Fourth in a series
Re “The Legal Mom and the Planet Granite CEO Have a Shmooze”
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Skating pals of Hayden Paige, second from left in middle row. Top row, from left, Crystalrose Guerra, Melissa Rosales, Chloe Gradilla, Alexa Lewis. Middle row, Rachel Dolan, Ms. Paige, Zazi Ebert-Byrnes, Alexandria Silverman, Cassie Guerra. Bottom row, Lili Burrows, Isabella Healy, Sofia Healy.
After weeks of acerbically negative coverage of the last days of the Culver City Ice Arena, the man in the Center Seat remains the least known and maybe most heavily criticized figure in the failure of the rink.
John Jackson, for the last seven years owner of the building that housed the late rink, turned 78 years old on Tuesday, is quiet spoken, understated, and seems thrilled to remain miles from the spotlight.
But he could not escape permanently.
Mindy Paige, a proud and determined skating mother who has been bringing her daughter Hayden to the arena for the past five years, was engaged in warm but not friendly conversation with Mr. Jackson in the middle of Sunday afternoon, Closing Day after 52 years.
Mr. Jackson looked up as a visitor approached and said, “she blames me for the rink closing.”
Ms. Paige, a prosecutor who is grittily determined that the ice rink will reopen for her 11-year-old daughter and thousands of other regulars, demurred at the time.
But after pondering the depth of the closure, Ms. Paige, the Legal Mom, issued the harshest charge heard yet against Mr. Jackson.
“He is a complete selfish jerk,” she said. “He does not seem to care about others, including his entire staff.
“The staff has been extremely loyal to him. They have made him a lot of money over the years, and he has not treated them very well.
“It's really sad that the actions of one man can ruin something that is so valuable and important to a community.”
(To be continued)
