List_of_pre-statehood_mayors_of_Los_Angeles,_California

List of mayors of Los Angeles

List of mayors of Los Angeles

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The mayor of Los Angeles is the chief executive of the Government of Los Angeles as set in the city charter. The current officeholder, the 43rd in the sequence of regular mayors, is Karen Bass, a member of the Democratic Party, though the office has been nonpartisan since 1909.[1]

Then-Mayor Eric Garcetti (center) with his predecessors Antonio Villaraigosa (right) and James Hahn (left) in 2013.

When Los Angeles was founded as a small town, a comisionado (Military Commissioner) was appointed before the title was changed to alcalde (Mayor) in 1786. Between 1841 and 1844, there were two mayors called the Jueces de Paz (Justices of Peace). When the United States took control, the office was renamed to Mayor.[2]

The longest serving mayors have been Tom Bradley (1973–1993; 20 years), Fletcher Bowron (1938–1953; 14 years), Sam Yorty (1961–1973; 12 years), and Eric Garcetti (2013–2022; 9 years).[3] The shortest tenures, not counting Acting Mayors, were John Bryson (77 days), Bernard Cohn (14 days), and William Stephens (11 days).

Although the President of the Los Angeles City Council serves as acting mayor when the Mayor is out of the city, only five have served due to a vacancy: Manuel Requena (1855 and 1856), Wallace Woodworth (1860–1861), Bernard Cohn (1878), Niles Pease (1909), and Martin F. Betkouski (1916); only one, Cohn, ascended from Acting Mayor to Mayor.[4] Two Mayors have died during their terms: Henry Mellus and Frederick A. MacDougall.

Los Angeles has had five Latino mayors post-incorporation: Antonio F. Coronel, Manuel Requena, Cristobal Aguilar, Antonio Villaraigosa, and Eric Garcetti.[5] The city has also had two African-American mayors, Tom Bradley and Karen Bass. Two French-Canadian politicians, Damien Marchesseault and Prudent Beaudry, have served as Mayors.[6] The first woman to serve as Mayor is Karen Bass, who was elected in 2022.[7]

Spanish era (1781–1821)

The office of Alcalde, the Mayor of El Pueblo de la Reina de los Ángeles, was elected annually, without the right to reelection for two years.[8] With the incomplete nature of records from the Spanish colonial period of Los Angeles, only the first year of 1781 is certain.[9][10]

Comisionado
More information Name, Term in office ...
Alcalde
More information Name, Term in office ...
Notes
  1. Féliz acted as the Chief Public Official during his term as Comisionado.
  2. Soto assumed the responsibilities of alcalde during his term as Comisionado.
  3. Removed from office for gambling in July.

Mexican era (1821–1848)

In 1821, Los Angeles became under Mexican rule, and the city continued having an alcalde.[11] The inaugural holder was Abel Stearns, an American trader who came to California in 1829 from Massachusetts.[12][13]

More information Name, Term in office ...
First & Second Alcalde

In 1839, instead of one alcalde, two officials served as First and Second Alcalde.

More information 1st Alcalde, 2nd Alcalde ...
Jueces de Paz (Justices of Peace)

In 1841, the office of alcalde was abolished, instead being replaced by two Jueces de Paz (Justice of the peace).[14]

More information 1st Juez de Paz, 2nd Juez de Paz ...
First & Second Alcalde

In 1844, the office of alcalde was restored, reverting to its 1839 posts.[14]

More information 1st Alcalde, 2nd Alcalde ...

American Territorial era (1848–1850)

Between the Interim government of California and California's statehood, the Mayor was appointed by the Governor of California in 1848 and was elected in 1850.

More information Portrait, Name ...
Notes
  1. Foster resigned as alcalde on May 21, 1849; the remainder of the year, he served as prefecto (prefect).[15]

Post-incorporation (1850–present)

More information No., Portrait ...
Notes
  1. In 1909, Los Angeles adopted a nonpartisan form of government, with the office and mayoral elections being officially nonpartisan since then.[1]
  2. Foster resigned as Mayor to help lead a lynch mob against David Brown, a man who had killed one of Foster's friends and was given a stay of execution by the California Supreme Court.[16] Manuel Requena, the President of the City Council, was the acting mayor in his absence.[17] Foster was then re-elected via a special election.[18]
  3. The City of Los Angeles counts one mayoralty for those who served multiple non-consecutive terms.
  4. Foster resigned as mayor to attend to the executorship of the estate of his brother-in-law.[19] City Council president Manuel Requena served as acting mayor until a special election could be held.[20]
  5. Mellus died in office on December 26, 1860. City Council president Wallace Woodworth served as acting mayor until a special election could be held.[21]
  6. Aguilar was unseated for three months and replaced with Marchesseault, who as Zanjero of Los Angeles was considered more important than the mayor. Aguilar was reinstated on August 8, 1867.[22]
  7. MacDougall died on November 16, 1878. City Council president Bernard Cohn served as acting mayor until he was appointed by the council to become Mayor.[4]
  8. Due to a change in the city's election calendar, Bryson's term was cut short due to voter's adoption of a new city charter and Hazard's subsequent election.
  9. City Council president William H. Bonsall served as acting mayor for a week during the vacancy between the terms of Hazard and Rowan's terms.
  10. Harper resigned as Mayor on March 11, 1909 in the wake of a recall election against him.[23] William Stephens, who was named as Harper's opponent in the recall, was appointed as Mayor before the next election.[24][25]
  11. Recalled from office; first Mayor recalled in Los Angeles history.[26]
  12. Due to a change in the city's election calendar to align mayoral elections with statewide elections, Garcetti's second term was longer than the usual four years.[27]

Appendices

Mayoral terms and term limits

At the office's creation in 1850, mayors served one year terms. In 1889, the dates were change to be on even-numbered years, with the term extending to two years per term; the first election in an even-numbered year was in 1892. In 1909, the city charter changed the election years to odd-numbered years with the March 1909 election, originally slated to be a recall election against Arthur C. Harper. In 1993, voters amended the city charter to implement term limits to elected officials, including mayor.[1] In 2015, voters passed a charter amendment that would change the election dates to align with gubernatorial and presidential elections on even-numbered years; the first mayoral election after this change was in 2022.[28]

More information Year, Term ...

Interrupted terms

Eight mayors have had interrupted terms: Stephen Clark Foster (1855 and 1856), Henry Mellus (1860), Cristobal Aguilar (1867), Frederick A. MacDougall (1878), John Bryson (1889), Arthur C. Harper (1909), Charles E. Sebastian (1916), and Frank L. Shaw (1938).

More information Interrupted terms of Los Angeles's elected mayors, Elected mayor ...

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "LOS ANGELES: STRUCTURE OF A CITY GOVERNMENT" (PDF). League of Women Voters.
  2. [2]
    Schmal, John P. (April 17, 2004). "The Mayors of Los Angeles". LatinoLA. Archived from the original on December 22, 2004.
  3. [3]
    Van Dyke, Jonathan (August 17, 2015). "SCREENING, PANEL ILLUMINATE THE LIFE OF FORMER MAYOR, UCLA ALUMNUS TOM BRADLEY". UCLA Government & Community Relations.
  4. [4]
    Rasmussen, Cecilia (May 8, 2005). "The City of Angels Has Had Mayors With Demons". Los Angeles Times.
  5. [5]
    Rasmussen, Cecilia (May 18, 2005). "From the 19th Century, a Look at City's Past Latino Mayors". Los Angeles Times.
  6. [6]
    Tindal, Chris. "The French Canadian Mayor of Los Angeles". Acres of Snow.
  7. [7]
    Wick, Julia (December 11, 2022). "Karen Bass sworn in as Los Angeles mayor, the first woman to hold the office". Los Angeles Times.
  8. [8]
    Mason, William M. (2004). "Los Angeles Under The Spanish Flag: Spain's New World" (PDF). Southern California Genealogical Society.
  9. [9]
    Caughey, John and LaRee Caughey. Los Angeles: Biography of a City. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1977. 74. ISBN 0-520-03410-4
  10. [10]
    "Alcalde" and "Ayuntamiento" in Pitt, Leonard and Dale PItt. Los Angeles A to Z: An Encyclopedia of the City and County. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. 11 and 33. ISBN 0-520-20274-0
  11. [11]
    Waldron, Granville Arthur (June 1960). "A Pueblo de Los Angeles Memoir ... CALIFORNIA versus HENRIQUE and YUNG: A Case from the Early Judicial Archives of Los Angeles County". University of California Press.
  12. [12]
    "Californio to American: A Study in Cultural Change" (PDF). National Park Service.
  13. [13]
    Barrows, H. D. (1899). "ABEL STEARNS". University of California Press. pp. 197–199.
  14. [14]
    "Los Angeles City Mayors Past to Present". Los Angeles Almanac.
  15. [15]
    Supervisor Stephen Clark Foster Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, Los Angeles County, accessed 26 Jun 2010
  16. [16]
    "The Hidden History of LA: The mayor who helped lynch a man". KPCC.
  17. [17]
    Rasmussen, Cecilia (May 18, 2005). "From the 19th Century, a Look at City's Past Latino Mayors". Los Angeles Times.
  18. [18]
    Spitzzeri, Paul R. (August 8, 2021). "Stephen Clark Foster's Recollections of "Los Angeles on the Eve of the Gold Rush," Part II, in "Touring Topics," August 1929". Homestead Museum.
  19. [19]
    Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials: 1850—1938, Compiled under Direction of Municipal Reference Library City Hall, Los Angeles, March 1938 (Reprinted 1966)
  20. [20]
    "The Four Latino Mayors of Los Angeles". HispanicVista. May 23, 2005. Archived from the original on September 1, 2007.
  21. [21]
    ""Influences That Mastered and Destroyed the Strong Man That Has Just Fallen": The Tragedy of Damien Marchessault, 1818-1868". Homestead Museum. December 13, 2022.
  22. [22]
    Martinez, Yoli (September 24, 2012). "Iconic Hispanic Angelenos in History: Cristóbal Aguilar". KCET.
  23. [23]
    "HARPER'S RESIGNATION DOES NOT HALT RECALL; ELECTION MUST BE HELD, SAYS CITY ATTORNEY". Los Angeles Herald. March 16, 1909.
  24. [24]
    "THE NEWS SUMMARY". Los Angeles Herald. February 2, 1909.
  25. [25]
    "HERALD WINS ITS FIGHT FOR PURE GOVERNMENT". Los Angeles Herald. March 16, 1909.
  26. [26]
    John R. Babcock, "When Los Angeles Was a World-Class City of Corruption," Los Angeles Herald-Examiner," May 12, 1989, page A-19
  27. [27]
    O'Brien, Brendan (March 8, 2017). "Los Angeles mayor wins re-election in landslide". Reuters. Archived from the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  28. [28]
    "Hoping to Boost Dismal Turnouts, L.A. Votes to Change Election Dates". KCET. City News Service. March 4, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
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