Another Comment Worth Its Own Post

Mr. Mike Czako wrote a comment to one of my posts. His comments are more than worthy of having them put on a post of their own.

I will make some comments at the end of Mr. Czako's great, thoughtful and emotional words.

It is with honor that I can elevate Mr. Czako's words to this post.
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Hello all, my name is Mike Czako and I live right here in the Palisades. I do not pretend to be an expert on politics, the LAUSD or the way the "system" works. I am just a local outsider looking in...a person who loves this community who has an opinion to share. This is the first time I am writing in to these blogs...I want to share some thoughts on the Angels Gate school proposal.

When I look at San Pedro I see one of the most beautiful coastal communities in the world. This is a town so rich with history that I have yet to see another community with so much “local” pride. And when you factor in the people, cultures, personalities and jaw-dropping views that come together...this makes San Pedro a wonderful melting-pot of a town and a truly special place.

I am writing in today because I oppose the school being built at Angels Gate. I oppose the fact that it will make Alma totally impassable and will paralyze our neighborhood. I oppose the sports fields that will literally be in our back yards, flooding bright lights and unnecessary noise pollution in our quiet coastal community. I oppose the fact that our already crowded streets will be over-run by more parked cars. And lastly I oppose LAUSD and our town leaders for “telling” us what they are going to do with our community as opposed to asking us.

I know this is a classic case of “nimby” (not in my back yard) / “pimby” (please in my back yard)...and I know that having new schools in the neighborhood can be a great asset to the community. And I want to make sure this point is understood...I want the children of San Pedro to have new schools, with new amenities and technology. I understand that newer schools may have the benefit of attracting better teachers. I want our kids to have the best of the best...they deserve it. BUT it just doesn’t make sense at Angels Gate. The impact on our community would be too much to bear.

The big questions that I do not have answers too is; do we need a new school, and where would we put it? I may be wrong, but I thought there was some talk about putting a new school in the Ponte Vista area?

One other thing I have been asking myself is “What are some other things we can do with that area of Angels Gate? What can we do that will help our community and really leverage everything that Angels Gate has to offer?”

I have two suggestions/case studies;

Lets look at what Manhattan Beach did with the former Metlox Pottery plant. Metlox was an abandoned ceramics factory with prime real estate (heart of Manhattan Beach.) The former plant was close to a main source of travel/tourism (LAX) with spectacular views. Now lets look at Angels Gate, it's an under-utilized portion of Fort MacArthur’s upper reservation. It is close to prime travel/tourism with our cruise ships traveling in and out of our beautiful port. And as we all know, the views at Angels Gate are breathtaking.

The folks in Manhattan Beach tore down the Metlox Plant and built a beautiful hotel and a quaint walk street with a few boutiques, shops and cafes/restaurants. Using that plan in San Pedro I believe it can work. Taking into consideration that most hotel guests will be coming in from the cruise ships, we can offer a shuttle system to and from the harbor therefore minimizing traffic concerns. And as far as the shops/boutiques and cafes are concerned, lets look at the downtown area with all the lofts being built. When these are finished that will bring in a more affluent consumer..lets keep these new people in San Pedro buying goods from us! Lets not have them travel to RPV or Long Beach. We would provide jobs for the people in San Pedro at the hotel and these new, locally owned shops. Can you picture a more perfect day, going to visit the Korean Friendship Bell, and taking a nice stroll to the shops and sitting with family having a great lunch enjoying the views all while supporting our local business’?

Another idea is we follow what our friends in San Francisco did with the Presidio. That also was a military compound with unbelievable views that was in a state of disrepair. They restored the buildings and turned them into residential and commercial spaces. George Lucas even moved his special effects company Industrial Light and Magic there. The Presidio is much larger that Fort MacArthur, but I am curious if we can follow their lead on a smaller scale. How nice would it be to restore such an important part of this town and bring it back to it's original glory. Along with providing housing we can hopefully follow what Lucas did and attract some business to that area. Since San Pedro has had so many movies filmed here and is so rich with Hollywood history can we attract a production company, or some sort of post-production house? This is also a town rich with artists so what if we could attract a video game company or advertising agency? If those ideas don’t feel quite right, I hope you see my point. If we can attract some type of business/industry that will not overwhelm that space provided I believe it can be a win-win for us. With the recent decline in the economy how excellent would it be to have some new business there, that would not only put a demand on housing but bring more people into town supporting our local business’?

Since LAUSD owns that land those ideas may prove to be impossible, and this all may be a mute point. Like I stated earlier, I am no expert on this subject but I just wanted to share a different point of view what some options for that land may be used for. Angels Gate is spectacular..and considering it’s prime real estate in Southern California that area holds endless possibilities and potential. And the one thing they want to use that land for is the worst option for the community...the traffic and parking situation will overwhelm our neighborhood and the lights/noise from the sports fields will disrupt our quiet coastal community. It just seems like such a wasted opportunity that we don’t use that land for something special. We all want to see San Pedro thrive...and yes there are some changes coming to this town, but lets embrace them, and find a way we can all benefit from these new lofts and changes to our port town! Let’s use that space for something that will benefit all of San Pedro.
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Mr. Czako, I very much hope someday, to meet you and shake your hand. Your words should make all of us think so much more about who we are and what San Pedro and the surrounding communities wish to remain.

I am going to include a few facts now, and ask and answer some questions.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is proposing to build South Region High School #15 (SRHS 15), apparently to ease their felling that San Pedro High School is getting over crowded. Mr. Rod Hamilton stated that the current student population at the high school is approaching 3,600 students.

These approximately 3,600 students must use a campus that has "45 portable classrooms" currently.

I graduated from S.P.H.S. in 1973, Between the months of September, 1971 and June, 1972, the student body was made up of the largest three classes in the entire history of that school.
The Mystics, Class of 1972 was the largest class ever to graduate from the school and according to records and their reunion co-ordinator, that class had 1,053 graduates.

I'm a Ke-Alian. My class was the second largest class ever at S.P.H.S., with 958 graduates.

Our friends The Prometheans', Class of 1974, was the third largest class ever, with just 10 fewer graduates than my class had.

When we all attended S.P.H.S. there were approximately 15 or so portable classrooms and the two-story classroom building near the auditorium was years away from being built.

Also, we were a three-year high school at the time.

So let's compare. Between the dates I wrote there were at least 2,959 students attending the high school, and we all know that not all students who attended, graduated.

If the high school had been a four-year high school back when we attended, the approximate student body population would have been in the neighborhood of 3,945 students, having to share a smaller campus, with fewer classrooms than are on that campus today.

But the question still must be asked, do we need another high school in San Pedro, for the L.A.U.S.D.?

On this one, I have to lean towards the 'probably' side of the question.

Has L.A.U.S.D. proven to the parents, taxpayers, students, and others that San Pedro needs a third non-charter high school campus? I haven't heard real proof and I am on all kinds of information lists with the L.A.U.S.D. and since September, 1968, I have had a family member either teach or counsel at that school.

Now if I feel a third non-charter L.A.U.S.D. high school should be built to relieve potential over crowding at S.P.H.S., where should the school go?

Well, there is a sure slam dunk place it really shouldn't go, in my opinion. That location is currently the "preferred site" for SRHS 15, at the former upper reservation of Fort MacArthur.

Unless L.A.U.S.D. is willing to use their right of eminent domain to take two adjacent houses and lots on 30Th Street, there is no way any other reasonable ,realistic, responsible, and respectful access route to or from the "preferred site". Even this dramatic step could not create a better access route than placing the school on some other site, or sites.

Mr. Czako commented on the prospect of building an L.A.U.S.D. high school on the Ponte Vista site. The Facilities Division of L.A.U.S.D. still considers up to 24 acres of area within the fences of the Ponte Vista site, legally as their "preferred site" to build SRHS 14, but they have announced the cancellation of that school.

SRHS 14 originally was to be a 2,025-seat senior high school to ease suggested over crowding of Narbonne and San Pedro High Schools. In May, 2007, L.A.U.S.D. dropped their plans for such a large school and began to consider an 810-seat high school, in which 810-students who normally would have attended Narbonne High School, would have attended.

I must be fair to everyone and acknowledge that there is land that L.A.U.S.D. owns, other than the "preferred site" for SRHS 15.

Cooper High School is the little known and not highly attended L.A.U.S.D. high school, located in northwest San Pedro. Next to the high school is a science center that served many many students for decades.

A am loathe to suggest building a 810- seat high school in northwest San Pedro, but having an L.A.U.S.D. elementary school in my neighborhood of Rancho Palos Verdes, and noting traffic going to Dodson Middle School, also in Rancho Palos Verdes, allows me the leeway to suggest another alternative.

What about moving Cooper High School, which has a very low attendance, and the science center to the Angel's Gate property, that already has some L.A.U.S.D. instruction and campus space already operating?

What could be better than moving the science center to a site overlooking the natural beauty of the Pacific Ocean, almost within walking distance of the White Point Nature Preserve? Of course having a marine wildlife rescue facility near a science center seem a bit too logical for L.A.U.S.D., some of us feel.

I know the Port of L.A. owns the land off of 22nd Street where the old tank farm was. It looks to be at least the 6-8 acres needed to build a small high school like the one envisioned at Ponte Vista, since last May.

See, Mr. Czako, you are not an outsider. You have shown all of us that having a wonderful vision of San Pedro is much more positive than having a negative view of where we love to live.

You have also provide some excellent examples of the reuse of the old Metlox site.

Thank you Mike Czako. You are one of the great reasons why San Pedro may still remain San Pedro for generations to come.

Yes Mike, change is the only constant, but looking beyond where politicians and bureaucrats keep their eyes level at, you can see where your ideas, coupled with the ideas from not just me, but so many others can keep the changes on the positive side of our peninsula.

I am sure, Mr. Czako, you have heard so many folks tell you why something can't happen. But you seem to write about what can happen.

When somebody tells us "it can't be done" I hope we all remember this sad, but almost unbelievable incident that "could not have been done" just 50 years ago.

This morning the Space Shuttle landed. On it was an individual who didn't do something for the first time ever. Unfortunately a son could not be with his mother as she passed away because he was in space, on the International Space Station. I feel so sorry for the son, but I bet his mother was so proud of her son being able to be where he was, when he was, that hopefully, gave her more peace.

Thank you again Mr. Czako, you do San Pedro proud.