[img]1456|left|Superintendent Dave LaRose||no_popup[/img]In the ninth month of his first year as Superintendent of the School District, Dave LaRose has scored his most important achievement – with an iron guarantee there is more fulfillment to come.
The latest – gently but decisively pushing the long-dormant solar projects toward the skies over Culver City.
This might be credited to a confluence of blind luck-accidental timing-a certain arrangement of the stars-crossed fingers-a stray shamrock-and a disbarred palm reader with a drinking problem in Encinitas.
Or it could be:
His boundless energy, bursting optimism and contagious enthusiasm – amorphous qualities defying quantification – have propelled him and his gutty little army of administrators over a hurdle that had impeded District advocates of progress since the turn of the century.
His differentness – to coin a significant term about another elusive asset in his makeup – is a sensitive part of his unique engine that has overhauled attitudes and carved achievements, as in impressive upgrades.
Dressed for Success
No slave to tradition, Mr. LaRose favors polo shirts for office wear. Everyone, from Oleg Cassini to Matt Kemp, will tell you neckties look dreadful with that piece of casual wear.
However:
It is not necessarily verifiable, but the dramatically revamped mood he seamlessly has established has set a relaxed tone that has accomplished more than the hunched-forward, tight-necked pose found at traditional negotiating tables.
Wednesday afternoon, he pointed out, was the long-awaited symbolic groundbreaking at Helms Field on the campus of Culver City High School.
“The real groundbreaking,” he proudly said, “is happening today.”
Two hours before Mr. LaRose sat down with the newspaper this afternoon, “the Snack Bar was gone. The goalposts were gone. We’re getting after it. We’re getting after the work, and we’re really excited.”
Builders estimate the project will take one or two sips more than 4½ months – roughly – although Mr. LaRose hopes smoothly– the dinner hour on Labor Day.
A projection of “early September” flirts with the opening Culver High football game.
Boldly, Mr. LaRose declares, “The goal is that the first football game at home will be on the new turf.”
He admits that is “cutting it very close. But I have great confidence in the group we are working with.
“They are highly creditable. They have done it before. I have learned to have significant trust as they have helped to facilitate us. They wouldn’t commit to something if they couldn’t deliver.”
(To be continued)
