Nate Holden
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Nathaniel N. "Nate" Holden (born June 19, 1929) is a Los Angeles County politician who served four years in the California State Senate and 16 years on the Los Angeles City Council.


Biography


Upbringing, education and family

Holden was born in Macon, Georgia, the son of a railroad
brakeman A brakeman is a rail transport worker whose original job was to assist the braking of a train by applying brakes on individual wagons. The earliest known use of the term to describe this occupation occurred in 1833. The advent of through brakes, ...
in the
Central of Georgia The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was cons ...
yards. He moved with his mother and brothers to a cold-water flat in Elizabeth, New Jersey, when he was 10; he quit high school at age 16, when, although he was under age, he enlisted in the Army, where he became a
military policeman Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...
. Back home, he earned a high school diploma in night school and later studied design and engineering in the evenings at West Coast University. He worked for
Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...
in New Jersey, then moved to California in 1955 and worked as an aerospace engineer.Victor Merina, "Favored Holden Unfazed," ''Los Angeles Times,'' May 27, 1987, pages D-1 and D-3
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He has two sons, Chris Holden, a California State Assemblymember, and Reginald Holden, a Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff.Official website
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Description and personality

Holden was an amateur boxer as a teenager, weighing only 167 pounds. At age 59, he was a "tall, gray-haired dignified-looking man in a nicely conservative suit." Holden completed the
Los Angeles Marathon The Los Angeles Marathon (formerly known as the City of Los Angeles Marathon) is an annual running event typically held each spring in Los Angeles, California, since 1986. The marathon was inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympic Ga ...
in 1990 and 1991, when he was in his sixties.Peter Y. Hong, "Sparks Fly," ''Los Angeles Times,'' April 2, 1995
/ref> He had two sides to his personality, ''Los Angeles Times'' reporter Bill Boyarsky wrote in 1989 — "The Nice Nate" and "The Mean Nate." On one hand, Holden was "a gentle, considerate, compassionate person much of the time." On the other hand, Boyarsky wrote, Holden is marked by a "hostile toughness . . . when he discusses the way black leaders refused to back him in unsuccessful races and in his election to the council." Fellow councilman
John Ferraro John Ferraro (May 14, 1924 – April 17, 2001) was an American politician and businessman who was a Democratic member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1966 until his death in 2001, the longest tenure of any member in the city's history. Befo ...
said of Holden, "He is gruff and he is rough, but he has a big heart."


Early political career

In California, he became active in Democratic politics; he was a member of the "steering committee for the
California Democratic Council The California Democratic Council (CDC), is an independent California non-profit founded at conferences at Asilomar and Fresno conferences in 1952-53 by future U.S. Senator Alan Cranston, State Senator George Miller, Jr. and other liberal Democrat ...
's peace delegation" and an officer of the Alta Loma Democratic Club. Holden made his first run for public office in 1968, when he was an unsuccessful candidate in
California's 26th congressional district California 26th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California currently represented by . The district is located on the South Coast, comprising most of Ventura County as well as a small portion of Los Ange ...
, which at the time included Beverly Hills, part of Culver City, most of Venice and some of Santa Monica and West Los Angeles. He became president of the CDC in 1970 and that year made two more runs for Congress.


State Senate

Holden began his service as a state senator in 1974, but gave up his office after four years to campaign unsuccessfully for the Congressional seat ultimately won by Julian C. Dixon.Bill Boyarsky, "Takes On Bradley in Mayoral Race," ''Los Angeles Times,'' April 3, 1989, page 1
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City Council


Elections

1987: Holden took a leave from his job as assistant chief deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor
Kenneth Hahn Kenneth Hahn (August 19, 1920 – October 12, 1997) was a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for forty years, from 1952 to 1992. Hahn was on the Los Angeles City Council from 1947 to 1952. He was an ardent supporter of civil r ...
to run against Homer Broome Jr. for the 10th District seat that had been vacated by the resignation of Dave Cunningham. Holden won by a 2–1 margin, even though Broome had been endorsed by Mayor Tom Bradley. Another candidate was Esther M. Lofton, who received fewer than 100 votes.James Rainey, "Ferraro and Holden Appear to Be Facing Easy Reelection," ''Los Angeles Times,'' February 17, 1991, page 5
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1989: Holden took on Mayor Bradley directly when he entered the race for mayor. He angered some of his constituents during the campaign when he supported the proposed breakup of the Los Angeles Unified School District. It was noted just before the election that Bradley's campaign fund vastly surpassed Holden's — $1,085,861 to $67,252. Bradley received 52 percent of vote to win in the April primary. 1991: Lofton, 60, a former schoolteacher "with no political base," challenged Holden again, stating she would not accept campaign contributions. When the votes were counted, Lofton had won an "astounding 28%," the ''Los Angeles Times'' remarked editorially, ascribing the large percentage to Holden's "hands-off policy regarding Police Chief
Daryl Gates Daryl Gates (born Darrel Francis Gates; August 30, 1926 – April 16, 2010) was the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from 1978 to 1992. His length of tenure in this position was second only to that of William H. Parker. As Chief ...
. 1995: Holden was challenged in the April primary by Deputy District Attorney Kevin A. Ross and by Rhodes Scholar and
Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...
graduate J. Stanley (Stan) Sanders. In the final election against Sanders in June, Holden received 54% of the vote and was elected.


Legislation

1987: Forbidding the sale or manufacture of realistic toy guns. Bill passed. 1990: Requiring buyers of
Rolex Rolex SA () is a British-founded Swiss watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex'' as the brand name of ...
watches to register the serial number with police, to make it difficult for crooks to sell them. Introduced in the wake of a rash of Rolex thefts of about one a day, with some owners killed. 1999: Requiring cable companies to remove sneakers tied together and left dangling from overhead lines. Holden said they were "menacing signals of gang territory and drug sales." Police officials said they were just pranks. Bill passed."Council Steps Boldly Into Sneakers Issue," ''Los Angeles Times,'' September 15, 1999
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Legacy

* The
Nate Holden Performing Arts Center Nate or NATE may refer to: People and fictional characters *Nate (given name) *A nickname for Nathanael *A nickname for Nathaniel Organizations *National Association for the Teaching of English, the UK subject teacher association for all aspects ...
at 4718 West Washington Boulevard is named in his honor. * Changed the restrictions that prevented women from acquiring a mortgage without the signature of a man. * Was the author of the legislation that led the State of California ( the first state in the nation) to recognize the Martin Luther King Holiday.


References


Further reading


''Beyda v. City of Los Angeles'' (sexual harassment appeal)

Erin J. Aubry in ''LA Weekly'' on the 1999 10th District election

Join California Nate Holden

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, Nathaniel R. 1929 births Living people Democratic Party California state senators Holden, Nate People from Macon, Georgia Politicians from Elizabeth, New Jersey African-American state legislators in California United States Army soldiers African-American city council members in California 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians Candidates in the 1989 United States elections