California Faultline

Before Villaraigosa, Hahn, and Riordan…

April 26, 2008 · 1 Comment

LA Times’ Robert Greene heard a rumor that the paper’s editors were considering a new policy of keeping “the names of previous mayors out of news stories,” so he’s gone hog wild and done a recap of the city’s mayoral history.

Some factoids:

  • Before Mayor V, the last Latino LA mayor was Cristobal Aguilar who left office in 1872.
  • Mayor Sam Yorty (1961-1973) “began his political career as a labor-oriented and communist-supported leftist, but retired as a Republican.”
  • Mayor Tom Bradley (1973-1993) was both the last Mayor to serve before term limits were put into effect, he was the first mayor since Henry Rose (1913-1915) to voluntarily leave office.
  • Three years after leaving office, Mayor Damien Marchessault (1859-1860, and 1861-1865) shot himself in empty City Council chambers.

Categories: history · los angeles politics
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