where a man stands

8/10/2019 Where a Man Stands

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/where-a-man-stands 1/3

Issue November 13, 2014 - November 19, 2014

briefs Bosse and Gold

file re-election papers Page 4

briefs Land to not seek re-election;

Prang has yet to resign Page 5

briefs Cole to serve sev

years in a Missouri prison Page

Where a Man StandsBeverly High Principal Carter Paysinger and formerBoard of Education member Steven Fenton on their

recently released memoir



Page 8 Beverly Hills Weekly

coverstory

WHERE A MAN STANDS By Nancy Yeang

The subhead of the book, “the true story

of an unlikely leader and an unlikely

friendship,” what does that mean?

At the time that I was in Los Angeles it was

just called Los Angeles. Since I was a kid, it

Los Angeles.

As a student, coming from my neighbor-

hood into Beverly Hills was unlikely, but it

happened. Being a leader, not just attending

the school or coming to work at the school,but being a leader at Beverly High is consid-

ered to be unlikely.

races, different religions, different economic

share the same set of values, morals and eth-

stronger together than apart.

-

oped great relationships with many families in

the city. Steven and the Fentons were one of

the first families that I’ve established a great

relationship with.

But that friendship [and] the fact that it was

unlikely for me to attend school at Beverly

Hills, or even work here in Beverly Hills,lends to that subtitle.

Why did you want to write the book,

and why did you want to write the book

together?

STEVEN: The idea for the book came

from our agent, Lacy Lynch [who is a senior

literary agent and TV/Film representative at

Dupree/Miller & Associates.] They represent

a lot of people in the inspirational space [like

Tony Robbins, Maria Shriver, Joel Osteen,

think that’s why they responded so favorably

to our story.

[Lynch] asked me if I would be interested

-

thing they asked us if we would write thistogether.

really don’t have the time to do that.” I really

wasn’t interested in it at first but then thought

about it and agreed to do it.

Carter, when you first went to Beverly

High you said you had “one foot in the

door and one foot in the hood.” Was there

ever a moment in Beverly High when you

felt like you could be who you are?

of who I am.

In Beverly Hills, I had great friendships

when I was a student here. I didn’t try to pre-

I was in the neighborhood that I grew up in,

I felt that I had great relationships there and I

was being me there as well.

The only thing was that I just kept my two

worlds separate. I very rarely had my friends

from my neighborhood join me and come with

me to any functions in Beverly Hills and vice

versa.

Tell us about how the both of you met.

heard quite a bit about him from my brother

Gary who was a junior at the time. My brother

used to film all the football games and was a

member of the baseball team. He spoke very

[Fenton]. He was a School Board member and

I was a young teacher and coach. Frank and I

had a good, pleasant relationship

team and we had a number of kids that were

trying out. I noticed right away that he was thesmallest kid out there trying out.

STEVEN: I think I was about 5’ 1”, barely

100 pounds. I had just finished playing junior

varsity soccer and before that freshman foot-

ball.

most intense and determined kid out there

and he reminded me of myself, because when

I came to Beverly I was one of the smallest

kids trying out for the baseball team. I knew

I had to impress the coaches and everyone

around, and I wanted everyone to know that I

belonged on the baseball team. That’s exactly

what I saw in Steven. He just stood out to me

right away.

second baseman and I was a second baseman.

He could play and I felt

like I could play, but

because of our size and

not knowing anyone, I

thought it was impor-tant for me to really

show what I could do

and I got that same

feeling form watching

Steven.

Steven, did you make

a point to introduce

yourself so directly to

Carter since you’ve

heard about him

before?

STEVEN: I did. I

went up and introduced

myself to him right

away at the beginning

of tryouts.I had the great for-

as my coach all four

years that I was a base-

ball player at Beverly.

What about when the

both of you reunited?

STEVEN: Right out

of college, I started my

Agency. I led a very fast life in the entertain-

ment industry. The faster I ran the further

how destabilizing that was for me.

For many years in my 20s and into my 30s, Iwould go over to Beverly [High]. That was my

was around, I would lie down at my position

at second base. Looking for a sign, looking

for strength, trying to reconnect again to my

former life.

I was in a very bad place in my life during

my mid 30s. Like so many nights in the past

I drove to Beverly [High]. I got out of my car

was open. I decided to walk through

graduated, [the football team and I

out in the football field [and] we we

into the locker room.

STEVEN: All of a sudden I start

the clicking and clacking of cleat

my head up

were two kid

ball uniform

towards me.

suddenly turnright to go int

locker room.

hallway that

the locker ro

just kind of

there, and I

guy walkin

me. [He] lo

he could hav

parent, but

he got to m

nized immed

he was.

appeared fro

[the kids]. Thright in front

turns out it

time of a foot

I put my arm

him and gave

felt like the

lifetime.

excited to see [Steven]. He was o

favorite. It was like we hadn’t lost to

like nothing had ever changed.

Carter, in the book you wrote, “T

would be times I would be judgedappearance and not the content o

character. Sometimes it would be

and easy to forget – like hearing t

of a car door locking as I walk by

sometimes it would be more diffic

shrug off.” Do you still feel the sa

and not just in Beverly Hills. I w

to feel that these types of issues a

issues, not my problem. I just hap

who I am.

You refer to what your mom told

“It’s not enough for you to be as

everybody else, you have to be be

them,” several times throughout t

that you could possibly be.” My mo

instilled that philosophy into our ent

be better than the person that you’r

ing against, regardless of what it’s f

it is you choose to do, you be the ab

at it.”

most of my younger life growing upSteven Fenton, Carter and Karen Paysinger, and Leeza Gibbons

“My parents really followed Martin Luther

King Jr. and that wasone of the things thatthey would preach:

“Be the best that youcould possibly be.” Mymom and dad instilledthat philosophy into

our entire family. It’snot good enough to be good. You have to be

better than the personthat you’re competingagainst, regardless of

what it’s for” – Beverly High

Principal Carter

Paysinger



November 13-November 19, 2014 Pa

nd it just fed right into that culture.

e book you wrote, “We’re working

utts off because our work is

rtant. But what if Beverly isn’t the

school anymore? What if it’s turning

omething else altogether?” In what

did Beverly High change?

EVEN: During those days it was very

ult for people to get promoted from

n. I don’t think they put a premium on

nuity, hard work or loyalty.

turnover in leadership. Superintendents

coming and going, district office person-

oming and going, and then some of my

ors were leaving and that was really con-

Douglas – they were all retiring or seek-

her employment.

ese were guys that I looked up to when

a student here, and they were teachers.

[I came] back to work with them and

became my mentors. After a while, I’m

g these guys leave one at a time. Leaving

se of the change in the direction, the

e in leadership. I wasn’t sure what

strict’s goals were anymore. I thought,

e?”at’s when I paid more attention to what

oing on and I needed to look at all of my

ns at the time.

EVEN: There was very little continu-

ft in the school district. Experienced

e were not longer rewarded for sticking

-

everly.”

do you think that this was

ening?

osophy of doing away with the old and

starting new. I don’t think anyone wanted to

even start by trying to connect the old with the

new. For me, that was like trying to reinvent

and to just severe ties with the old and to start

brand new was probably not the best way to

go. I was a witness to all of it.

STEVEN: The school district was going

through an identity crisis for a very long time.

To put it in baseball terms, if you’re a hitter

and experiencing a slump, you’re probably

going to change your stance, your swing,

to end that slump. I think the school district

had tired so many different ways to end their

slump that the district didn’t know who it was

anymore. There was very little institutional

knowledge left.

Given the recent “Program Improvement”

developments, do you feel it’s on the right

track?

high schools, not only in our state, but in the

county.

STEVEN: This is the responsibility of the

Board of Education. As [Board member]

with the Board of Education.” Maybe there

-nation for the school boards.

Steven, you originally wanted to run form

the City Council, and then changed your

mind to run for the Board of Education

2007. Why?

STEVEN: My original goal was to run for

my dad’s seat on the city council. After doing

research on the district, I felt I could be more

impactful as a member of the school board. I

had a vision for how to get the district back

on track.

Carter, you wrote

that you dad said,

“But in California

some people will

smile at you and

pretend they like

you, and all along

they have a white

sheet in their

closet.” How did

you feel when the

people you thought

would supportyou in becoming a

principal didn’t?

disappointed during

Steven and I first

talked about this,

I told Steven that I

didn’t think it would

be easy. I thought

that there would be

some opposition to

me becoming the

principal. I didn’t

think Steven really

understood that, but

it turned out thatthe both of us didn’t

understand the depth

of the opposition.

I think the major-

ity of the people that

didn’t speak on my

behalf were quietly

supportive. I hav some great relationships in

the city of Beverly Hills with many families

and I think that the support had been there all

along.

It’s much easier, especially with issues that

are controversial, to stay neutral, and you

can stay neut

by not sayi

anything. I thi

that that was t

case. I think th

it was safeter

people to su

port me silen

than to decl

one way or t

other.

The book endwith Steven’s

marriage to

Leeza Gibbo

and Carter’s

achievements

as Beverly

High Princip

and his daily

routine.

What’s next

for the both o

you?

S T E V E N

I’m looking f

ward to servi

my commun

again in tfuture.

I’m driven

continue to wo

as hard as I c

to make sure th

Beverly [Hig

is one of the best high schools in the countr

Also, and I talk about it in the book, m

faith is what helps keep me going. Fami

friends and faith is what I live by.

The book is available on amazon.com andbarnesandnoble.com. Heaven is for Real producer

T.D. Jakes recently acquired film rights to the

memoir.

Steven and Carter will hold a book signing at Porta

Via on Wednesday, November 19 from 5:30 pm to

7:30 pm

k and Snowden release jointeo statement on internalestigation results

ment on November 4 on internal investiga-

esults after the producer was mistakenly

ed in August.

w of the events surrounding Mr. Belk’s

and identified areas that could and should

been handled differently,” Snowden said.

wanted by the FBI and LAPD for a series

nk robberies that took place in the course

er two years.k was in the area of the bank robbery and

misidentified by a witness.

he second subject in the bank was not

ved in the robbery,” according to a state-

te customer whose actions were misinter-

d by the witness.”

undational principles of good basic police

both at the field officer level and the

r must follow up on all leads, verify facts,

and seek to apprehend the guilty while attempt-

ing to exonerate the innocent.”The BHPD acknowledged that they did not

provide a phone call for Belk while he was

detained, and the five-hour period that Belk

was held in custody could have been shortened

if the police department had reviewed video

evidence earlier.

officers have a really tough job to do and I get

the basis for why I was initially stopped,” Belk

to address the issues that followed though from

that stop.”

Belk will produce a training video based on

lessons learned from his experience and make

it available for free to any law enforcement

agency. He will make himself available for

describe the perspectives of an innocent man…

to help further sensitize law enforcement to the

impacts that their actions can have.”

Belk has also raise more awareness for the

records for innocent people, and seek admin-

istrative and legislative changes. He has also

the Description” which will build awareness

and assistance to individuals who are wrong-

fully detained or arrested.

Neuromuscular Disease

Foundation to honor Bendetson

and Sharf The Neuromuscular Disease Foundation

honoring Heidi

B e n d e t s o n

and Stacy

Sharf with the

A d v o c a t e ’ s

Award tonight

at The Beverly

Hills Hotel.

Bendetson

is a board

member at

Beit T’shuvah,

which is a

r e s i d e n t i a lt r e a t m e n t

center and

s y n a g o g u e .

There, she

brought vol-

unteer design-

ers together

to change the

residents’ dor-

mitories into

inviting living

spaces where

they can feel

respected and cared for while healing

Sharf is active with Beit T’shuva DProject and Volunteers of America

Butterfly Village. Both organizations

vate and decorate housing units for h

less female veterans and their childre

for people in recovery.

Bendetson and Sharf founded the

Jewish Genetic Disease Prevention Pr

to screen for specific genetic dise

Over 300 people have been screened s

The goal of LA Jewish Genetic Di

Prevention Project is to provide low

screenings to all Jews of child-bearin

to inform them on their carrier status.

The nonprofit organization, NDF,

founded in 2006 to raise HIBM awar

and help fund for neuromuscular dis

including HIBM, research and treatm

HIBM is a rare genetic disorder that c

the muscle to waste and get .weaker.

The black and white formal attire

will begin at 7:00 p.m. with cocktail

the dinner and program will begin at

pm.

Visit www.ndf-hbm.org/gala to pur

tickets.

--Briefs compiled by Nancy Yeang

Stacy Sharf

Heidi Bendetson

arrests on pa

where a man stands

Documents