Ontario Mayor Paul Leon said he doesn’t know if Wapner is guilty of anything, but the federal activity is a distraction.

“He’s become a distraction, and that is not saying he’s guilty of anything,” Leon said. “But the distraction of the current activity is real.”

The council voted to consider removing him from committee assignments in future meetings. Wapner claims he has no idea what the inquiry is about.

“I’ve never been named a suspect, a subject, a target of any investigation,” Wapner said at the meeting. “They did search the house. We don’t know what they were searching for or for what.”

His term in office ends in December. The business-owning siblings have still been unable to move forward without power.

“We built something we were very proud of, and we were so proud to give back to this community,” Marianne Hanouneh said.

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