Third in a series
Re “Salkin Assesses the Fairness of Last Week’s College District Hearing”
[img]898|left|Mark Salkin||no_popup[/img]Mark Salkin, a neighbor of West Los Angeles College for the past quarter-century who is strenuously opposing the school’s likely-to-be-approved growth plans, has a message for the ruling L.A. Community College District trustees:
“They need to wake up because the people representing them in the field are not reporting truth back to them.”
Mr. Salkin, a non-practicing lawyer who knows his way through legal minefields, claims “that was evident” at a public hearing held on July 14 by the District board of trustees.
“I don’t believe the trustees know what is happening here in Culver City. They should get closer to what is going on. They should have direct input from the resident population rather than from their administrative officials. That would be crucial. From what I can see, they are not well informed.”
As one of the hardest-hitting activists in the community, Mr. Salkin sends a much saltier message to the City Council:
“The city needs to stand up to the fact that we (residents) have been pushed around, we have been bullied, we have been lied to, we have been misrepresented to, and West L.A. College has no interest in Culver City.
“Further, the city should sue the college.”
Question: Who is the villain in this latest fight matching City Hall and neighbors on one side, the 41-year-old community college and its latest chief executive on the other?
No hesitation by Mr. Salkin.
“Clearly, Mark Rocha,” he says of the former West President who caught numerous people by surprise almost a month ago when he jumped to the President’s chair at Pasadena City College.
“In his original meeting with us (residents) five years ago, Mark Rocha told us what his plan for the city were going to be,” Mr. Salkin said..
“He has never wavered from that.
“He did not care that we had a Memorandum of Understanding. He unilaterally declared it invalid. He gave his own reasons for the MOU being something he would not live up to, and then he paid no attention to it.”
Is there a reasonable expectation that the petitioners can achieve relief through legal means?
“The question is, who is going to sue?
“One of the documents submitted in this case on behalf of the Culver Crest Neighborhood Assn. is a literal blueprint for a lawsuit against the board of trustees.
“As an attorney, I did some SEQA cases. It is a winning lawsuit. It is a clear hands-down suit. It is not a question of obfuscation or unclear meanings or intents. We have a very clear case, but nobody wants to.”
Because?
“It is expensive, it is time-consuming and involves a lot of paperwork. I don’t know how much it would cost, but I hear several hundred thousand dollars. I think it is money well-spent. The fact the city doesn’t have the money is not a reason not to sue.”
(To be continued)
