New associate director of parking a ‘parking professional’

Not too many people get excited about coming to Cal State Long Beach and dealing with parking. But Mark Rudometkin actually enjoys it. 

“I get up looking forward to the next day, looking forward to getting to [CSULB],” he said. 

Rudometkin, who started working in the parking industry as a student, became the new associate director of parking and access services at CSULB on Sept. 22. 

“He is a very qualified professional in the field of transportation services and parking management,” said Stan Skipworth, chief of University Police. 

The associate director oversees the permit operations, the Customer Reception Center, the Visitor Information Center, the special events function and other transportation-related activities.

Rudometkin said one of his main goals as associate director is to change students’ perceptions about parking and how it’s run. He would like to see students recognize the parking department aims to help them and is doing all it can to make things as easy as possible. 

“Believe me, if we could [have] a space for every student we would,” he said. “It’s not as if we’re trying to make it difficult.” 

He said he understood students’ frustrations, but asked them to be patient and to allow enough time to park. 

“I know it’s easier said than done,” he said. 

Of course, Rudometkin has experienced the troubles of trying to find parking himself. 

“I remember back to my days as a student — It always was an issue to try to find parking,” he said. “I never would have imagined at the time that I’d be a ‘parking professional.'”

Rudometkin’s student parking challenges took place at Cal State Fullerton, where he received his bachelor’s in communication, with an emphasis in public relations.

Rudometkin said he found his way into parking when he saw Disneyland had open parking positions one summer.

“Within a couple of weeks I thought … this is the right spot for me,” he said. 

Rudometkin spent 11 years working in Resort Transportation and Parking at Disneyland. 

Disneyland is often referred to as “the happiest place on earth,” but Rudometkin admitted that parking isn’t a big contributor to that reputation. 

“I don’t think you could ever make any parking operation the happiest place on earth,” he said. “I was probably swore at in over 50 different languages at Disney at some point or another.” 

Rudometkin has since worked in the parking industry for quite a few years, most recently in Arizona, overseeing the parking facilities for the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks. 

Rudometkin is now stepping up to handle a department that has undergone some changes lately and also been without direct leadership for a while. 

The previous associate director left last fall, and the director left several months ago. Jack Pierson, a retired CSULB police chief, came in for a few months after the director left to help out as a favor. The whole parking department has also recently been moved under the management of Skipworth and the University Police. 

CSULB hired a search firm to fill the still-empty director position — now called the general manager position — and candidates have been identified, Skipworth said. 

The general manager would focus more on the bigger picture, looking at long-term issues and trends in parking, according to Stephens. 

In the meantime, Skipworth indicated he was pleased to have Rudometkin as part of the department. 

“He’s just become an immediate, significant contributor to the leadership team here within the University Police department,” he said. 

Considering enrollment numbers at CSULB, Rudometkin said there will be some challenges for parking, but added “that’s one of the things that drew me.”