Second of two parts
Re “Rocha Blamed for Closing College Track ‘Out of Spite’”
Lawyer and community activist John Kuechle is one of the happiest residents of Culver City since West Los Angeles College finally re-opened its campus running track to neighbors earlier this week after an 18-month shutdown he believes was of questionable virtue.
Access to the track — presumably under construction for a large chunk of the down time, according to the college — was restored six months after the controversial Dr. Mark Rocha resigned as President to go to Pasadena City College in a similar role.
Mr. Kuechle said the President arbitrarily closed the track to residents “out of spite” after a protracted dispute with neighbors over whether West was carrying out agreed-upon changes following a construction-related Environmental Impact Report.
At first, Mr. Kuechle, a daily runner, gravely doubted the need for keeping the track dark for half a year after Dr. Rocha’s departure.
“But reasonable people can disagree,” he said of the succeeding administration.
“On Wednesday, the first day the track was to be open again, two of the gates leading to the track still were locked, and one of the gates had a sign saying ‘Track Closed.’”
Immediately, Mr. Kuechle dialed the office of Charles Herbertson, Public Works Director for the city, and as he has shown in recent months, a master negotiator representing City Hall against West L.A. College’s interests.
A Positively Marked Man
“Charles Herbertson is the hero of this story,” Mr. Kuechle said. “He is the reason the track is open today. His office called the college, and yesterday morning both gates were open.
“The college’s new administration is like night-and-day when compared with Mark Rocha, based on what they did Wednesday, and acting with very good motives. That is a refreshing step in the right direction.”
Mr. Kuechle expanded on the placid, quiet-spoken Mr. Herbertson’s part in this volatile drama with a years’ long history.
“Last spring, a few weeks before Rocha announced he was leaving, the city became fed up with the college for a whole host of reasons, one of which was the track and another was violation of a Settlement Agreement the college and city had entered into about five years ago,” he said. “The city set up a series of meetings to try and resolve the entire Environmental Impact Report and various agreements that had been entered into.”
Principal parties were crisscrossing as the meetings got under way. Mainly they were going out the door.
Enter Herbertson
Dr. Rocha was making plans in May to jump from West’s campus, Mark Scott had departed in April as City Manager; Lamont Ewell came in on an interim basis, and his time expired before the meetings were completed.
“Meanwhile,” said Mr. Kuechle, the Los Angeles Community College board and their advisors “were treating Rocha’s immediate temporary successor as a marionette and telling her what to say.
“Into the middle of this morass stepped Charles Herbertson. He got people together, and soon they reached a Settlement Agreement. Neither side got everything they wanted, but it was a huge step in the right direction.
“Then, unlike what we have been able to do the last five years — three times in the past we have gotten the college to agree, but then the next step of having the college do what it said it would, that always has been the tough part.
“Charles and his office really have been heroic in following up. When there has been an issue, they have called the college and said, ‘You agreed to do this, and you have to do it.’
“Charles has gotten good responses from the college. Part of the reason is the new administration of Dr. Rose Joyce is more willing to act reasonably, but a lot of it,” said Mr. Kuechle, “is because Charles has done a terrific job.”
