The following email arrived at 8:16 a.m., September 19.

Statement of Alan Epstein of Ocean Avenue, LLC, owner of the Miramar Hotel

“Like many of us of who live and work in Santa Monica, we have been watching the recent dispute regarding the Wilmont Neighborhood Council board of directors and hope that the dispute is soon settled amicably. In the spirit of full disclosure and to help resolve these disputes, we call on all parties in the Wilmont board dispute to disclose all of their funders to the Santa Monica public.”

Alan Epstein is the primary spokesperson for Ocean Avenue, LLC, owner of the Miramar. However, the email was presumably written and sent to us by Adam Englander, a public relations man.

Its purpose seems to be to deny that Epstein and/or his employer, the Miramar, have funded the Wilmont “dispute,” without actually denying it. while hinting (“all” the parties…“all” their funders ) that the Huntley is backing the Wilmont dissidents).

Moments after the non-denial denial arrived, we found
 a letter, dated September 19, in SURF Santa Monica. It purports to be from the “Wilmont board,” but since no one seems to know who’s on the board, we can only assume it’s from Valerie Griffin. 


September 19, 2012



Dear Editor:

Questions about Wilmont’s payment of legal fees have been raised by people who are not members of the organization. The fees are being paid from a Wilmont account set up to handle legal expenses which have been incurred to preserve the integrity of the organization (“Santa Monica Neighborhood Group Has Private Donor,” August 18, 2012).

The fees are being paid by donors who believe loss of Wilmont’s independent voice and actions would harm Santa Monica and the people who call it home.

Anyone who wishes to help defray these expenses may contact the organization.
As a nonprofit organization, we do not have an obligation to disclose the names of our individual donors, and we respect the privacy of those individuals.

In order to put certain speculations to rest, we will disclose that no contributions have been requested or made from any hotel, developer, or public relations organizations. Further, accusations by certain non-members that our organization is in violation of the law because it has not provided information about our donors is false. The California corporation’s code requires that a member or director may inspect our records if they make a request in writing, at a reasonable time, and that information must be reasonably related to that individual’s interest as a member.

To date, no member has requested to inspect our books in writing. Furthermore, we would need to evaluate what purpose any request made would serve before providing that information.

 At a recent event, Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition (Wilmont) announced that Wilmont’s Annual Meeting will be held on October 20. At that time, elections for two Board positions whose terms are expiring will be conducted in accordance with the organization’s Bylaws. The Wilmont Chair did not volunteer the time or location, and no one asked. Further information will be made available as part of the required membership notification.



(signed) Wilmont Board

The “integrity of the organization” was pretty much shattered by Griffin’s announcement at the first hearing on the Miramar expansion that Wilmont welcomed it, and another Wilmont member noted later in the hearing that, in fact, many Wilmont members opposed the Miramar plans, but Griffin had ignored them.

The primary point of Griffin’s letter seems to be that though many people want to know the source of the legal fees, “no member has requested to inspect our books in
writing,” as required by law.

Of course, they haven’t. Griffin expelled all the members months ago for trying to hold the annual election.