A Taste of Staleness
Once Ms. Bozzi signed off with this newspaper on Friday, Aug. 18, the language of the school — like moldy bread — began to harden. The humble “miscommunication” strategy of last week morphed into outright arrogance this week. Chris Jones, the Academy’s lawyer, told the Culver City Star and the Culver City Observer that the Redevelopment Agency’s order to cease-and-desist within 90 days was just a blip. The Academy has been scouting other locations anyway, Mr. Jones said. Being thrown out into the street just accelerates the plans, he said. This reminds me of what the slug said after he was canned: “I was going to quit anyway.” Of course. If the Academy had worked its fingers signing documents as laboriously as it worked its jaws, this self-inflicted embarrassment could have been avoided. Someone associated with the school is guilty of a muddy quirk in his character.
Softening the Blow
Immediately after the Redevelopment Agency voted 3 to 2 last Monday night to evict the school, Vice Mayor Alan Corlin urged his colleagues to attach a 90-day grace period. On the grounds the students, their families and the administrators of the Star Prep Academy are “our people,” they deserve sensitive treatment, Mr. Corlin argued successfully. After inspecting the school’s reaction to the Agency verdict, I asked Mr. Corlin if he still would offer the same generous peace terms. The new school year is scheduled to begin in 11 days. The Vice Mayor did not need to ponder. “Yes,” he said, “I would make the same recommendation even if I knew they were just jerking us around. You want to be real sure in this kind of situation you put pressure on the right people. To squeeze the school out immediately would place an undue hardship on students and their families.”
Postscript
The trouble with a characterilogical problem is that it is invisible. This makes it tantalizingly tempting for the defective defendant to deny. I have heard wonderful stories all week about the Bozzi family, about their sincerity, their talents, their commitments, how Katia Bozzi’s Star Education program has grandly helped students in 49 separate communities. Totaled up and multiplied by two, these sterling qualities fail to outweigh the dreadful stain the school willfully, foolishly has placed across its now shoddy resume.