News of the Arroyo


Title:

Corbell tosses out boarders

Subtitle:

Date:

2005-09-22

Summary:

September 22, 2005 - More trouble at San Pasqual Stables in South Pasadena.

Author:

Gene Maddaus, Staff Writer

Publication:

Pasadena Star-News

Content:

Here\'s how they solved problems in South Pasadena\'s earliest days: You don\'t like it, you can take your horse and leave.

And that\'s still how things are done at the San Pascual Stables. Last week, a handful of equestrians were evicted from the stables for op posing Corbell Partnership\'s bid to renew its lease with the city.

Among them were Richard and Marie Knowles, who established the Arroyo Seco Equestrian Center Foundation to compete with Corbell for the city\'s favor.

\"They\'re interfering with our business,\' said Renato Corzo, gen eral partner of the Corbell Partner ship, which has managed the sta bles since 1978. \"Now the climate is such that we have been forced to take action to separate those people who are not interested in being at San Pascual and being with the Cor bell Partnership.\'

Also tossed: Rosa Hohman, who spoke up in favor of the Knowles\' proposal at last week\'s City Council meeting. Her 13-year-old daughter took riding lessons at the stables. Two days after her mom spoke at the meeting, a manager there re portedly grabbed the reins of her horse, told her to dismount and sent her home, Hohman said.

Richard Knowles said Hohman is \"hot as a two-dollar pistol about this.\'

The girl is practicing for a com petition in October.

\"Her training will be interrupt ed,\' Hohman said. \"Now we have no place to go.\'

Knowles said he was not sur prised that his horses were evicted, but he didn\'t like that his support ers were thrown out as well.

\"We think it\'s probably a good thing for our horses if we\'re not there while this gets settled,\' he said.

Asked what he had done to dis rupt the business, Knowles said: \"I have no earthly idea. We\'re there as normal boarders. I go down there every night to tuck the boys in and take them an apple. If people ask me a question, I answer it. If that\'s dis ruptive, that\'s disruptive. ... We don\'t post signs. We don\'t run around hollering at people.\'

Corzo said those boarders who have a problem with management should bring the issue to Corbell\'s attention before going to the City Council.

\"Complaints are always wel come,\' he said. \"If they go to the council, and they voice an opinion that is factual, and they have voiced that factual opinion to us prior to going to council, and given us a chance to cure whatever it is they\'re complaining about, I\'d take that. It\'d be welcome. That was not the purpose of those complaints.\'

The purpose of the complaints, indeed, was to get the City Council to change management companies. But by retaliating against their op ponents, hasn\'t Corbell made a change more, not less, likely?

After all, the council has an inter est in hearing honest and unfiltered testimony and is unlikely to want to reward companies who intimidate those who give it.

\"This is just a horrible imposi tion on the democratic process,\' said Councilman Philip Putnam. \"I can\'t imagine what these people were thinking when they did that.\'


Gene Maddaus can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4444, or by e-mail at gene.maddaus@sgvn.com.



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