Center’s Quixotic Director Jousts With Horse Owners

In the words of comedian Rodney Dangerfield, J. Albert Garcia faced a “tough crowd, tough crowd” on Friday.

Garcia, president of the financially embattled Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Griffith Park, smiled weakly as he spoke to a crowd of horse boarders and riders, explaining how his plans to convert rental stalls to horse “condominiums” and to build a medieval restaurant with jousting matches were critical to the survival of the center.

“I’m telling you the truth, that if these plans are not approved, there will be a foreclosure of the center,” said Garcia, his soft voice quavering.

Garcia then listened with a pained expression for more than an hour as members of the audience attacked his proposal, accusing him of mismanagement and trying to turn the center into an “equine Disneyland.”

Being on the receiving end of criticism is not an uncommon position for the 60-year-old Garcia. In the eight years that his company, Equestrian Centers of America, has leased the center from the city of Los Angeles, his approach to turning the debt-ridden center into a profitable venture has been controversial.

But even Garcia seemed surprised by the vehement public challenge to what he called his last-ditch effort to save the equestrian center from bankruptcy and foreclosure.

Boarders are fearful that they will be forced out of the center or that their horses will be confined to less desirable stalls if they refuse to buy condos for $30,000. They are also opposed to the restaurant, saying it would cause congestion and rob their horses of needed riding space.

City officials said the plans may forever change the integrity and character of what should be a public recreation facility accessible to all.

Los Angeles officials and riders have praised Garcia for turning the center into one of the finest of its kind in the country. But his more creative and unusual efforts to bring the center publicity and revenue have raised doubts about his business judgment and management skills.

Those strategies have been called bold and unorthodox, and have included rock concerts during polo matches, a proposal for a 300-room hotel and plans for a health club with a jogging track and eight tennis courts, as well as a failed association with Patrick Terrail, founder of the trendy Ma Maison restaurant in West Los Angeles, who briefly ran the upscale Riding and Polo Club restaurant at the center.

Throughout the criticism, which intensified last week, Garcia has remained optimistic and committed to bringing the center out of debt. The center, on the border of Glendale, Los Angeles and Burbank, sought protection from creditors in 1984 under Chapter 11 of the U. S. Bankruptcy Code, and Garcia owes the city more than $600,000 in back rental. The center has lost up to $20 million in the last six years, Garcia said.

“I’ve made up my mind, because what we’ve done is so worthwhile,” the embattled executive said in an interview last week. “This place has cost me so much in my family and personal life. I’m a stubborn fighter. I’m not going to let anyone push me around or put me down.”

But the strain of the attacks apparently began to take its toll as the week wore on. Late Thursday afternoon, Garcia accused James E. Hadaway, general manager of the city Recreation and Parks Department, of trying to sabotage the condo plan and the restaurant proposal, which is part of a reorganization plan now being considered by the city.

“Hadaway has a total commitment to see this place buried,” said Garcia, talking so rapidly that he was sometimes difficult to understand. “Hadaway has had a total adversarial attitude against me and this place from day one. I’m taking the gloves off. No more Mr. Nice Guy.”

Only a few hours earlier, Garcia had pleaded with the same listener--a newspaper reporter--to tone down accounts of similar remarks Garcia had made about Hadaway in an interview the day before. Those remarks, he said, might further prejudice Hadaway against the financial reorganization.

But, later in the afternoon, Garcia’s tone changed. He said he found out that Hadaway was meeting with some of his business associates without telling him.

“This has become personal,” Garcia said. “He’s coming dangerously close to killing my financing. The man is out to get me, and he’s going above and beyond the call of duty to do it. I’m going after him.”

Under Garcia’s reorganization plan, a Los Angeles-based financing firm, Trafalgar Holdings Ltd., would loan the center $12.3 million. About $9 million of that would pay off an existing debt to Gibraltar Savings of Beverly Hills.

Trafalgar Holdings Ltd. is headed by Charles W. Knapp, a flamboyant and controversial businessman who formerly headed Financial Corp. of America, once regarded as one of the most respected institutions in the savings-and-loan industry. Knapp, in 1984, was forced to resign from that firm by industry regulators because of what they said were reckless lending practices.

Doubts about the reorganization plan have included questions into Garcia’s motives and character. Boarders and nearby residents said he tried to conceal the plan for the condos and restaurant and gain city approval without telling them. One boarder said Garcia snapped at her two weeks ago when she asked about rumors that the rental stalls were to be converted. He told her there were no such plans, the boarder said.

Despite several pitches and pleas by Garcia--whom a former business associate described as so charming that “he could sell ice to the Eskimos in the dead of winter”--many boarders seemed to remain unconvinced. Garcia, however, said late in the week that he had received calls from 152 people who wanted to buy the stalls.

Garcia’s charm and determination to turn the center around have helped persuade Los Angeles city officials to have patience with him. Some, however, question his ideas and his management style.

Garcia Praised

“Al Garcia has put up an incredibly beautiful facility, and that’s why the mayor and other officials have put up with all the problems out there this long,” said Richard J. Riordan, president of the city Recreation and Parks Commission.

“We would like to help him save the center, but that doesn’t mean we can agree with everything he suggests, especially when it’s not in the best interests of the city.”

Commissioner Mary D. Nichols said Garcia’s proposal “goes beyond waste and goes beyond the scope of what the City Charter defines as an appropriate use of parkland. The problem is that the city allowed Mr. Garcia to get in way over his head, and he has spent more money than he could possibly recoup through the operation of that center just as an equestrian center. So what do we do now?”

Asked about the skepticism of officials and riders, Garcia spoke softly but firmly.

“My primary duty is to the creditors and the shareholders,” he said. “I want to see my creditors get paid, and I have to see to it that the shareholders get a fair shake for their dollar. The boarders and others come second. These people want to be consulted on everything.”

Garcia, who filed personal bankruptcy in 1984, said he has devoted his whole life to the center--”seven-day weeks, 16-to-18-hour days. I’ve always said this place needs a magician, not a manager.”

His luxurious office holds several personal mementos: a handmade cart from Latin America, where he built low-cost housing; statues from Peru; pictures from past polo matches.

He tried to fend off questions about past business ventures, pulling out a short biography done last year by Town and Country magazine. Garcia said he got his business training at Columbia University and Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. He said he founded the shrimping industry in Latin America, as well as the first marble and rock-salt industries in the Dominican Republic.

Before he took control of the equestrian center, Garcia headed Diversified Earth Sciences, where he managed 21 merger-and-acquisition deals in a two-year period, he said.

“If I wasn’t doing what I do now, I would be engaged in some kind of merger and acquisition business,” he said. “I could be doing a lot better than I’m doing now.”

A burly man who often dresses in “Members Only” Windbreakers, Garcia seemed to enjoy talking about the center. Ironically, he has never ridden there. “Not enough time,” he said with a laugh.

Lance Walters, whose real estate company was one of the original limited partners to invest in the center, said Garcia was an “up-front businessman, straightforward and an excellent promoter. He’s a real charmer. He becomes very excited when discussing a new aspect of the center.

“He’s put his heart and soul into the center. It’s just that the cost of the operation was much more than anyone anticipated.”

Despite the fact that he turned the center into a nationally respected horse showplace without any help or subsidy from the city, Garcia said the center is the unloved stepchild of Los Angeles-owned recreation facilities, which include Griffith Park, the Los Angeles Zoo and the Greek Theatre.

He blamed Hadaway for the slight. “My biggest regret is that I had not met the present general manager, Mr. Hadaway, when I took over the center,” Garcia said. “If I had, I would not have gone ahead in any way.”

Last week, Garcia said Hadaway made it clear that he did not like the reorganization plan.

“He’s meeting with my creditors and my investors behind my back,” Garcia said. “He’s impugning my character. He’s chilling my deals. He’s interfering with my business opportunities.”

Hadaway’s vendetta, Garcia said, was similar to his campaign against Los Angeles Zoo Director Warren D. Thomas.

Hadaway fired Thomas in June of 1986, charging that Thomas used racial slurs around zoo employees, improperly handled animal transactions and used zoo supplies for his own purposes.

Thomas filed a lawsuit following his dismissal, saying he was improperly fired. He was subsequently reinstated by U. S. District Judge William J. Rea, and the Los Angeles City Council awarded Thomas nearly $170,000 in back pay.

Vendetta Charged

“Hadaway’s going after me just like he went after Thomas,” Garcia said.

Hadaway, who called Friday’s meeting to get public input, sat patiently as boarders and residents complained about the proposals. But when Garcia spoke to defend his plan, Hadaway walked out of the room and talked with several people outside.

The Board of Referred Powers will hear Hadaway’s recommendation on the reorganization plan Wednesday, after the regular Los Angeles City Council meeting. Garcia said he suspects Hadaway will ask the board to launch an investigation into the plan, delaying action on his proposal.

When told of Garcia’s charges, Hadaway denied that he was after Garcia. He said he had not made a decision on the plan, and had several meetings with Garcia’s past and present associates to gather factual information for his report.

“I have never discussed Mr. Garcia’s management style,” Hadaway said. “But he built the equestrian center, and the equestrian center is in bankruptcy. That speaks for itself.”

Garcia has said that, if Hadaway and the city don’t approve the reorganization plan by April 8, Gibraltar will foreclose. In that case, said Hadaway, it may already be too late.

“Mr. Garcia does not understand the workings of the city of Los Angeles,” Hadaway said. He added that, even if he approved the plan, it would take six to eight months to complete an environmental impact report on the medieval restaurant, and another six months to a year for the city to negotiate a contract with restaurant officials.

Garcia said an environmental impact report should not be necessary because one was done for a larger health club proposal. Garcia withdrew plans for the club and replaced them with the medieval restaurant.

Parks and Recreation commissioners, who have ruled on most of Garcia’s proposals, said Garcia’s fears about Hadaway were unfounded.

“His method is to strike back and make nasty comments when he thinks you’re against him,” Commissioner Nichols said.

So far, city officials said, they are not ready to give up on Garcia and his dream.

“Al Garcia has done the city a great service by building this first-rate center at considerable personal sacrifice,” said Parks Commissioner J. Stanley Sanders. “I want to do everything personally to give him every benefit of the doubt.”

Sanders said that, if the city decides the center cannot function under Garcia, then it would be put in other hands. “But we are not at that point,” he said. “There are some problems, but he should be given opportunity to work things out.”

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