There is city service, there is community commitment, and then – there is Jane Leonard. The City Council awarded a Commendation to Jane Leonard, a 33-year Culver City resident and active community member on the occasion of her retirement and relocation. To say her absence will be noticed is an understatement.
From the city’s commendation, “Leonard was appointed to the Parks, Recreation & Community Services Commission in 2022, serving as a member from 2022 to 2024 and as Chair since 2024. Leonard also served the City of Culver City for 19 years from 2002 to 2021, starting briefly as an Associate Analyst in the Fire Department, then being promoted to Management Analyst in the Transportation Department in Fleet and Facilities Management from 2002 to 2012, then to Senior Management Analyst for Transportation Finance, Grants and Intergovernmental Affairs from 2012 until her retirement in 2021.
Her leadership experiences include representing Culver CityBus on LA Metro’s Bus Operations Subcommittee, Culver City Management Group Board, the Finance Advisory Committee, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), the City’s Emergency Operations Center Team, Unity of Westside Church, Culver City Rotary Club and more. The City of Culver City is grateful for her diverse, dedicated service to the Culver City community and wishes her well in future endeavors.”
At the presentation, Leonard offered her thanks to the City, and particularly to the “PRCS Department … and the many friendships I’ve forged here … I was fortunate to have a great career with the city with really wonderful people. I believe service is the ultimate expression of our divinely inspired gifts … and as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, what lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us…Culver City will always have my heart, and leaving is bittersweet.”
Leonard will be moving to Lincoln, a small town close to the Sacramento, but added “My heart will always be with the Heart of Screenland.”
Judith Martin-Straw
Photo – L to R – Council member Albert Vera, Jr., Vice Mayor Freddy Puza, Mayor Dan O’Brien, retiring Commissioner Jane Leonard, Council member Bubba Fish and Council member Yasmine-Imani McMorrin.