misinformation in Dr. Febres-Cordero's letter

Dear Editor,

In the "letters to the editor" section of the Culver Crossroads, on July 22, 2024, a letter by Dr. Yolata Oszkay Febres-Cordero was posted which asserted that neither Bubba Fish nor Nancy Barba were involved in the Friends and Family of MOVE Culver City (FFMCC) (https://culvercitycrossroads.com/2024/07/22/dear-editor-calling-out-lies-on-move-lawsuit/). The main portion of this letter was originally sent to Culver Crossroads as a reply, but the editor, Judith Martin-Straw, refused to publish it although it meets all Culver Crossroads "letters to the editor" guidelines. The only changes were to these first two paragraphs to more clearly describe the events that occurred surrounding my letter.

In addition to the provably false statement above, Dr. Febres-Cordero accused me of publishing "misinformation" that is "spreading like wildfire." I suppose that the facts are simply not doing what Dr. Febres-Corero wants them to.

Let's go through the inconvenient truths.

Fact: At the City Council meeting on September 11, 2023, Bubba Fish (at about four hours and seven minutes into the meeting) made a legalistic argument about CEQA violations, one identical to the one made in the lawsuit. He quoted two letters written by "CEQA lawyers." At the end of his speaking time, he asserted that "the city would regret it if they do." Sounds like a lawsuit threat to me.

Several minutes later (at approximately four hours and thirty-four minutes into the meeting), Nancy Barba spoke in opposition to changing the MOVE project.

The video of this meeting can be found at: https://culver-city.granicus.com/player/clip/2751?view_id=1&meta_id=251381&redirect=true

Fact: Approximately ten months ago, a GoFundMe was started called "Save protected bike lanes in Culver City!" In the general text, the GoFundMe stated that "we plan to fight Culver City if they do not comply with environmental law." Usually, GoFundMe's first donor is the person who starts the campaign. This GoFundMe's first donor? Bryan "Bubba" Fish. Reference: https://www.gofundme.com/f/savemove

Fact: Soon after the GoFundMe was started, on October 17, 2023, the lawsuit, with nearly identical claims as those stated by Mr. Fish in the aforementioned meeting, was filed. (LA Superior Court, Case Number 23STCP03833). In the lawsuit, the Plaintiff (FFMCC) asserted that "Multiple members of Petitioner participated in public hearings for the Project, including the September 11 hearing and prior hearings, and objected to the City's proposed actions."

Fact: At the city council meeting on November 13, 2023, at 5:32:50 (the very end of the meeting), Karim Sahli (husband of former Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells, who donated $150 to the group), took exception with then-mayor Vera's assertion that the lawsuit was filed by an anonymous group. Mr. Sahli said, "then, a GoFundMe campaign, transparently supported by many residents" was created (this was the GoFundMe mentioned above). He stated, with a certain level of indignation, "We Are Not Anonymous." He further said that "this lawsuit was predictable and avoidable." Council member Eriksson then asked Mr. Sahli, "you indicated that the people who donated... that's the group that sued the city. Is that what you're saying?" To which Mr. Sahli replied, "that's what I'm saying." The video for this can be found at: https://culver-city.granicus.com/player/clip/2778?view_id=1&redirect=true

That Fish and Barba are running as far away from MOVE as possible is understandable. It is highly unpopular in Culver City, it is falling apart, and most people in the city believe that it needs to be changed. Of course, as candidates for city council, they will try to distance themselves as far as they can from wildly unpopular and unsuccessful project. I suspect they are hoping that we forget their abuse of the city's resources created by the frivolous lawsuit that they both funded and supported, and likely had a hand in.

I am not asking readers to believe me. That isn't necessary. Believe your own eyes and ears. Their statements are clear and unambiguous. Their frustration with the residents of Culver City who don't share their vision is palpable. One has to question who they expect to serve as city councillors, the people of Culver City or their own political interests?

There may very well have been someone feeding us misinformation in Dr. Febres-Cordero's letter. However, the facts clearly point to that person being Dr. Febres-Cordero.

Gary M. Zeiss, Esq.

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Gary M. Zeiss, Esq.