Embattled Park Chief Ends Controversy With Resignation

The controversy surrounding popular Studio City park director Jon Klay, which pitted parents against the city, came to a surprising end Saturday with Klay’s voluntary departure.

In the wake of the months-long battle, parents who tried to save Klay’s job with a petition drive contended that the 33-year-old park director left because of harassment from the city Recreation and Parks Department. But Klay said he got tired of the fighting.

“The uncertainty is what got to me. It was killing me,” Klay said during a break during a youth basketball tournament at Balboa Park, where he was keeping score. “I know how Wayne Gretzky felt.”

Klay informed the city by letter two weeks ago that he was leaving, and Saturday was his last day. He spent the day working the basketball tournament with the man who will succeed him, Randy Kelly, former park director at Stonehurst Park in Sun Valley.

“It was coincidental,” Klay said of the two working together. “We’re having a transition meeting.”

In January, the city told Klay and Kelly to switch jobs. But when the transfer was announced, parents whose children attend programs at the Studio City Recreation Center rounded up hundreds of signatures on petitions and launched a telephone campaign to keep Klay. Councilman Mike Feuer also pushed the city to review the transfer. Even so, with his job in limbo, the energetic Klay decided to leave.

The publicity over the transfer actually helped Klay. He got several job offers--from a school, an entertainment company and another park--and figured it was time for a change. Although not without a lot of sadness. He said Saturday he has not decided which offer he will take. He is taking a few weeks off to consider his options.

“When you’ve invested six years of your life somewhere, you leave a little of your heart behind,” he said.

Sandy Lavet, a parent who helped start the petition drive to save Klay’s job, credits Klay with starting a roller hockey league, expanding the camp programs and creating a sense of community at the park for the families who visit it.

“It’s a huge loss for me personally, as well as for the park,” Lavet said.

Klay said if he had been asked to pick a successor, he would have chosen Kelly. The two have the same motto: Kids first. Kelly said he looks forward to the challenge of filling Klay’s shoes, and wants parents to understand that change is a part of life.

Kelly, 31, conceded he was a little disturbed that parents seemed to reject him before he had even started the job, but is glad the controversy is behind him.

In addition to working with children in the Recreation and Parks Department, Kelly also continues to work part time at the Pacific Lodge Boys Home in Woodland Hills with abused and neglected children. And his own children 9-year-old Bryan and 6-year-old Ashlyn, keep him busy.

“My life is kids,” Kelly said.