Don A. Allen
Don A. Allen | |
---|---|
7th district | |
In office July 1, 1947 – September 13, 1956 | |
Preceded by | Carl C. Rasmussen |
Succeeded by | James C. Corman |
Personal details | |
Born | Caltech | May 13, 1907
Military service | |
Branch/service | United States Marine Corps |
Don A. Allen Sr. (May 13, 1900 – August 1, 1983) was a member of the California State Assembly in the 1940s and 1950s and of the Los Angeles City Council between 1947 and 1956.
Biography
Allen was born on May 13, 1907, in
Allen was a member of the
He died in August 1983 in Oceanside, California.[2]
Public service
In the 1920s he was an investigator for Los Angeles County District Attorney
State Assembly
Allen was elected to the State Assembly in 1938 and was reelected in 1940, 1942 and 1944. He was a member of the State Council of Defense and the State War Council.[1] He resigned on June 20, 1947, to assume the duties of a Los Angeles City Council member. In June 1956 he was reelected to the Assembly in a special election but instead remained on the council and declined to serve in the Assembly until after the regular election in November 1958. The Legislature did not meet until 1959, when he took his seat. Allen was the author of The Source Book on the California Legislature, published in 1965, and as a result the entire Legislature named him "California Legislative Historian for Life."[2]
City Council
Elections
Allen was elected to represent
Positions
Voting machines, 1948. Allen introduced a resolution that
Juveniles, 1950. The council adopted his motion asking the Police Department what was being done to enforce curfew laws. He said it was his opinion that if policemen were "equipped with a good old-fashioned hair brush, which could be applied to some of these kids," there might be a lessening of juvenile crime. But Councilman Edward R. Roybal disagreed, noting that most of the "hoodlums" were over 21 and recommending closer cooperation by the police with agencies "dealing with youth problems."[8]
Rent decontrol, 1950–51. Allen and Councilman
Small business, 1951. He blasted the federal government price regulations because:
In my district (south central section of the city) scores of small businesses are folding up. They can't take it any longer. They are being regulated to death; they're quitting and getting a job in defense industry rather than face the maze of directives that they can't understand and that local Federal offices can't seem to interpret.[12]
Chavez Ravine, 1954. Allen supported a $40 million bond issue to not only build a baseball stadium in Chavez Ravine but also construct a zoo and golf course there.[13]
References
- ^ a b c Los Angeles Public Library reference file
- ^ a b c d JoinCalifornia website, citing other sources
- ^ "New Council Zones Defined," Los Angeles Times, January 7, 1937, page A-18
- ^ "Proposed New Alignment for City Voting Precincts" (with map), Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1940, page A-3
- ^ "Voters to Decide Issues Tuesday," Los Angeles Times, May 25, 1947, page A-2
- ^ "Council Votes Redistricting After Flare-up Over Changes," Los Angeles Times, October 24, 1956, page B-1
- ^ "Councilman Allen Asks City Voting Machines," Los Angeles Times, June 22, 1948, page 3
- ^ "Council Raises Question on Curfew Law," Los Angeles Times, April 26, 1950, page 13
- ^ "Tenants Start Recall Movement," Los Angeles Times, August 3, 1950, page 8
- ^ "Near-Riot Scenes Mark Rent Session," Los Angeles Times, October 25, 1950, page 1
- ^ "New City Rent Control Move Threatened," Los Angeles Times, January 6, 1951, page 1
- ^ "Ruin of Small Businesses by Federal Controls Blasted," Los Angeles Times, October 17, 1951, page A-1
- ^ "Councilman Out to Revive Bond Issue for Park," Los Angeles Times, November 4, 1954, page C-3