Malibu City Manager May Resign, Citing Councilmember 'Attacks'

MALIBU, CA — Reva Feldman does not anticipate completing her term as Malibu city manager, her lawyer said in a letter to interim City Attorney John C. Cotti, which was obtained by Patch.

Feldman will resign because of "unprecedented personal and professional attacks by [Councilman] Bruce Silverstein," Feldman's lawyer, Therese Y. Cannata of San Francisco law firm Cannata, O'Toole, Fickes & Olson, said in the four-page letter dated Jan. 16.
Feldman's contract was set to expire in May 2022. Feldman will stay until the city finds a successor but seeks a $375,000 buyout of her remaining contract, with benefits, as well as a release of claims and a nondisparagement clause, the letter said.

Members of the City Council have been advised not to comment on the matter, the City of Malibu said in a Saturday news release.

"The City Council directed the Interim City Attorney to tender the letter to its insurer, the Joint Powers Insurance Agency, for a determination of coverage and intends to vigorously defend the allegations contained in the letter," the city said in its statement. "As this matter involves the potential for litigation, the Councilmembers have been advised not to discuss the letter or its contents outside of a closed session and the City has no further comment on the matter at this time."

Silverstein denied the letter's allegations. "The allegations of the City Manager's lawyer are without merit, and the City has stated that it intends to vigorously defend against the claims alleged in the lawyer's letter," Silverstein told Patch Monday. "Beyond that, I have been asked by the City's lawyers to refrain from commenting. I may, however, have something further to say [Tuesday] — depending upon what is said or done at the City Council meeting this evening."

Patch also reached out to Feldman, Cotti and Cannata for comment. Cotti responded that he had nothing to add, and Feldman also replied that she had no comment.

Silverstein campaigned on removing Feldman and has publicly referred to her as "dishonest," "duplicitous" and "tyrannical." Feldman's lawyer cited such statements as one reason Feldman is resigning.

"Because Ms. Feldman is under a constant attack by Mr. Silverstein, she lives in fear of retaliation — for doing her job and exercising her professional judgment in the performance of her duties," Feldman's lawyer said in the letter. "For all these reasons and with great sadness, Ms. Feldman has concluded that there is no reasonable path by which she will be able to fully perform her duties as City Manager for the duration of her contract."

Among Feldman's allegations against Silverstein, as contained in Cannata's letter:

• He acted in a "hostile, volatile, and unprofessional" manner with Feldman.
• He demanded that Feldman and her staff work "exclusively for him while ignoring their many other duties to the city" through time-consuming document requests.
• He asked for all of Feldman's phone logs, time records and all attorney-client communications for the last five years, among other requests.
• He publicly criticized Feldman's character and professionalism.
• He posted a 100-page human resources complaint against Feldman on his social media platform.

Silverstein has said he does not believe Feldman is fit for the job. But he has denied similar allegations before Cannata sent the letter to Cotti.

Mayor Mikke Pierson said in a Nov. 24 City Council meeting that he felt Silverstein was harassing Feldman. Silverstein responded that he felt the word "harassment" related to discrimination based on identity. He also maintained that Feldman exaggerated the nature and difficulty of his requests and wasted time trying to circumvent them.

The City Council voted 3-2 on Jan. 11 to limit staff time to one hour per week per councilmember on items not on the work plan in response to a last-minute agenda request from Feldman, who wrote that Silverstein's many requests were making it difficult for her staff to do its job.

Silverstein called Feldman's agenda item "nothing less than a childish temper tantrum from a dishonest and duplicitous public servant who refuses to stay in her lane in Malibu's city government" and a "conglomeration of misrepresentations and material omissions."

Silverstein also filed a formal 121-page human resources complaint (including copies of emails) against Feldman with the city's human resources department for what it called "insubordination and also for violation of City Council Policy No. 9, which mandates 'City Services shall be administered with friendliness, firmness and fairness to all.'"

The City Council on Monday will debate two Silverstein proposals on ethics reform and homelessness, two weeks after an acrimonious session full of debate over the ordering of agenda items, the issues discussed above and scores of public comments admonishing Silverstein and the new council for failing to get along. Silverstein's two large proposals, both of which Feldman has said need input from city staff and other attorneys, were supposed to be debated, but after six and a half hours, the proposals were tabled.

Mayor Pierson told Patch he will try his best to get to everything on Monday. "My goal is that we really get back to the business of the city," he said. "We have so many issues that we simply aren't getting to, so I'm going to do what I can to push us forward through the agenda as we start to fall further and further behind."