Jaffe’s Name in the Super Derby

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

      Early speculation on a successor to the retiring School Dist. Supt. Dr. Laura McGaughey is centering on Patty Jaffe, a longtime administrator in the District.
      Other names have been mentioned, but she is attracting most of the attention.
      A division of opinion over Ms. Jaffe’s qualifications may complicate the issue.
      Supporters say that her lengthy and positive work record in the District, mainly as principal of the beribboned Middle School, was properly rewarded this year when she was promoted to District headquarters.

A New Look for Sepulveda?

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

      Hometown redevelopment — in all of its projected glory, accompanied, inevitably, by a web of more problematic qualities —may be coming to the commercially-based west side of Sepulveda Boulevard in the southerly section of Culver City.
      Don’t look for changes tomorrow or next year. Neither a clock nor an hourglass is capable of measuring the still-remote time from birth to blooming. A calendar is more like it, one that will unroll and stretch out to possibly five to ten years from now.

            All that seems certain at this early, eye-rubbing stage is that redevelopment of the aging business district is inevitable. It also is largely welcome.

First Interview About New Chief

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

      [Editor’s Note: As a service to readers, thefrontpageonline.com presents a blow-by-blow account of an interview with Mayor Albert Vera, the leader of the City Council, very early Wednesday. On the morning after the Council, under a blanket of secrecy, sorted through three candidates for Police Chief — Don Pedersen, Hank Davies and Jacqueline Seabrooks — the purpose of the newspaper’s visit was to learn the outcome of the vote.]
 
      The Front Page: We have a new Police Chief.
      Albert Vera: Boy, the world travels fast.
      TFP: Tell me what reasoning went into your vote? Why did you vote for a…?
      A.V.: It was a very difficult decision to make. I think the Council chose the three best finalists out of the sixty-seven applications. We looked, I looked for leadership.  Let me put it in numbers. If the score was 99.9, there was 99.9 and a half and 99.9 and a quarter. That was the difference.

McGaughey’s Farewell Address

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

      In the wake of Dr.Laura McGaughey’s retirement as Superintendent of the School District — announced yesterday by thefrontpageonline.com — she penned the following farewell letter to the community:
 
      When I began my career as an elementary school teacher at Middleton Street School in Huntington Park, I had no idea of the incredible educational journey that was before me.
      The wonderful experiences I have had as a teacher on elementary school, middle school and high school campuses, as well as my administrative roles as a Principal, Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent, have been extraordinary.

New Chief Hired — Vera Criticized

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

      With the trumpets of fanfare strategically muffled, the gapingly divided City Council on Tuesday night selected a darkhorse, Don Pedersen, the Police Chief of Signal Hill, as the next Police Chief of Culver City.
      Against the strains of sinister background music, not a strand of celebration was visible yesterday.
      No one around a somber, tight-lipped City Hall was in a mood to talk on the record about the three-to-two vote. In the bright sunshine of early spring, the visages were as foreboding as deepest winter.

The unexpected selection provoked only questions and bitterly encrusted accusations.
      The rooting sections of the other two finalists, Asst. Chief Hank Davies of Culver City and  Capt. Jacqueline  Seabrooks of Santa Monica, were disappointed, some said stunned.

McGaughey Retirement ‘a Done Deal’

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

      School District Supt. Dr.Laura McGaughey, long a lightning rod for the District although she never was known for being personally controversial, is retiring, thefrontpageonline.com has learned.
      “It is a done deal,” said an official.
      A successor is expected to be in place within a hundred and twenty days, and the choice may be made from inside.
      Dr. McGaughey’s decision will bring to a close a nine-year career that largely went unremarked — until the present School Board took office four years ago.
      Since then, mention of the superintendent, especially her rollover contract, has been a staple of School Board meetings.

Culver Protestors to Return Friday

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

• See Cary Anderson’s Photos from Monday’s Protest on Photo Page
 
      At a student assembly yesterday, political activists at Culver City High School finalized elaborate plans for emphatically restating their protest on Friday afternoon of immigration bills facing Congress this week.
      Teacher Jose Montero said the strategy is “an action plan.”

      Led by student protest organizer Oscar Vargas, president of Latinos Unidos, Gerardo Salmeron, Vice President of the Christian Club, Menelik Tafari, president of Student Activists, and John Seizer, they convened in the Robert Frost Auditorium at 11 a.m.

O’Leary Once Was an Illegal Alien

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

     City Council candidate Mehaul O’Leary detonated a blockbuster announcement yesterday.
With a large dollop of irony, one day after Culver City High School students marched to protest potential tightening of immigration laws, Mr. O’Leary appeared to abruptly win their affection by revealing that he once was an illegal alien.
     Aided by a highly unusual development in the politics-driven culture of immigration, Mr. O’Leary straightened out his status in the early 1990s, a little more than four years after landing in the U.S. from his native Ireland.
     At a Candidates Forum on Tuesday at Culver High, Mr. O’Leary, far from ducking the sensitive illegal alien issue, wedged his way into answering a question that was only directed at a rival.

Malsin Backer Encourages Friends

temp61Letters

     I urge all of my friends and colleagues, and all residents who care about the future of Culver City, to vote for Scott Malsin for City Council on April 11.
     Scott backs up what he says and has truly gotten a lot done in this city, with over twelve years of activism under his belt. He knows the issues and talks in specifics, not with broad strokes and easy answers.

Student Protestors March to City Hall

Ari L. NoonanOP-ED

• Protest Photos by Cary Anderson on Photo Page
 
      Rhythmically chanting “Si Si Puede!”  (Yes, We Can) and “Viva la Raza!” (Long Live the People), hundreds of mostly Latino students from four high schools — Culver City, Culver Park, Venice and Hamilton — marched on City Hall at 10:30 on Monday morning to protest pending immigration legislation as Congress began voting on it yesterday.
      Off and on, the marchers stayed for several hours, until leaders were reasonably certain their message had been imprinted on the minds of everyone important within hearing distance.
      One student organizer, Oscar Vargas of Culver City High School, told thefrontpageonline.com that the purpose of the march “is to show the people of Culver City and the people of Los Angeles that we believe the legislation in Congress is a crime against humanity. I hope they hear us all the  way to Washington.”