Friends of Malibu Urgent Care say Ozzie Silna owes the group $75,000 over the next three years. Silna says he does not because Friends did not satisfy its end of the deal.
By Jonathan Friedman/Staff Writer
Malibu Community Action Network Activist Ozzie Silna has declined to make a second contribution of $25,000 to Friends of Malibu Urgent Care despite pledging in 2002 to make payments of that amount for four years. Silna said his reasoning is that the president of Friends’ board of directors, Michael Klein, did not meet his end of the bargain, which was to not be involved with the Malibu Bay Company (MBC) Development Agreement. Klein said he did fulfill his commitment, and said he wished Silna would do the same.
Silna said in December 2002 he met with Klein about donating money to Friends of Malibu Urgent Care, the nonprofit organization that raises money to keep Malibu’s urgent care center open. Silna agreed to give $100,000 over a four-year period, and wrote the first check for $25,000 later that month. Silna said the one stipulation with his donation was that his money could not be tied to the MBC Development Agreement, because he said it was a concern to him since the urgent care center is on MBC property.
“I did not want to compromise where I stood, since I was opposed to the agreement,” said Silna, who was one of the leaders in the campaign against the agreement, which was rejected by Malibu voters in November.
Klein acknowledged the neutrality request was a part of the deal, and he said he honored Silna’s request. Silna said that is not
the truth, citing two incidents
as evidence. An advertisement appeared in the newspapers, paid for by the MBC, while the agreement was before the Planning Commission, which included a new urgent care facility as a reason for people to support the agreement. Then, when the agreement was before the City Council in July, Klein spoke to the council. According to the minutes of the July 22 meeting, Klein “asked the council to seriously consider favorably (sic) the Development Agreement with respect to the urgent care.”
“I felt like I was betrayed,” Silna said.
Klein said he never took a stance on the development agreement and neither did the board as a whole, although some board members were public supporters of the agreement, including Marlene Matlow.
In December 2003, Klein sent an e-mail to Silna requesting the second donation of $25,000. Silna said he did not respond to the e-mail, still upset about the circumstances. Klein sent a second e-mail to Silna on Jan. 25 stating, “I am not going to remind or ask you again to make good on your pledge to the urgent care clinic.”
Silna said he contacted Klein through e-mail, asking to meet with him. Klein responded by stating he has met with Silna a great deal, but has no interest to “get into local politics [with Silna] anymore.” When speaking with The Malibu Times, Klein said he is still of that opinion.
“I have had multiple lengthy meetings with Mr. Silna where I’ve sat and listened for hours at a time,” Klein said. “I’ve had the last of those meetings. All we ask is that Mr. Silna live up to his contractual obligations. No more meetings are necessary.”
Silna said, besides being upset with the content of the second
e-mail, he was also disappointed that Klein chose e-mail as the form of communication.
“Here’s a guy that solicited me and doesn’t want to even meet with me,” Silna said. “He just sends this e-mail.”
Silna said he wants to make sure people know what he says is the full story of why he did not immediately make the second payment of $25,000, because he said he does not believe Klein has bothered to do so.
“He is trying to make me look like a bad guy by not giving the full representation of our agreement,” Silna said.
Silna’s attorney, Abraham Rudy, sent a letter to Klein on Friday stating that Klein had broken his end of the deal, and that Silna had a concern Klein had not fully informed the other board members of the agreement’s terms. Rudy further wrote, “He [Silna] has been relieved of any responsibility for further payment to the Friends of Malibu Urgent Care under the terms of his pledge.”
Rudy added that Silna has no intention of asking for the first payment of $25,000 to be returned. Silna said he has not thought about whether he will eventually pay the remaining $75,000. Klein declined to comment on whether he would pursue legal action to obtain the money.