Fifth in a series
Re “Blistering Critique of Arena’s CEO, Little-Known Jackson”
[img]2440|right|||no_popup[/img]Here is further (probably unneeded) evidence that angry, distressed skaters now shut out of the closed Culver City Ice Arena are determined not to just shrug and walk to the next available rink.
Recalling her cell phone conversation last month with Planet Granite CEO Micky Lloyd, skating mom Mindy Paige said he told her that he and his staff have been besieged by “hundreds of phone calls, emails, Facebooks (from upset skating fans). Their messages ranged from speaking kindly all the way up to threats, including staff members at his various (Planet Granite) facilities.”
Ms. Paige said Mr. Lloyd “asked me if I would put myself in a position to ask everybody to stop.”
With a laugh, the Legal Mom replied “Absolutely not.
“I told him I would promise him I would not make any comments that I thought were inappropriate.
“But I would not put myself in a position to tell other people what to do. He did understand that.”
Ms. Paige, a West L.A. resident who has been bringing her 11-year-old daughter Hayden to the Ice Arena since she turned six, said she has been huddling with other skating moms, hoping to birth creative, pragmatic ideas for somehow retrieving the rink.
She hopes her group can make inroads while the next lessee, Planet Granite and landlord Mike Karagozian decide on the cleanest route through and out of the current morass.
Ms. Paige, a prosecutor, said she “explained to the City Council the importance of having a facility like this for the youths to stay out of trouble. I presented to the Council a letter from the chief of the Pasadena Police Dept., where he was in agreement that the ice rink is a safe place for kids to go on weekends. Parents Love it because they can drop their kids off and know they are going to be safe and have a good time.”
(To be continued)
