State Supreme Court to rule on Brand, Nehrenheim legal fees
by Garth Meyer
On Dec. 7, Mayor Bill Brand, City Councilman Nils Nehrenheim, resident Wayne Craig and Brand’s volunteer treasurer Linda Moffat will appear before the California State Supreme Court.
At issue is whether these winners of a 2019 Los Angeles County Superior Court decision should be paid, by the losers, more than a million dollars in attorney’s fees.
Two years after the Superior Court ruling, a decision by the Second District Court of Appeals partially affirmed, and partially reversed the earlier judgment, leaving a central question for the State Supreme Court: does a prevailing defendant in a lawsuit such as this need to show that the suit was frivolous, unreasonable or without foundation, in order to recover legal expenses?
The defendants’ attorney’s fees total more than $900,000, and are subject to 10 percent interest from the date of the 2019 decison.
The State Supreme Court ruling would also include fees for the appeal.
“I would estimate $1.9 million overall. That’s the potential,” said Steve Colin, attorney for Brand and Moffat. The sum includes all four defendants.
In the four-year course of the lawsuit, brought by residents Chris Voisey, Annette Travis and Redondo Beach Waterfront – a CenterCal affiliate – the plaintiffs have argued that voters were misled about the level of involvement by Brand and Nehrenheim in a political action committee (PAC) in the leadup to Measure C in 2017.
Voters approved the measure, which downzoned the harbor, making CenterCal’s proposed $400 million waterfront development unfeasible.
“This is so voters know what they’re voting on. There’s no self-gain from it,” said Betty M. Shumener, an attorney for the plaintiffs. “(My clients) genuinely thought the voters were misled. That’s why they brought the suit.”
Plaintiff court filings asserted that as a city council candidate in 2017, Nehrenheim, along with then mayoral candidate Brand, falsely represented the waterfront project with their “localism agenda.” Plaintiffs also contended that Brand and Nehrenheim controlled the PAC “Rescue Our Waterfront, LLC,” not Wayne Craig, its listed principal agent.
The L.A. County Superior Court sided with the defendants.
“Wayne Craig was controlling it the whole time,” Colin said.
Attorneys Colin and Shumener both note that they expect the State Supreme Court will be the last word on the matter, with no further appeals.
Colin is also a former Redondo Beach city councilman. ER