Earle D. Baker
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Earle D. Baker (September 28, 1887 – July 15, 1969) was a prominent Hollywood food broker who was a member of the Los Angeles City Board of Education from 1949 to 1951 and of the Los Angeles City Council from 1951 until 1959.


Biography

Baker was born on September 28, 1887, in
Iantha, Missouri Iantha is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census designated place in Barton County, Missouri. It is located six miles west of Lamar, Missouri, Lamar. History Iantha was founded in 1881. The community most likely was named a ...
, the son of William Calvin Baker of Ohio and Laura Laidlaw Baker of Canada. He was brought to California in 1901 and attended San Francisco public schools as well as the University of California in Berkeley. He was married to Edna I. Harrison of
Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of the ...
, on September 4, 1912. They had two children, Calvin Harrison Baker and Adele Baker Hart, and lived at 6818 Odin Street, at 2200 Fairfield Avenue, and at 2017 Holly Hill Terrace, all in the Hollywood Hills."Services Slated for Ex-Councilman Baker," ''Los Angeles Times,'' July 17, 1969, page B-4
/ref>Los Angeles Public Library reference file
/ref> One of his first positions was that of secretary to the San Fernando Fruit Exchange."Council Set Aim of Businessman," ''Los Angeles Times,'' March 12, 1951, page B-7
/ref> In 1930 he began a food brokerage business, Baker Brokerage Company, later known as Baker-Bishop-King, Inc. He retired in 1947, but after his council service ended in 1959 he worked for a savings and loan association. He was a Methodist and a Republican. He was president of the Hollywood Lions Club, as well as district governor of the organization and a master of the Cahuenga Lodge of Masons. He was on the board of directors of the Hollywood Bowl and Hollywood YMCA and was active in the First Methodist Church of Hollywood. Baker died July 15, 1969, at the age of 81 in Laguna Beach, California. Services were held at Laguna Hills United Methodist Church, and burial followed at
Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery Grand View Memorial Park and Crematory is a historic cemetery located in Glendale, California, in the United States. Established in 1884 as Glendale Cemetery, it changed its name to Grand View Memorial Park in 1919. The cemetery was the focus of ...
, Glendale.


Public service


Board of education

Baker won a seat on the Board of Education in 1949 when he was opposed by John T. Gardner, a union leader. He served for two years and then ran for the City Council.


City Council


Elections

Baker was easily elected in the primary vote for
Los Angeles City Council District 2 Los Angeles City Council District 2 is one of the 15 districts of the Los Angeles City Council. The 2nd District began its existence in the Hollywood area but now covers much of the far eastern and southeastern portions of the San Fernando Valle ...
, over incumbent
Lloyd G. Davies __NOTOC__ Lloyd G. Davies (July 14, 1914 – September 26, 1957) was an American advertising and public relations man and sometime actor who was a Los Angeles City Council member from 1943 to 1951. Life and career Davies was born in Los An ...
, whose ill health had forced him to miss many City Council meetings. In that era, the 2nd District represented
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
and a sizable portion of the
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
, generally west of
Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east–west thoroughfares in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Ventura Boulevard is one of the oldest routes in the San Fernando Valley as it was originally a part o ...
and extending north to Encino. He was reelected in 1953 and 1955, and was defeated by Lemoine Blanchard in a runoff in 1959 after City Council terms were extended to four years.


Positions

Conservative. Baker was known as a conservative and was supported by the Los Angeles unit of the conservative political group Pro America. Statue. He introduced a resolution urging the Board of Public Works to cancel a $10,000 contract with artist
Bernard Rosenthal Bernard J. Rosenthal (August 9, 1914 – July 28, 2009), also known as Tony Rosenthal, was an American Abstract art, abstract sculptor widely known for his monumental public art sculptures, created over seven decades. Biography Rosenthal was ...
for a modernistic artwork of a family grouping that was cast and eventually installed in front a new Police Building opposite the
City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
. He noted "manifest strong public objection" to the piece."Council Gets Resolution to Cancel Statue," ''Los Angeles Times,'' August 11, 1954, page 5
/ref>


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Earle Los Angeles City Council members 1969 deaths 1887 births California Republicans Burials at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery People from Barton County, Missouri 20th-century American politicians