Dear friends and neighbors,

After several years of community advocacy, our team has decided to do launch a new project. 

We are calling this project "Community Voices."  Think of it as a place to read our thoughts and opinions about what's happening in Culver City. As always, we will strive to stay "on brand," meaning that we will try to only post factual information, even if it's in the form of an informal letter. 

We believe that our community deserves to have a trusted place to go to find information that is important to us. 

CCNU

Friends,

Concerned Culver City residents have pointed out for months that current City Council Candidates Bryan “Bubba” Fish and Nancy Barba are involved with the lawsuit that’s stopping the city from changing the pilot project, "MOVE Culver City". Bubba Fish and former mayor Alex Fisch have taken issue, saying this claim is “false.” A keen eye will understand they’re playing with semantics.

Here are some facts:

• Bubba Fish created the GoFundMe page dedicated to fighting “Culver City if they do not comply with environmental law.” The founder’s name has changed on the website at least twice, but he is the original founder.
• Bubba Fish, Nancy Barba, former mayor Alex Fisch, along with a number of others, have all contributed to this GoFundMe page raising over $10,000.
• At the Nov. 13, 2023 City Council meeting:
  • Mr. Karim Sahli, husband of former mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells, announced in City Council chambers that the group behind the lawsuit is not anonymous when he said: “We are not anonymous, Mr. Mayor. You know us.”
  • In response, Councilmember Goran Eriksson asked for clarification: “Are you saying that people who donated to that lawsuit, that’s the group?” 
  • Mr. Sahli responded, “That is what I am saying.” Meeting Minutes, Video; the conversation is at the end of the meeting.
• A group called Friends and Family for MOVE Culver City (FFMCC) is officially listed as the lawsuit’s plaintiff. 
  • An excerpt from an online letter alleging lies states: “The plaintiff denies that the people who gave money to the GoFundMe are part of the lawsuit,” yet admits that “the funds are available for FFMCC [the named plaintiff] to use.”  
• At the April 24, 2023 City Council meeting, Alex Fisch identified himself as being from “Friends of Move Culver City” and said, "There's a lot of interest in funding litigation if you decide to do something.”

The calls of falsehood and outrage hinge on whether there is a real difference between being a named “plaintiff,” fundraising for, and being behind the lawsuit against the City. Mr. Fish, Ms. Barba, and others support the lawsuit and raised $10,000, which is dedicated to the fight. One would think they would be proud of and willing to stand up for their cause. 

When the lawsuit was filed, the City stopped any changes to MOVE pilot project until the issuance of a final judgment. While no formal injunction stops the City, it didn’t want to waste money and labor if the court decided against it. In full transparency and to protect public money, the City stopped itself.

Whether or not any of the GoFundMe funds were used to pay for the lawyers or expenses is a question the donors might ask. People took the time and spent their money to stop the city from changing MOVE, by requiring an expensive and potentially lengthy environmental impact report. The original MOVE is a pilot project the previous City Council  - which included Mr. Fisch - supported and waived its own environmental impact report before implementation. Mr. Fisch now insists that an environmental impact report must be followed to change MOVE. There is no explanation for this reversal.

Let’s stop playing around with technical definitions and semantics.  It’s curious why some people who supported or otherwise championed the MOVE lawsuit appear to be distancing themselves from their own actions.  They can disavow the lawsuit if they like, but it’s troubling that despite the evidence, they are now trying to claim that they are “not involved” or “behind it.”
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Culver City Neighbors United