Postscript: State Supreme Court hears arguments on Brand, Nehrenheim legal fees question
by Garth Meyer The Supreme Court of California heard oral arguments Dec. 7 about whether Redondo Beach Mayor Bill Brand, City Councilman Nils Nehrenheim and others are entitled to legal fees from a 2019 lower court victory. The seven black-robed justices heard the case in an hour-long session in San Francisco. Attorney Betty Schumener spoke first, representing plaintiffs Chris Voisey, Arnette Travis and Redondo Beach Waterfront, a CenterCal affiliate. Voisey and Travis are local residents. CenterCal is the commercial developer which worked with the city on a proposed $400 million revamp of King Harbor. Shumener told the court there was no element of self-gain in the case, such as in a copyright dispute. The plaintiffs’ lawsuit had asserted that Brand and Nehrenheim misled voters about their involvement in a political action committee, Rescue Our Waterfront, LLC, in the leadup to 2017’s Measure C, which ultimately stopped the King Harbor project. At the 2019 trial, it was revealed that CenterCal paid for the plaintiffs’ attorneys. “It is false that the developer was behind the work,” Shumener told the state Supreme Court. “The developer was willing to fund the plaintiffs attorneys’…
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