Party is Green with envy over $10,000
The LA Green Party isn’t giving up on the $10,000 it claims a city councilman took three years ago, suing Mike Feinstein in small claims court and demanding he return a January 2001 donation intended for the party. Feinstein allegedly deposited the funds into a personal account.
The confusion surrounding the $10,000 check has caused a lot of discomfort for the Green Party, as well as Feinstein. The former Santa Monica mayor has maintained that he used the money to pay rent on an unsanctioned party office on Pico Boulevard. Party officials admit some of the money was used for rent, but said Feinstein still owes them in excess of $6,800.
While one Green Party member’s efforts prompted a police probe of Feinstein in March, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office has decided not to prosecute.
Bill Pietz, the man who wrote the $10,000 check in question, said Thursday that Feinstein ought to give the money back. The donation was intended for the Green Party of LA County and was supposed to be used as members saw fit, presumably to recruit new Greens and pay office expenses, Pietz said.
“I’m completely out of it now,” said Pietz, who quit the party primarily because of the money flap. “In my mind, Mike ought to give the Los Angeles Green Party the funds he misappropriated.”
Feinstein disregarded a request last summer from the state Green Party that he bow out of Green Party business and failed to respond last fall when the LA Green Party asked for its money back. Feinstein did not return calls seeking comment for this story.
Green Party officials said they were left with little choice but to sue.
“He may have spent the money, but he hasn’t accounted for how he spent the money,” said Dave Tait, a County Councilman of the L.A. Green Party. “And if he would do that, we would probably resolve the issue pretty quickly.”
Nancy Pearlman and Joe Crompton, co-coordinators of the LA County Greens, agree.
While the $10,000 dispute plays itself out in a new arena, fellow Green Party member and City Councilman Kevin McKeown said he’s disappointed with the entire ordeal.
“I’m surprised this is back in the papers,” he said. “The Green Party County Council agreed not to publicize it. The small claims court is not a venue for accusation, but for resolution. We don’t want to try this in the press.
“We don’t want Mike’s reputation. We don’t want Mike’s money. We just want our money.”
It’s apparently a less expensive dispute now. The limit for a small claims court award is $5,000.
Kevin McKeown
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 16, 2004. Read the original PDF.