First in a series
Re “Stehlin Will Be Doing the Job Herself”
[img]1994|right|Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin||no_popup[/img]A week ago this afternoon, in the midst of 3½ weeks of dramatic events in the School District since the bond measure campaign was temporarily remanded to the sidelines, the president of United Parents of Culver City announced she would personally deliver a pro-campaign petition to Supt. Dave LaRose.
“I took that as a positive,” Mr. LaRose said this afternoon of Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin’s visit centering on the urgency of placing the bond measure on a ballot.
“Obviously it is a group of individuals supportive of moving ahead. I believe a great majority had indicated their disappointment we weren’t moving ahead quicker.”
Since July 1, the meeting that ended the bond measure campaign for this calendar year, the extremely diplomatic superintendent has summoned his considerable skills as a mediator to effectively erase or blur the fissure in the community between the side that wanted the bond on the next ballot in November and a smaller group that said wait until next year.
The coming months will reveal how successful Mr. LaRose has been. His mantra has been to accent the future, imminent and long-term, treating the past like burnt chicken, odious and useless to taste, much less ponder.
“Our conversation,” he said, “whether with the UPCC or any other group, is how do we not focus on the past, on the process or on a person, and instead focus on that shared objective. We cannot lose sight of that enthusiasm, that energy.
Logical Application?
[img]1551|right|Dave LaRose||no_popup[/img]“As far as I am concerned,” Mr. LaRose said as he prepared to mark the first anniversary of his arrival in Culver City, “if you have a collective body that is very, very committed to seeing this happen, that is very disappointed it didn’t happen in a more expedited fashion, I would expect that as we move ahead, they would be that much more convicted to the desired outcome, not to what led to the delay.
“I take it as a positive because there are so many people deeply invested, who care about our kids, care about the school system, care about the schools, are on the campuses and they see it. They hear it from our students, from their children about our schools and what some of those needs are.
“A lot of those individuals have recent, current intimate experiences of seeing it, feeling it and hearing it in first person, relative to the needs of our schools.
“They will be the best people to help us tell the story to others who don’t have the first-hand experience.”
(To be continued)
