Walter Wolcott Austin (September 22, 1880 – July 12, 1951) was an American Republican

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Early life

Austin was born 1880 in Kendall, Wisconsin, and moved to

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, with his family, where he was a newsboy at age 7, and to Aberdeen, South Dakota. In 1912, he moved to

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. In San Diego Austin started out as employee of the H. D. Field Safe Co., which he later purchased half-interest then full interest and renamed it Austin Safe and Desk Company. Austin sold the business, and the company later specialised in office furniture then interior design. Austin entered the real estate and insurance business around 1931, and vice president of Fraser Mortgage Co.

Politics

Austin was elected mayor of San Diego in 1931 as a young reformer. The main issue was the $8.5 million spent for water projects, such as the Lake Hodges Dam, with little to show for it. Austin served as mayor until 1932. In 1940, he supported construction of

San Vicente Dam The San Vicente Dam is a concrete Dam#Gravity dams, gravity dam on San Vicente Creek (San Diego County), San Vicente Creek near Lakeside, California, Lakeside and 25 km (15.5 mi) northeast of San Diego, California. The dam was built betw ...

and extending the water system. While mayor, the city sold unemployment bonds to increase jobs locally. Funds were spent on projects such as building pedestrian tunnels near schools. Austin also backed establishing a school traffic patrol system. Austin was the first mayor under a new city charter, approved in the same election that elected him mayor. The charter specified a "weak mayor" or council-manager government. A

City Manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...

appointed by the

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 ...

managed day-to-day business and the mayor presided over the Council meetings, with no veto power. The motivation was to help stem police corruption, under the idea that an appointed city manager is less subject to bribes and campaign contribution favors than an elected strong Mayor. Council-manager government originated with the Progressive movement in

Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...

. This form survived until 2006 when it was replaced by a strong mayor city government. Austin was a long time Republican and was chairman of the

Willkie Willkie is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Philip Willkie (1919–1974), American banker *Wendell Willkie (1892–1944), American lawyer and politician; 1940 Republican Party presidential nominee See also *Wilkie (surname) *Wi ...

Committee for San Diego in 1940. Austin was founder and president of the Executives Association of San Diego and the San Diego Business Men's Art Club. Austin also was a director of various charities.

Personal life

Austin was one of the first to build a house at Borrego Springs where he spent much time during retirement. He also built a three-story house in Bankers Hill, a San Diego area just north of downtown, in the 1920s. The Bankers Hill house still includes stained glass that was handmade by Austin. Austin died on July 12, 1951, at Mercy Hospital in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

from complications of

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rup ...

. He initially fell ill at his Idyllwild, California residence in Riverside County. His children are Genevieve Irene, Virginia Lucille, Warren Wolcott, Gladys Viola, and Edgar Owen.

Early life

Politics

Personal life

References

Further reading