Ernani Bernardi
Encyclopedia
Ernani Bernardi known also as Noni Bernardi, was a big-band musician turned politician in Los Angeles, California. He represented District 7 on the City Council there from 1961 to 1993—at 32 years the second-longest-serving council member in the history of the city. He was the musical arranger for two of the mid-20th century's most popular dance melodies.
, the son of musician Alfonso Bernardi and Nerina Biagini. His parents were immigrants who came to America by way of Ellis Island
, from a small town in the province of Modena
in the Emilia Romagna. His mother died in childbirth, and he was raised by his father, two grandmothers, an aunt and an uncle. When he was eleven, he was moved to the nearby town of Toluca, Illinois
, where he later played varsity basketball.
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Bernardi attended the University of Detroit, where he planned to study journalism and become a sportscaster
. He was playing saxophone
in a dance band at Detroit's Graystone Ballroom when he met Lucille May Sawasky of Port Arthur, Ontario
. They were married in 1933 and lived in Detroit briefly before moving to New York. The couple had four children, Joanne Marie Roots, Judith Ann, John Paul and (Ernani) James. They settled in Los Angeles in 1939 or 1940, and Bernardi began his second career as a contractor, building custom homes. After their children were grown, Lucille Bernardi went to work in the county probation department as a records clerk. When older, she suffered from Alzheimer's disease
, and Bernardi, by then a City Council member, would bring her to work with him from their home in Van Nuys to watch television in his office. She died in 1993. Ernani Bernardi remarried in November 2001 to Eve Troutman.
Bernardi was described at age 74 in 1985 as "crusty, . . . short, bald and bespectacled," and four years later he was said to have "a puckish
sense of humor." As he aged, his hearing deteriorated, and he wore special headphones at council meetings so he could hear what was going on. Even at age 86, he had "a booming voice and aggressive style."
He died of heart failure at the age of 94 on January 4, 2006.
Ernani went on to become a musician, performing under the name Noni Bernardi as lead alto sax for several of big bands of the era such as those of Benny Goodman
, Tommy Dorsey
and Kay Kyser
. He was known for his arrangements of Goodman's "And the Angels Sing
" and Dorsey's "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
."
Bernardi moved to California in 1940 to perform with Kay Kyser
's Kollege of Musical Knowledge. His
musical prowess was acknowledged in 1994 when at age 82 he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
. Ironically, as the Los Angeles Times pointed out, his star—and those of 29 other musicians and actors—was funded by the city's Community Redevelopment
Agency, an organization that Bernardi had been fighting with for years. The tribute is in the 7000 block of Hollywood Boulevard.
The ex-councilman continued playing the sax well into his eighties. In 2000 he was a regular at age 88 with his band booked, among other places, at a retro big band
restaurant called Leon's Steak House in North Hollywood. The Times reported:
By 1957 a contractor in the San Fernando Valley
, Bernardi ran for the Los Angeles City Council District 7 seat that year but came in third in the primary election, after James C. Corman
, the eventual victor, and Kay Bogendorfer. When Corman was elected to Congress, Bernardi ran again in 1961 and was elected. He served eight terms until he retired in 1993.
In 1961, District 7 covered Van Nuys, Sepulveda, Granada Hills and Sylmar, and in 1986 it covered Panorama City, part of Sun Valley and Sylmar. For most of his early terms in office, Bernardi represented a "predominantly white working-class district in the mid-San Fernando Valley." His backers included many Valley tax opponents who were behind the successful passage of California's Proposition 13 anti-tax measure.
In 1986, a 12-vote majority of the City Council moved Bernardi's 7th District to a "largely new" part of the Valley for him, the northeast area, which contained more minorities than his former territory. One "City Hall lobbyist" opined that the measure in some way was a payback for Bernardi's public criticism of his colleagues. Yet he was reelected in 1989 by 55% to 45% over Fire Captain Lyle Hall, "who had more money, a more sophisticated mail campaign and labor unions' support that translated into scores of ready volunteers." Bernardi also picked up support from Latino leaders in his new district.
By the time Bernardi retired in 1993, the 7th District was 70 percent Latino and 19 percent African-American, encompassing one of Los Angeles's poorest areas. Registered voters were 39 percent Anglo, 30 percent Latino and 19 percent African-American.
His tenure of 32 years has been beaten only by the 35 years of Council Member John Ferraro
.
Bernardi listed his campaign-reform success as among his most satisfying achievements, as well as an ordinance requiring all residential developments of five or more units to set aside at least 15 percent of the units for low and moderate-income families. He also supported rent control.
He led successful campaigns for city charter amendments that limited police and firefighter pensions and that did away with a requirement that the city pay comparable wages to those of private industry. "I think he reflects a philosophy of misery" because of his efforts to cut allocations for human services, fellow Councilman David S. Cunningham, Jr.
said. The Los Angeles Times added:
He was seen as a "loner" on the 15-member City Council, lacking the spirit of compromise, thus limiting his political effect, yet longtime council president John S. Gibson, Jr.
praised him for probably saving the city "millions of dollars over the years with his questioning." In a ceremony marking his 25th anniversary on the council, he was presented with the "no" voting button from his desk, "which Councilman John Ferraro
quipped was 'worn out' from overuse."
In 1987 he voted against supporting a Los Angeles Festival of Arts with money and services because it was "chintzy" for a $5.8 million festival to ask for help. He was joined by Council Members Gloria Molina
and Nate Holden
, who said not enough minority artists were represented.
In 1988 Bernardi provided $70,000 from his $641,978-a-year office budget for police task forces to combat burglaries and drug trafficking in his district, and, even though he supported a lobbying group called FAIR, "devoted to using the harshest possible measures to reduce illegal immigration," he helped establish a hiring hall to get immigrant workers off the street.
Critics claimed that "as an aging white man," he lacked "modern-day sensitivity" when, in August 1989, he called African-American Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas
"Curly" during an "emotionally charged discussion of racism." Ridley-Thomas rebuked Bernardi for the "condescending and racist" remark, and Bernardi apologized.
In his last years on the council, he continued casting "no" votes: against building the Metro Rail subway, against establishing a downtown redevelopment project, against declaring Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a city holiday. He said he didn't mind recognizing the civil rights leader, but did not want to give city workers another day off.
One of his final campaigns was against the practice of the City Council drawing its own district boundaries. He urged that instead the boundaries should be set by a special commission of retired Municipal Court judges. In a related comment, on his last day in office he issued a press release applauding the U.S. Supreme Court in its Shaw v. Reno
decision invalidating the drawing of a serpentine-shaped Congressional district whose parts seemed to have nothing to do with each other than the fact they were inhabited mostly by black people.
, alleging that the agency violated the state's open meetings law
when it was considering plans for Downtown Los Angeles. He helped finance the costs of his lawsuit by selling a videocassette of several big bands performing his favorite tunes. Eventually, appellate courts and the state supreme court ruled in favor of Bernardi in the main thrust of his claim, which effectively set a cap on the amount of money the agency could spend on the project.
In the 1990s he spoke against the idea of establishing neighborhood councils
as part of a proposed city charter reform process.
In 1999, City Council President John Ferraro
appointed Bernardi to a committee to oversee the spending of $744 million in bond funds for police and fire stations.
Biography
Bernardi was born on October 28, 1911, above a grocery store his family owned in Standard, IllinoisStandard, Illinois
Standard is a village in Putnam County, Illinois, United States. The population was 256 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ottawa–Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Standard is located at ....
, the son of musician Alfonso Bernardi and Nerina Biagini. His parents were immigrants who came to America by way of Ellis Island
Ellis Island
Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...
, from a small town in the province of Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
in the Emilia Romagna. His mother died in childbirth, and he was raised by his father, two grandmothers, an aunt and an uncle. When he was eleven, he was moved to the nearby town of Toluca, Illinois
Toluca, Illinois
Toluca is a city in Marshall County, Illinois. The population was 1,339 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Peoria, Illinois, Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Toluca is located at ....
, where he later played varsity basketball.
Bernardi attended the University of Detroit, where he planned to study journalism and become a sportscaster
Sportscaster
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
. He was playing saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
in a dance band at Detroit's Graystone Ballroom when he met Lucille May Sawasky of Port Arthur, Ontario
Port Arthur, Ontario
Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario which amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Port Arthur was the district seat of Thunder Bay District.- History :...
. They were married in 1933 and lived in Detroit briefly before moving to New York. The couple had four children, Joanne Marie Roots, Judith Ann, John Paul and (Ernani) James. They settled in Los Angeles in 1939 or 1940, and Bernardi began his second career as a contractor, building custom homes. After their children were grown, Lucille Bernardi went to work in the county probation department as a records clerk. When older, she suffered from Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
, and Bernardi, by then a City Council member, would bring her to work with him from their home in Van Nuys to watch television in his office. She died in 1993. Ernani Bernardi remarried in November 2001 to Eve Troutman.
Bernardi was described at age 74 in 1985 as "crusty, . . . short, bald and bespectacled," and four years later he was said to have "a puckish
Puck (mythology)
In English folklore, Puck is a mythological fairy or mischievous nature sprite. Puck is also a generalised personification of land spirits. In more recent times, the figure of Robin Goodfellow is identified as a puck.-Etymology:...
sense of humor." As he aged, his hearing deteriorated, and he wore special headphones at council meetings so he could hear what was going on. Even at age 86, he had "a booming voice and aggressive style."
He died of heart failure at the age of 94 on January 4, 2006.
Music
Bernardi's father, Alfonso, was a music teacher who taught his son how to play the saxophone.Ernani went on to become a musician, performing under the name Noni Bernardi as lead alto sax for several of big bands of the era such as those of Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
and Kay Kyser
Kay Kyser
James Kern Kyser was a popular bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early years:He was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Paul Bynum Kyser and Emily Royster Kyser. Editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin...
. He was known for his arrangements of Goodman's "And the Angels Sing
Ziggy Elman
Harry Aaron Finkelman , better known by the stage name Ziggy Elman, was an American jazz trumpeter most associated with Benny Goodman, though he also led his own Ziggy Elman and His Orchestra....
" and Dorsey's "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
"I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" is a song recorded by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. The words were written by Ned Washington and the music was written by George Bassman. It was first performed in 1932. The original copyright is dated 1933 and issued to Lawrence Music Publishers, Inc. The...
."
Bernardi moved to California in 1940 to perform with Kay Kyser
Kay Kyser
James Kern Kyser was a popular bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early years:He was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Paul Bynum Kyser and Emily Royster Kyser. Editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin...
's Kollege of Musical Knowledge. His
musical prowess was acknowledged in 1994 when at age 82 he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
. Ironically, as the Los Angeles Times pointed out, his star—and those of 29 other musicians and actors—was funded by the city's Community Redevelopment
Redevelopment
Redevelopment is any new construction on a site that has pre-existing uses.-Description:Variations on redevelopment include:* Urban infill on vacant parcels that have no existing activity but were previously developed, especially on Brownfield land, such as the redevelopment of an industrial site...
Agency, an organization that Bernardi had been fighting with for years. The tribute is in the 7000 block of Hollywood Boulevard.
The ex-councilman continued playing the sax well into his eighties. In 2000 he was a regular at age 88 with his band booked, among other places, at a retro big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
restaurant called Leon's Steak House in North Hollywood. The Times reported:
When this guy takes his spot in front of a 16-piece ensemble of blaring trumpets and gleaming saxes—The Way It Was Orchestra, as he calls it—his frail arms start pumping, his toes tap and his body begins to radiate a vigor that energizes the old musicians like swigs from a fountain of youth. . . . nothing stirs the diminutive Bernardi—he's about 5 foot 3, a little over 100 pounds—like his music.
Elections
See also List of Los Angeles municipal election returns, 1957 and after.By 1957 a contractor in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
, Bernardi ran for the Los Angeles City Council District 7 seat that year but came in third in the primary election, after James C. Corman
James C. Corman
James Charles Corman was a Los Angeles City Council member from 1957 to 1961 and a Democratic Congressman from California between 1961 and 1981.-General:...
, the eventual victor, and Kay Bogendorfer. When Corman was elected to Congress, Bernardi ran again in 1961 and was elected. He served eight terms until he retired in 1993.
In 1961, District 7 covered Van Nuys, Sepulveda, Granada Hills and Sylmar, and in 1986 it covered Panorama City, part of Sun Valley and Sylmar. For most of his early terms in office, Bernardi represented a "predominantly white working-class district in the mid-San Fernando Valley." His backers included many Valley tax opponents who were behind the successful passage of California's Proposition 13 anti-tax measure.
In 1986, a 12-vote majority of the City Council moved Bernardi's 7th District to a "largely new" part of the Valley for him, the northeast area, which contained more minorities than his former territory. One "City Hall lobbyist" opined that the measure in some way was a payback for Bernardi's public criticism of his colleagues. Yet he was reelected in 1989 by 55% to 45% over Fire Captain Lyle Hall, "who had more money, a more sophisticated mail campaign and labor unions' support that translated into scores of ready volunteers." Bernardi also picked up support from Latino leaders in his new district.
By the time Bernardi retired in 1993, the 7th District was 70 percent Latino and 19 percent African-American, encompassing one of Los Angeles's poorest areas. Registered voters were 39 percent Anglo, 30 percent Latino and 19 percent African-American.
His tenure of 32 years has been beaten only by the 35 years of Council Member 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...
.
Highlights
Bernardi was nicknamed "Mr. No" because of his opposition to city spending, and he was known as the City Council's "gadfly" because of his "pesky pursuit of lost causes," but in 1985 he was successful in forcing the City Council to put a tough campaign-reform law on the April ballot after he circulated petitions that would have required a vote on an even tougher law. He did this by "enlisting the support of the League of Women Voters and a ragtag group made up mostly of retirees to qualify an initiative for the ballot."Bernardi listed his campaign-reform success as among his most satisfying achievements, as well as an ordinance requiring all residential developments of five or more units to set aside at least 15 percent of the units for low and moderate-income families. He also supported rent control.
He led successful campaigns for city charter amendments that limited police and firefighter pensions and that did away with a requirement that the city pay comparable wages to those of private industry. "I think he reflects a philosophy of misery" because of his efforts to cut allocations for human services, fellow Councilman David S. Cunningham, Jr.
David S. Cunningham, Jr.
David Surmier Cunningham, Jr., or Dave Cunningham, is a business executive who was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1973 to succeed Council Member Tom Bradley, who had been elected mayor that year...
said. The Los Angeles Times added:
Yet, there is a compassionate side to Bernardi. After visiting Tent City, a shelter for the homeless set up across from City Hall during the 1984 Christmas season, Bernardi returned to his office and began calling food stores and restaurants to solicit food donations. When a grocery store donated a box of uncooked beans, Bernardi opened up the City Hall kitchen and cooked the beans himself.
He was seen as a "loner" on the 15-member City Council, lacking the spirit of compromise, thus limiting his political effect, yet longtime 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...
praised him for probably saving the city "millions of dollars over the years with his questioning." In a ceremony marking his 25th anniversary on the council, he was presented with the "no" voting button from his desk, "which 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...
quipped was 'worn out' from overuse."
In 1987 he voted against supporting a Los Angeles Festival of Arts with money and services because it was "chintzy" for a $5.8 million festival to ask for help. He was joined by Council Members Gloria Molina
Gloria Molina
Jesus Gloria Molina is an American politician, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and the current chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.-Background and career:...
and Nate Holden
Nate Holden
Nate Holden is a Los Angeles County politician who served four years in the California State Senate and 16 years on the Los Angeles City Council....
, who said not enough minority artists were represented.
In 1988 Bernardi provided $70,000 from his $641,978-a-year office budget for police task forces to combat burglaries and drug trafficking in his district, and, even though he supported a lobbying group called FAIR, "devoted to using the harshest possible measures to reduce illegal immigration," he helped establish a hiring hall to get immigrant workers off the street.
Critics claimed that "as an aging white man," he lacked "modern-day sensitivity" when, in August 1989, he called African-American Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas
Mark Ridley-Thomas
Mark Ridley-Thomas , often referred to by his initials, MRT, is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for District 2, who succeeded Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke...
"Curly" during an "emotionally charged discussion of racism." Ridley-Thomas rebuked Bernardi for the "condescending and racist" remark, and Bernardi apologized.
In his last years on the council, he continued casting "no" votes: against building the Metro Rail subway, against establishing a downtown redevelopment project, against declaring Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a city holiday. He said he didn't mind recognizing the civil rights leader, but did not want to give city workers another day off.
One of his final campaigns was against the practice of the City Council drawing its own district boundaries. He urged that instead the boundaries should be set by a special commission of retired Municipal Court judges. In a related comment, on his last day in office he issued a press release applauding the U.S. Supreme Court in its Shaw v. Reno
Shaw v. Reno
Shaw v. Reno, 509 U.S. 630 , was a United States Supreme Court case argued on April 20, 1993. The ruling was significant in the area of redistricting and racial gerrymandering. The court ruled in a 5-4 decision that redistricting based on race must be held to a standard of strict scrutiny under the...
decision invalidating the drawing of a serpentine-shaped Congressional district whose parts seemed to have nothing to do with each other than the fact they were inhabited mostly by black people.
Campaign for mayor
Bernardi ran for mayor of Los Angeles while he was in his last few months on the City Council in 1993, saying that the other candidates failed to address issues that were important to him—mostly slashing the size and cost of government. He ran a low-budget, no-frills campaign, and in the end received just 1 percent of the citywide vote.Post-council
In 1994 Bernardi sued the city of Los Angeles and its redevelopment agencyRedevelopment agency
A redevelopment agency is a government body dedicated to urban renewal. Typically it is a municipal level city department focused on a particular district or corridor that has become neglected or blighted. In many cases this is the city's original downtown that has been supplanted in importance by...
, alleging that the agency violated the state's open meetings law
Brown Act
The Ralph M. Brown Act, was an act of the California State Legislature, authored by Assemblymember Ralph M. Brown and passed in 1953, that guaranteed the public’s right to attend and participate in meetings of local legislative bodies....
when it was considering plans for Downtown Los Angeles. He helped finance the costs of his lawsuit by selling a videocassette of several big bands performing his favorite tunes. Eventually, appellate courts and the state supreme court ruled in favor of Bernardi in the main thrust of his claim, which effectively set a cap on the amount of money the agency could spend on the project.
In the 1990s he spoke against the idea of establishing neighborhood councils
Neighborhood Councils
Neighborhood councils are governmental or non-governmental bodies composed of local people who handle neighborhood problems.-Introduction:...
as part of a proposed city charter reform process.
In 1999, City Council President 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...
appointed Bernardi to a committee to oversee the spending of $744 million in bond funds for police and fire stations.
Further reading
- Ernani Bernardi, ex-councilman was 94, LAObserved, 2006-01-05