Parks and Rec Reverses Course, Adds to Pershing Square Management
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Pershing Square's organizational chart is getting a shake-up, but it's not the one the community had been upset by just days ago.
This morning, top officials from Recreation and Parks appeared at a meeting of the Pershing Square Park Advisory Board to tell the community that Recreation Director Louise Capone would be staying, and that the park would be getting a new facilities manager, Ann Vollmer.
Department of Recreation and Parks General Manager John Mukri attended the early morning meeting to soothe strained relations between members of the advisory board and the department. He stressed that the changes represented a new beginning for how the park's management will relate to the neighborhood.
Mukri told the Advisory Board that he left Capone at Pershing Square after calling her and asking what she would prefer. Capone chose to stay at the park, citing unfinished business that she hoped to see accomplished.
Vollmer comes to Pershing Square after spending the last ten years managing citywide projects for the department. Most recently she was in charge of overseeing a therapeutic program for seniors. Vollmer has been working for the parks department for 39 years, 32 of those in a full-time capacity.
Though focused on Pershing Square, the meeting did include discussion of the new Historic Core park announced yesterday. Mukri said that he hopes to see additional purchases take place. "I'm not going to stop acquisitions with the downturn in the economy," he told the group.
Vollmer officially starts at Pershing Square on Wednesday. Her office will be in the first level of the garage.
Marc Loge on January 16, 2009, at 09:51AM – #1
So glad to hear that Louise Capone is staying ... Louise, you are doing a great job! You are a class act and your programming is always a class act. Most of all, you keep trying, you seem to be an endless source of new ideas and you are willing to spend your personal capital to bring top entertainment/exhibitions to Pershing Square where the parks capital (budget) falls short. Thank you.
Congratulations to the Pershing Square Park Advisory Board - you are the voice of our community and you were defiantly heard ... you are doing a great job!
To the Department of Recreation and Parks General Manager John Mukri, thank you for listening and showing up in person to mend relations with the board ... very brave, you are doing a great job!
The current downtown residents are the pioneers in this urban experiment in Los Angeles. It hasn't been easy. We are used to fighting for everything down here ... taking our streets back one block at a time ... how refreshing to have all the parties come together, listen to the concerns and act immediately to help us! REFRESHING!