José Cristóbal Aguilar (1816 – April 11, 1886) was a
Californio
Californio (plural Californios) is a term used to designate a Hispanic Californian, especially those descended from Spanish and Mexican settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries. California's Spanish-speaking community has resided there sinc ...
politician and journalist, who served three terms as
Mayor of Los Angeles
The mayor of the City of Los Angeles is the official head and chief executive officer of Los Angeles. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and is term limit, limited to serving no more than two terms. (Under the Constitution of Califo ...
, the last
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
to hold the office until 2005, with the election of
Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillary ...
.
Background
Aguilar, also known as Cristoval,
[ was born in California][ in 1816][ to Jose María Aguilar and María Ygnacia Elizalde.][John P. Schmal, "The Four Hispanic Mayors of Los Angeles," HispanicVista.com, May 23, 2005]
The Aguilars lived in an adobe facing the Los Angeles Plaza
Los Angeles Plaza or Plaza de Los Ángeles is located in Los Angeles, California. It is the central point of the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District. When Governor Felipe de Neve founded the Pueblo de Los Ángeles, his first act was to locate a pl ...
on what is now North Main Street. This house was a prominent landmark that later served as the town ''calabozo,'' or jail, and then as the town's first hospital, in 1858.[Clare Wallace, Los Angeles Public Library biography, May 9, 1938, from sources, cited there]
/ref>
On October 31, 1848, Aguilar married Maria Dolores Yorba at the San Gabriel Mission.[ His wife was the daughter of José Antonio de los Remidios Yorba and María Catalina Verdugo. The Yorbas possessed vast land holdings including most of the Santa Ana Valley (in present-day ]Orange County, California
Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...
).
In the 1870 census, the Aguilars had four children living with them: Librada, 19; Jose M., 17; Matias, 12; Guadalupe, 10, and Rosa, 7.[
Aguilar could not speak English, but, as reported by Los Angeles historian H.D. Barrows in 1899, he "made a good and acceptable Mayor because of the general familiarity of citizens of all nationalities then residing here, with the Spanish tongue."
]
Political life
Aguilar "held prominent office under Mexican rule."["Death of Ex-Mayor Aguilar," ''Los Angeles Herald,'' April 13, 1886, page 1]
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After the transfer of California from Mexico to the United States, the Mexican ''ayuntamiento
''Ayuntamiento'' ()In other languages of Spain:
* ca, ajuntament ().
* gl, concello ().
* eu, udaletxea (). is the general term for the town council, or ''cabildo'', of a municipality or, sometimes, as is often the case in Spain and Latin Amer ...
'' was abolished in favour of a city council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
system. A Democrat, Aguilar was elected to the new Los Angeles Common Council
The Los Angeles Common Council was the predecessor of the Los Angeles, California, City Council. It was formed in 1850 under state law, when the city had only 1,610 residents, and it existed until 1889, when the city had about 50,400 residents and ...
on July 1, 1850, and he served in 1850-51, 1855–56, 1858–59 and 1861-62. He was mayor of Los Angeles in 1866-67, 1867–68 and 1870-72.[
Aguilar was elected to the ]Board of Supervisors
A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...
three times, serving in 1854-56, 1860 and 1862-64.[John P. Schmal, "The Election of Cristobal Aguilar," LatinoLA, October 5, 2005]
/ref>
Aguilar was first elected mayor on May 7, 1866. The election was certified three days later and he assumed office that same day. In that same year he signed an ordinance
Ordinance may refer to:
Law
* Ordinance (Belgium), a law adopted by the Brussels Parliament or the Common Community Commission
* Ordinance (India), a temporary law promulgated by the President of India on recommendation of the Union Cabinet
* ...
to set aside five acres of land as a "Public Square or Plaza, for the use and benefit of the Citizens in common," which land later was named Pershing Square.[
Aguilar was unseated for three months in the middle of his first term and replaced by Damien Marchesseault. During that time he served as Zanjero of Los Angeles (water steward). With Los Angeles being in a ]Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
and risks of both drought and flooding a constant threat, this position was actually considered more important than the mayor and paid the highest salary of any city official at the time. On August 8, 1867, Aguilar was reinstated as mayor and served the remainder of his term. His decision in 1868 to retain control over the city's water rights and reserves is considered one of the most important in Los Angeles' history.
In 1868, Aguilar lost re-election to Joel Turner and was subsequently appointed as zanjero once again.
Aguilar was elected mayor in 1870 over Andrew Glassell
Andrew Glassell Jr. (September 30, 1827 – January 28, 1901) was a Los Angeles real estate attorney and investor. He may be best known as one of the founders of the city of Orange, California.
Early life
Glassell was born as Andrew Glas ...
by a vote of 436 to 428, and he was installed despite a requested recount. He was defeated for reelection in 1872 by J.R. Toberman in a vote of 715 for Toberman and 350 for Aguilar.[ During that election, Toberman "made an issue" of Aguilar's "poor English."][
Historian John P. Schmal noted that:
]When Aguilar became Mayor, there were less than 6,000 residents in the City. When the city council proposed selling off the city's water rights to bring in additional revenue, Aguilar vetoed the proposal. If Aguilar had not used his power of veto, Los Angeles would have lost control of its water rights, leading to serious problems at a later date.
In December 1873, Aguilar was again appointed as zanjero by a vote in the Common Council of 7-2 over T.H. Eaton."Common Council," ''Los Angeles Daily Herald,'' January 1, 1874, page 1, columns 1 and 2
/ref> Aguilar served until December 5, 1878.
Later years
After retiring from politics Aguilar wrote for ''La Cronica,'' the City's leading Spanish-language newspaper at the time. In the paper, he wrote a regular column on local community issues.
He died of a heart attack on April 11, 1886, at the age of 70.[
The '']Los Angeles Herald
The ''Los Angeles Herald'' or the ''Evening Herald'' was a newspaper published in Los Angeles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1873 by Charles A. Storke, the newspaper was acquired by William Randolph Hearst in 1931. It ...
'' wrote of him in an obituary:
He was at one time a wealthy man and brought up a large family with much care, giving each a good education. Later he lost most of his property, as many others did, in the dark days of the municipality before there was a market for products of the soil. . . . He was getting on his horse to ride out and see to a water ditch, and fell back dead.
The funeral was at the Church of Our Lady the Queen of Angels[
]
References
*''Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials: 1850—1938'', Compiled under Direction of Municipal Reference Library City Hall, Los Angeles March 1938 (Reprinted 1966)
External links
*Estrada, William.
The Last Latino Mayor of Los Angeles: Jose Cristobal Aguilar, 1866-1868, 1871-1872
" Center For Law In the Public Interest, June 30, 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguilar, Cristobal
Mayors of Los Angeles
Los Angeles Common Council (1850–1889) members
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
1816 births
1886 deaths
People of Mexican California
Hispanic and Latino American mayors in California
19th-century American politicians
California Democrats