Westside : Ex-Mayor Files $25-Million Claim Against City
Former Santa Monica Mayor Nathaniel Trives filed a $25-million claim against the city this week, contending that city officials defamed him by stating he had improperly borrowed money from the nonprofit housing rehabilitation agency he heads.
In the claim, filed Thursday, he also accuses the city attorney and other senior city staff of wanting to stop funding the Neighborhood Resource and Development Corp. so that they can apply the money to “more politically acceptable” organizations.
For more than 10 years the agency has been granted city money to do minor residential renovation projects in the ethnically diverse neighborhoods adjacent to Pico Boulevard.
In a report sent to the City Council last month, city staff said the agency had misused funds and alleged that Trives had improperly spent $25,000 from the agency toward building a for-profit condominium project.
If the city rejects the claim, Trives can file a lawsuit.
The city is expected to terminate the agency’s funding Oct. 31. Last year it received almost $330,000 in city grants.
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