Byron B. Brainard
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Byron Bernard Brainard (April 1, 1894 – March 19, 1940) was an electrician, auto mechanic, auto salesman, real estate broker and community newspaper editor who was a
Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The President of the Los Angeles City Counc ...
member between 1933 and 1939.


Biography

Brainard was born April 1, 1894, in
Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...
, was brought to Los Angeles in 1899 at the age of five. He left high school to work as a car washer for the
Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
and the
Pullman Company The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...
but acquired his first piece of
real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
through his parents while still a minor. He continued his education through
night school A night school is an adult learning school that holds classes in the evening or at night to accommodate people who work during the day. A community college or university may hold night school classes that admit undergraduates. Italy The Scuola ...
and extension courses. He worked up to chief mechanic for an automobile company, then turned to real estate and, before his election to the council in 1933, he edited and published the ''Southwest News-Press,'' a
community newspaper Community journalism is locally-oriented, professional news coverage that typically focuses on city neighborhoods, individual suburbs or small towns, rather than metropolitan, state, national or world news. If it covers wider topics, community j ...
. He maintained a semiweekly column called "Column Right" while a council member and after."Stroke Fatal to Brainard," ''Los Angeles Times,'' March 20, 1940, page A-3
/ref> Brainard was stricken while eating dinner with his wife, Blanche, at home. He could not be revived at Georgia Street Receiving Hospital. Funeral services were conducted at
Inglewood Park Cemetery Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 East Florence Avenue in Inglewood, California, was founded in 1905. A number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities, have been interred or entombed there. History The proposed est ...
by the Golden Gate Masonic Lodge and the
Order of Druids The Order of Druids (OD) is a fraternal and benefit organisation founded in England, in 1858 after a schism with the United Ancient Order of Druids. Its motto is ''integritas pro rupe nobis''. History The order's emblem is a Druid with a harp an ...
, of which Brainard had been Noble Grand Arch. Besides his wife, he left a son and a daughter. A month after his death on March 19, 1940, an autopsy report revealed that Brainard had died of choking when a piece of meat lodged in his throat.


City Council


Elections

Brainard ran for the
5th District District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta * Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...
seat in 1929 and 1931, each time failing to be nominated in the first round. In 1933, however, he ousted incumbent Roy Donley, and he was reelected in 1935 over the End Poverty in California candidate, Charles W. Dempster. He was reelected in 1937 and 1939, but lost to
Arthur E. Briggs Arthur Elbert Briggs (April 26, 1881 – July 25, 1969) was a teacher and law school dean who was a Los Angeles City Council member from 1939 to 1941 and the leader of the Ethical Society of Los Angeles in 1953. Biography Briggs was born on Ap ...
in 1941.


Highlights of his term

* He was one of five Council members on Mayor
Fletcher Bowron Fletcher Bowron (August 13, 1887 – September 11, 1968) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. He was the 35th mayor of Los Angeles, California, from September 26, 1938, until June 30, 1953. He was at the time the city's longest-serving ...
's "purge list" in advance of the 1939 elections. * When Mayor Bowron vetoed the surfacing of Amalfi and Warren drives with Warrenite bitulithic pavement on the grounds that the substance was part of a "patent paving racket" not worth the additional cost, Brainard called the veto message "the most asinine statement I ever heard given out by any man in public office." * He and
John W. Baumgartner John Walter Baumgartner (May 17, 1890 - November 9, 1973) was a civil engineer who was a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council from 1933 to 1945. Biography Baumgartner was born on May 17, 1890, on a ranch in Los Angeles located at w ...
obtained the original allocation of
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
175,000 from the state to begin the project that opened 10th Street and turned it into Olympic Boulevard without having to assess local property owners for the improvements. * In May 1939 he cast the only vote against Bowron's request for an additional $2,000 for the police secret service fund."Council Votes for Secret Fund," ''Los Angeles Times,'' May 19, 1939, page A-10
/ref>


References

Access to the ''Los Angeles Times'' links requires the use of a library card. ---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Brainard, Bryon B. 1894 births 1940 deaths Los Angeles City Council members Accidental deaths in California Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery 20th-century American politicians Politicians from Topeka, Kansas 20th-century American newspaper editors