Surprise plot twist for Rialto operator

<p>There's intrigue at work, and some big names, in the sad story of the forcing out of Santa Rosa's thriving, altruistic Rialto Lakeside independent-films theater.</p><p>Anyone who's been around awhile may remember when two prominent landowner-developers named Wasem and Codding squared off in 1999 over the planned construction of the Roxy Theater downtown. Larry Wasem advocated city concessions for the Roxy, and Hugh Codding, who then operated a theater at Coddingtown, opposed special deals for the Roxy.</p><p>Wasem and Codding's son David, the owner of Montgomery Village shopping center, now hold conflicting roles in the Rialto drama.</p><p>Codding's family has for 50-some years held the master lease on the Summerfield Road property — the theater building was originally a Codding-built ice rink. For the past 10 years, David Codding has sub-leased the building to Rialto operator Ky Boyd.</p><p>Codding would like to see Boyd and the Rialto stay on.</p><p>“He's been a model tenant,” said Codding. But he's losing his say in the matter.</p><p>Codding's lease on the theater expires this year and the property owner, Lynn Duggan, and his new property manager — Larry Wasem — want the building back.</p><p>Wasem has a deep interest in theaters. He's a partner in the Roxy, Airport Cinemas and other enterprises of Santa Rosa's first family of movie houses, the Tocchinis.</p><p>THE RIALTO'S KY BOYD had no problems while he was subleasing the building from Codding.</p><p>“He has let me run my business,” said the theater operator, whose wide-ranging features include films that deal with homosexuality, human rights and other subjects seldom dealt with seriously by the blockbusters.</p><p>And for a short while, Boyd had no reason to believe anything would change once Codding was out of the picture. He thought he would be leasing directly from Duggan, a private investigator and ex-Secret Service agent who inherited the building from his late mother.</p><p>Boyd said he and the Rialto's chief financial officer met with Duggan late in 2008 and the landlord assured them that they could enter into a new lease with him once the current lease expires this coming August.</p><p>“We took that at face value,” Boyd said. He hoped to negotiate a new lease with Duggan and to continue bringing independent films and nonprofit benefits to the five-screen, 865-seat theater.</p><p>But for months, Boyd said, he had no luck arranging with Duggan to meet and discuss a new lease. He'd call Duggan's office, he said, and he'd be told that he would get a call back, but didn't.</p><p>Recently he was advised by Duggan's office that a new property manager was coming on — Larry Wasem. That was Boyd's first serious indication that the Rialto was in trouble, because he knew of Wasem's partnership with theater-chain owner Dan Tocchini Jr.</p><p>THE HAMMER FELL on March5, the day Boyd received a phone call from Tocchini.</p><p>Boyd said Tocchini told him he didn't want him to hear the news from anyone else — the Tocchinis had signed a lease and would be taking over the theater building Sept. 1.</p><p>“It was a total blindside,” Boyd said.</p><p>When he phoned Duggan to talk about the abrupt loss of his lease, he said, “The first words out of his mouth were, ‘I've been advised not to talk to you by my attorney.'”</p><p>Boyd said he's since been told that Duggan is giving the lease to the Tocchinis, who operated a theater there prior to the birth of the Rialto, because that was his late mother's desire.</p><p>”If it was his mother's intention that the property be leased to Dan Tocchini,” Boyd said, “Why not be honest with me two years ago?”</p><p>Duggan and Tocchini didn't return my calls.</p><p>Staff columnist Chris Smith can be reached at 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.</p>