The wife of Riverside’s top municipal executive has filed a claim against the city he runs, marking another unusual chapter in a political drama that has roiled the Inland Empire’s largest population center.
Susan Freeman, the wife of City Manager Mike Futrell, filed the claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, on Wednesday. Freeman alleges the city of Riverside violated her rights by investigating her without due process in retaliation for her criticism of public officials. That came after the Riverside City Council sent Freeman a letter alleging she harassed municipal employees, which she denies.
“For anyone who looks carefully at the facts, my claim raises serious questions about whether I became the victim of retaliatory conduct and whether official power was allegedly used to distract from or avoid accountability for serious issues inside City Hall,” Freeman said in a videotaped statement uploaded to YouTube…