NEWHALL LAND CEO LEE SAYS HE WILL RETIRE FIRM PRESIDENT TO SUCCEED HIM.Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem and Heather MacDonald Staff Writers VALENCIA - Tom Lee, who oversaw the creation of an entire town - Valencia - announced Wednesday he will retire as chairman and chief executive officer of The Newhall Land and Farming Company The Newhall Land and Farming Company is a land management company based in Valencia, California, United States. The company is responsible for the master community planning of Valencia, as well as the management of farm land elsewhere in the state. . Lee, whose retirement takes effect March 31, will be succeeded by Gary Cusumano, the current president and chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. . ``It is a huge loss to community,'' said Bill Ratazzi, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Chatsworth-based SunCal and a former Newhall land executive. ``He's been an advocate of Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, for years. I would hope that Tom steps back and enjoys the fruits of a long life of hard work. He certainly deserves it.'' Lee approached the board of directors last year and recommended that one of the two top positions be eliminated as the development company focused on its stock buyback Stock buyback A corporation's purchase of its own outstanding stock, usually in order to raise the company's earnings per share. stock buyback See buyback. program, its Valencia portfolio and the 22,000-home Newhall Ranch project proposed west of Santa Clarita, said Marlee Lauffer, Newhall Land's vice president of corporate communications Corporate communications is the process of facilitating information and knowledge exchanges with internal and key external groups and individuals that have a direct relationship with an enterprise. . ``It was part of the continuing effort to reduce costs,'' Lauffer said. On Wednesday, Lee, 58, held bittersweet bittersweet, name for two unrelated plants, belonging to different families, both fall-fruiting woody vines sometimes cultivated for their decorative scarlet berries. meetings with his staff, then headed home to his wife Colleen, Lauffer said. ``The employees are thrilled that Tom and Colleen are going to have some time to enjoy life and very excited about Gary's increasing responsibility,'' Lauffer said. ``All of us are going to deeply miss the his passion for the community.'' Lee joined the company in 1970 and became chief executive officer in 1987 and chairman in 1989. The Lees live in Newhall and have three grown children. Newhall Land's focus in the early 1960s was to build a town and the what has occurred over more than three decades is remarkably similar to the original master plan. The developer's philosophy was to create a place for people to live, work, play, go to school and shop, with all the service a self-contained town needed. The developer built everything from a major landfill to a roller coaster park that earned worldwide renown. Thousand of homes - from apartments to $1 million estates - followed, as well as a major mall, Southern California's largest industrial base, two colleges, a community hospital and Valencia's trade-park ``paseo'' walkway that meanders through the town. ``Under Tom's leadership, we've had great earnings growth, a lot of exciting things,'' Lauffer said. ``I think he's leaving on a very high note.'' Ted Robinson Jr., a principal in the Robinson Development Co. that is building the Robinson Ranch golf and housing development in Sand Canyons, said he expects a few changes at Newhall Land. ``Tom Lee is an integral part of Newhall Land. I would expect to see a change in the philosophy of the company,'' Robinson said. The company has not been without its detractors, primarily residents who decry de·cry tr.v. de·cried, de·cry·ing, de·cries 1. To condemn openly. 2. To depreciate (currency, for example) by official proclamation or by rumor. massive development that has cost the once rustic Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. thousands of native oak trees, natural waterways, rolling hills Rolling hills are like a mountain chain, only a "hill chain" of hills that roll on and on continually. You will often find them in between plains and mountains, near major rivers, or randomly anywhere. The only places without rolling hills are deserts and flood plains. and once abundant wildlife. ``Tom Lee's departure doesn't change the bottom line. The company has an objective that is not embodied in one individual: to build out the Santa Clarita Valley at all costs and I don't think that's going to change with his departure,'' said activist Lynne Plambeck. A decade ago, Lee was profiled in a book about Newhall Land by Ruth Waldo Newhall, who married into the pioneer family. Lee grew up in a suburb of Detroit, the son of a Ford Motor Co. executive and served in the Navy on a destroyer based in San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. , Newhall wrote. He later earned a master's degree in business administration at Stanford University. He started at Newhall Land as an administrative assistant in the real estate department in 1970. Cusumano joined Newhall Land in 1971 when the company bought two dehydrating plants in the California Delta and another in Colorado, where he was the general manager. A year later he was transferred to Dixon, where he oversaw all four of the dehydrating plants. In 1974, he earned an MBA MBA abbr. Master of Business Administration Noun 1. MBA - a master's degree in business Master in Business, Master in Business Administration from Stanford and in 1981 he moved to Valencia as second-in-command of the company's agriculture operations. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color -- ran in SAC edition only) LEE (2 -- ran in SAC edition only) CUSUMANO |
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