Edmund D. Edelman
Encyclopedia
Edmund D. Edelman was a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1965 to 1974 and of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from 1975 to 1994. He was known as an "unabashed liberal" with strong Democratic Party support.
and Beverly Hills High School
. He was in the Navy in 1951 and 1952, after which he attended UCLA, where he graduated in 1954 with a bachelor of arts
degree in political science
. He earned a bachelor of laws
degree at the same university in 1958.
He was an arbitrator with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
, deputy legislative counsel with the California State Legislature in 1961-62, counselor to the Subcommittee on Education of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1962-63; and special assistant to the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board
, 1963-64, after which he served on the Los Angeles City Council
.
He was married at age 37 to Mari Kogus, 25, of Beverly Hills
in 1968. They had one daughter, Erica Nancy.
In 1965, Los Angeles City Council District 5 stretched from Fairfax Avenue
on the east to the San Diego Freeway
on the west and from Bel-Air and Beverly Hills on the north to Washington Boulevard on the south. It included the communities of Westwood, Beverlywood, Pico-Robertson and Beverly-Fairfax.
Edelman engaged in a rough election race to unseat incumbent Councilwoman Rosalind Wyman
in the 5th District. Supported by Mayor Sam Yorty, he won the runoff vote of May 25, 1965, by 37,291 to 12,201 and became the then-youngest member of the council at age 35. His residency had been unsuccessfully challenged in court on the grounds that he had lived in Washington, D.C., for 2½ years.
Wyman and her husband, former Democratic National Committee
member Eugene L. Wyman, sued Edelman for libel in 1965, claiming that his campaign had issued a brochure linking them with organized crime
and using political power for personal gain. They asked for $400,000, but in the end settled out of court in 1970 after Edelman sent a $5,000 check to a scholarship fund at Northwestern University
.
Edelman was reelected in 1969 over minor opposition, and in 1973 he would have faced opposition from actor William Lundigan
, but the latter failed to turn in enough valid petition signatures, so the councilman went into that race unopposed.
over his remaining opponent, fellow Councilman John Ferraro
. He was sworn into office on December 2 of that year, succeeding Ernest E. Debs
, who retired.
Edelman led successful drives to establish several new departments and agencies, among them the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Community Youth Gang Services agency. He has been recognized for his support of social services agencies dedicated to aiding the homeless, battered women, abused children, the disabled and the mentally ill, people with AIDS, and those recovering from substance abuse.
(Full report - Rand)
Governance in a Changing Market: The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power - 2001
(Full report - Rand)
How Expensive are Unlimited Substance Abuse Benefits Under Managed Care?
(Full report - Rand)
Biography
Edelman was born in Los Angeles on September 27, 1930, and attended Burnside Avenue Elementary School, Los Angeles High SchoolLos Angeles High School
Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are blue and white and the teams are called the Romans....
and Beverly Hills High School
Beverly Hills High School
Beverly Hills High School is the only major public high school in Beverly Hills, California. Beverly is part of the Beverly Hills Unified School District and located on on the west side of Beverly Hills, at the...
. He was in the Navy in 1951 and 1952, after which he attended UCLA, where he graduated in 1954 with a bachelor of arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
. He earned a bachelor of laws
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
degree at the same university in 1958.
He was an arbitrator with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service may refer to either:*Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service *Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service...
, deputy legislative counsel with the California State Legislature in 1961-62, counselor to the Subcommittee on Education of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1962-63; and special assistant to the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board
National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent agency of the United States government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of...
, 1963-64, after which he served on the Los Angeles City Council
Los Angeles City Council
The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles.The Council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tempore are chosen by the Council at the first regular meeting after...
.
He was married at age 37 to Mari Kogus, 25, of Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
in 1968. They had one daughter, Erica Nancy.
Elections
See also List of Los Angeles municipal election returns, 1965 and afterIn 1965, Los Angeles City Council District 5 stretched from Fairfax Avenue
Fairfax Avenue
Fairfax Avenue is a street on north central Los Angeles, California. It runs from La Cienega Boulevard with Culver City at its southern end to Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood on its northern end.Fairfax Avenue forms the western boundary of Hancock Park as well as Park La Brea, an 160 acre ,...
on the east to the San Diego Freeway
San Diego Freeway
The San Diego Freeway is a named freeway in Southern California. It refers to the following two segments:*Interstate 5 in California, from the Mexico – United States border at the San Ysidro district of San Diego to Interstate 405 in Irvine...
on the west and from Bel-Air and Beverly Hills on the north to Washington Boulevard on the south. It included the communities of Westwood, Beverlywood, Pico-Robertson and Beverly-Fairfax.
Edelman engaged in a rough election race to unseat incumbent Councilwoman Rosalind Wyman
Rosalind Wiener Wyman
Rosalind Wiener Wyman is a California political figure who was the youngest person ever elected to the Los Angeles City Council and the second woman to serve there. She was influential in bringing the baseball Dodgers from Brooklyn, New York, to their new home in Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles...
in the 5th District. Supported by Mayor Sam Yorty, he won the runoff vote of May 25, 1965, by 37,291 to 12,201 and became the then-youngest member of the council at age 35. His residency had been unsuccessfully challenged in court on the grounds that he had lived in Washington, D.C., for 2½ years.
Wyman and her husband, former Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
member Eugene L. Wyman, sued Edelman for libel in 1965, claiming that his campaign had issued a brochure linking them with organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
and using political power for personal gain. They asked for $400,000, but in the end settled out of court in 1970 after Edelman sent a $5,000 check to a scholarship fund at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
.
Edelman was reelected in 1969 over minor opposition, and in 1973 he would have faced opposition from actor William Lundigan
William Lundigan
William Lundigan was an American film actor. His films include Dodge City , The Fighting 69th , The Sea Hawk , Santa Fe Trail , Dishonored Lady , Pinky , Love Nest with Marilyn Monroe, The House on Telegraph Hill , I'd Climb the Highest Mountain and Inferno...
, but the latter failed to turn in enough valid petition signatures, so the councilman went into that race unopposed.
Positions
- Politics. Edelman was described as "an unabashed liberal," with "loyal Democratic Party support and little Republican appeal."
- Stadium. Edelman condemned a 1965 proposal to build a 44,000-seat football stadiumStadiumA modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
on the UCLA campus in Westwood.
- Tax. He played a prominent role in defeating a proposed city payroll tax.
- UCLA. "When a parking dispute flared between UCLA students and residents east of the campus, the councilman quietly backed the students, most of whom are not registered voters in his district, an act which infuriated the residents.".
- Police. He distributed a proposed list of rules for police to follow in handling citizens' demonstrations, which he said could be "conducted as safely as the Rose Parade." Edelman voted against a request by the Police Department to have the city attorneyCity attorneyA city attorney can be an elected or appointed position in city and municipal government in the United States. The city attorney is the attorney representing the city or municipality....
defend two policemen who were indicted for murder in the course of their duty. He explained that the city had never before defended its employees who were charged with crimes. "I am not antipolice," he said, "but police are not above the law."
- Tennis. Bowing to neighborhood pressure, Edelman abandoned his support for a proposed $1.2 million tennis complexTennis courtA tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
at the Cheviot Hills Recreation Center.
- Library. He attacked a decision by the Library Commission to ban all issues of Evergreen ReviewEvergreen ReviewEvergreen Review is a U.S.-based literary magazine founded by Barney Rosset, publisher of Grove Press. It existed in print from 1957 through 1973, and was re-launched online in 1998...
magazine from open shelves as a "very dangerous precedent to . . . intellectual freedom." The commission made the decision at the request of Councilman Donald Lorenzen, who had complained that a constituent had read a "very dirty story" in one of its issues.
- Nudity. He aroused controversy when he was the only council member to oppose new city rules prohibiting nudity in places serving food and beverages. "No one is forced to look at nudes," he said. "The people who are frequenting these topless places are doing it of their own will." He also was the lone council member who opposed an ordinance requiring adult magazines to be covered up on news racks.
- Charter. Edelman was the chairman of a committee that drafted an overhaul of the Los Angeles city charter and favored plalcing an initiative measure for its adoption on the November 1970 ballot.
- Fluoridation. He was responsible for the policy of fluoridizing the city's water supply.
- Commissions. Edelman was a member of nine sanitation district boards and sometimes "sat in on five different boards the same day in back-to-back meetings, collecting $50 per meeting." Council President John S. Gibson, Jr.John S. Gibson, Jr.John S. Gibson, Jr. was a powerful San Pedro, California, politician who was on the Los Angeles City Council for thirty years between 1951 and 1981. He was the president of the council for sixteen of those years and was acting mayor when the mayor was out of the city...
, said he asked Edelman to take on the sanitation district duties because he, Gibson, "didn't want the job myself."
Board of Supervisors
Edelman was elected in the general election of November 1973 to the Los Angeles County Board of SupervisorsLos Angeles County Board of Supervisors
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is the five-member nonpartisan governing board of Los Angeles County, California. Members of the board of supervisors are elected by district. They were as of December 2, 2008:*District 1: Gloria Molina...
over his remaining opponent, fellow Councilman John Ferraro
John Ferraro
John Ferraro was the longest-serving Los Angeles City Council member in the history of the city—thirty-five years, from 1966 until his death in 2001—and the president of the council for fourteen of them...
. He was sworn into office on December 2 of that year, succeeding Ernest E. Debs
Ernest E. Debs
Ernest Eugene Debs , who went by Ernest E. Debs, was a California State Assembly member from 1942 to 1947, a Los Angeles city councilman from 1947 to 1958 and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from 1958 to 1974....
, who retired.
Edelman led successful drives to establish several new departments and agencies, among them the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Community Youth Gang Services agency. He has been recognized for his support of social services agencies dedicated to aiding the homeless, battered women, abused children, the disabled and the mentally ill, people with AIDS, and those recovering from substance abuse.
Legacy
- Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court is the name of the juvenile courthouse of the Los Angeles Superior Court. It was named for Edelman "in recognition of his many efforts on behalf of the County’s children."
- The 652-acre Edmund D. Edelman Park is accessed from Topanga Canyon Boulevard south of Mulholland DriveMulholland DriveMulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after Los Angeles pioneer civil engineer William Mulholland...
, for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians on a network of trails into Summit Valley and upper Topanga Canyon.
- The Edmund D. Edelman Health Center was a facility named after the supervisor by the Gay and Lesbian Service Center "for his leadership on issues of importance to the lesbian and gay community."
- On Tuesday evening, August 28, 2007, the Los Angeles PhilharmonicLos Angeles PhilharmonicThe Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
honored Edelman, on the Hollywood BowlHollywood BowlThe Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...
stage, with an award for his outstanding service to both public parks and the performing arts in Los Angeles County and dedicated the evening's concert (featuring the works of Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Stravinsky) to him. For the concert, he and his family were seated in a centrally located "pool" box.
Reports and publications
Building a New Vision for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California: Options for Key Policy Decisions - 2000(Full report - Rand)
Governance in a Changing Market: The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power - 2001
(Full report - Rand)
How Expensive are Unlimited Substance Abuse Benefits Under Managed Care?
(Full report - Rand)