History

Valley voted against Dodger Stadium

Fifty years ago this week, Los Angeles voters narrowly OK'd a ballot measure approving the city's gift of land near Chavez Ravine for the Dodgers' Walter O'Malley to build his stadium. Proposition B only passed by 25,785 votes out of more than 677,000 cast, after a campaign in which opponents called it a give-away of public funds to benefit a private interest. The argument worked in the Valley, where all of the city council districts voted against the measure. The Valley hadn't even hit a million people by then, so the suburbs did not have the numbers to change the outcome. The Eagle Rock area also opposed the stadium, but nine council districts voted for it. Keith Thursby at the Daily Mirror blog has the numbers. Interesting observation: a commenter notes that Councilman Ed Roybal had been the most vocal opponent of the Dodgers, but his Eastside district approved the stadium overwhelmingly. He went on to a long career in Congress.

Spotted at Dodger Thoughts


More by Kevin Roderick:
Standing up to Harvey Weinstein
The Media
LA Times gets a top editor with nothing but questions
LA Observed Notes: Harvey Weinstein stripped bare
LA Observed Notes: Photos of the homeless, photos that found homes
Recent History stories on LA Observed:
Kevin Starr, 76, the historian of California
Winter solstice cave pictograph at Burro Flats
Pink Lady of Malibu Canyon
LA's first presidential election was different
Pink Lady of Malibu Canyon: 50 years ago
James Dean died 61 years ago today. Now the famous gas station is gone
Code 7 in Sherman Oaks: A little bit of history
1932 Olympics tourist map


 

LA Observed on Twitter