Mitchell remains despite Council split
Planning Commissioner Marc Mitchell, who has been accused of threatening Mayor Bill Brand, will retain his seat on the city’s development body following an impassioned, deeply divided vote by the Redondo Beach City Council.
Council members Christian Horvath, Laura Emdee and John Gran voted to continue a discussion to remove Mitchell to a later meeting, following the completion of a Redondo Beach Police incident report.
“I believe in due process, I believe we live in the United States of America, where people are innocent until they are proven guilty,” Horvath said. “It’s important to hear all sides of the reporting.”
Council members Nils Nehrenheim and Todd Loewenstein vehemently disagreed, professing deep disappointment in their fellow council members.
“Physical intimidation and threats, you should have no tolerance for that,” Loewenstein said to his colleagues. “If the shoe were on the other foot, you guys being intimidated and the guy was on my side, I wouldn’t hesitate to make sure that person was removed.”
Nehrenheim went a step further, calling for Mitchell’s resignation.
“Where is Mitchell, in person, to apologize like a man, like a person who cares about this community?” Nehrenheim said. “To say to [us] hey, I screwed up, I said a lot of things I shouldn’t have said, and I don’t want the community to go through this painful process.”
At last Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Brand accused Mitchell of making a threat during a Commissioners reception held on Nov. 3. Mitchell allegedly told Brand, “Where I come from, people like you end up in strange places.”
“I was taken aback — did that guy just threaten me?” Brand recalled, before stating that Mitchell and his wife continued verbally harassing him at the event.
After speaking with members of the Council and with City Attorney Michael Webb, Brand filed an incident report with RBPD on Monday, Nov. 6.
Brand’s account was backed up by a statement sent by resident Christina Correa, who was in attendance on Nov. 3 and witnessed pieces of Brand and Mitchell’s interactions.
“Months ago, Mark [sic] Mitchell told me to tell my friend Bill Brand that he wanted to punch Bill in the face,” wrote Jim Kennedy, a one-time candidate for the Water Replenishment District Board, in a letter to the Council. “I ignored him because Mitchell is always trying to bully me.”
Emdee took a cautious approach to the discussion, framing the “optics” of Mitchell’s removal in the context of Brand and Mitchell’s contentious relationship.
Brand has long advocated against Mitchell’s placement on Planning Commission. Mitchell is a Vice President with Cerrell Associates, a firm that has handled public relations for developers that have attempted to build in Redondo Beach.
Mitchell has clarified that he has recused himself from discussions including Cerrell clients that came before Planning Commission.
As a councilman, Brand voted against Mitchell’s appointment. As Mayor, he attempted to move Mitchell from Planning to the Historical Commission.
“From the optics, you’ve been going after him, so because of that, it feels like a bit of a witch hunt,” Emdee said.
In a letter Mitchell sent to Councilman John Gran explaining his absence from the night’s meeting, he explained he was unable to attend due to a previous engagement.
“It was never my intent to make Mayor Brand feel threatened or uncomfortable. I’m sorry he felt that way,” Mitchell wrote. “The suggestion that I was trying to physically or verbally intimidate the Mayor…is, not in my nature and is untrue.”
Gran felt that the issue between Brand and Mitchell is a personal matter, and could be solved with a short face-to-face meeting between the two.
“Because that’ll fix the problem,” Nehrenheim responded. “We’re not in a court of law; we’re up here to decide someone to represent the city.”
Nehrenheim’s motion to remove Mitchell failed, two votes against three. Horvath’s motion to continue the item until the first Tuesday after the police report is available passed, three to two.
“I don’t need an apology, I think he should be gone,” Brand said following the vote. “With that, I’ll say that if anything happens to the Mayor, the police will have a good lead.”