The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

The Fullerton Observer newspaper was formed in 1978 by Ralph and Natalie Kennedy and friends to provide a more progressive counterbalance to the more conservative Fullerton News-Tribune and Orange County Register. The Fullerton Public Library has digital archives of the Observer stretching back to 1979. Here are some top news stories from 1987.

Culture

The historic Fox Theater in downtown Fullerton, built in 1925, sadly closed its doors.

A proposal to build an IMAX theater at the downtown Fullerton Museum Plaza fell through.

On a more positive note, Fullerton held its annual “Night in Fullerton” event.

The Observer includes a nice feature on local artist Florence Arnold, who was one of the original organizers of A Night in Fullerton back in the 1960s.

“It was her desire to give the public, both children and adults, a broad-base exposure to the arts through the festival atmosphere,” the Observer states. “The annual program has since grown into a popular attraction on the Southland art scene, and last year alone drew more than 10,000 visitors.”

Participating venues in A Night in Fullerton included: Patrick’s Music, Eileen Kremen Gallery, the Muckenthaler Cultural Center, John Thomas Gallery, Enfant Terrible Gallery, Hunt Branch Library, Fullerton Public Library, City Hall, Cal State Fullerton, Pacific Christian College, Fullerton College, Plummer Auditorium, First Christian Church, The Edge Gallery, Gallery 57, and Zarbano Gallery.

The Observer featured an excellent and in-depth article on the ups and downs of Downtown Fullerton’s art scene.

From 1969- 1977, several artists rented studio (and in some cases, living) space in the Chapman building downtown, which had previously been a department store.

A 1977 flyer tells of the “110 WILSHIRE SHOW” featuring work by these artists, showing “the grinning, bearded, antic residents of what local artist Scott Fitzgerald now affectionately dubs, ‘the artists’ dormitory.’”

Other downtown cultural spots in the 1970s included Rutabegorz, “replete with Egyptian frescoes, candlelight, and bad poetry,” the Eileen Kremen and Common Ground galleries, the 309 Malden gallery and Michael Haile’s “Art Directives” which were in the same building that housed, among other things, the Wilshire Theatre, which was sadly destroyed to make room for boring apartments.

At the Wilshire Theater, “on a good night you could catch a film adaptation of such novels as Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice or James Joyce’s (x-rated) Ulysses.”

“Originally a swimming pool, the Wilshire Theatre arranged its seating from shallow to deep end…The theatre was flanked on the west side by a long narrow, windowless hall, overhung by a frosted skylight. Michael Haile (former 110 Wilshire resident) rented this space, painted it a scrupulous white, and proceeded to show the work of his peers.”

By the 1980s, other galleries popped up, such as Enfant Terrible, the Edge, Mary Zarbano, Vision Art, and John Thomas galleries.

In addition to galleries, downtown Fullerton in the 1980s had a handful of independent bookstores, such as the Book Bazaar, Lorson’s [children’s] Books, Book Harbor, Aladdin Books, and the Blue Wolf, which was run by Melissa Mack in “the downstairs storage space of her studio apartment in the alley behind the Mulberry Street restaurant.” There she would host poetry readings.

Another annual cultural event was the Founder’s Day Parade.

Environment

The oil companies who had caused the toxic McColl Superfund site proposed as a solution to cover up, rather than remove, the toxic materials.

“Several companies who are potentially liable for cleanup costs at the McColl Superfund Site have proposed instead (to the EPA and DHS) to preserve the dump’s toxic materials for future generations to deal with,” the Observer stated. “Actually, the companies have proposed to construct and finance a containment system to stabilize the site prior to the implementation of a final remedy. They have also requested that this proposal be considered as a final remedy.”

Councilmember Chris Norby said that this ‘entombment’ proposal had been rejected by both state and city officials; because, “while it will make the site temporarily less bothersome, it contributes nothing to the final destruction of the toxic materials themselves.” 

Ultimately, unfortunately for future generations, this proposal was accepted by state and federal authorities.

The oil companies who submitted the proposal were Shell Oil Company, ARCO, Texaco, Unocal and Phillips Petroleum. The estimated cost of “capping” the toxic materials was $12.5 million. 

Presidential candidate Al Gore visited the site and gave a speech calling the proposal “Totally outrageous.”

“What may seem like a temporary solution to someone living far from such toxic nuisances,” he said “may seem much more permanent to people living next to something like the McColl dump,” Gore said. “I will guarantee the appointment of an EPA Administrator who will vigorously pursue the cleanup of toxic waste dumps like McColl all across the country.”

Gore took the opportunity to criticize the EPA under President Reagan.

“From 1973 until 1979, the number of EPA enforcement actions increased each year, and that increase produced a parallel decline in pollution,” Gore said. “But in 1981 [when Reagan came to power], hazardous waste enforcement came to a virtual halt, as civil cases referred from EPA to the Justice Department dropped by a shocking 82 percent.” 

Housing

In housing news, the conservative city council majority continued to refuse to use redevelopment funds for affordable housing.

Racism/Bigotry

While housing discrimination was technically illegal, it still existed in the 1980s. The Fair Housing Council would hear complaints of racial discrimination in housing, and send Black and white “tester” renters or buyers to investigate.

A local Black man named Moses Hall chronicled his experience of being denied housing based on his race, while the white “tester” was offered the apartment.

A Korean church and a Jewish Temple in Fullerton were vandalized by local racists.

AIDS

In the 1980s, AIDS had become a national crisis, prompting a local forum and the Fullerton School District to adopt AIDS curriculum.

In the 1980s, Fullerton was represented in Congress by arch conservative William Dannemeyer, a vocal opponent of gay rights who made many offensive and homophobic statements during his tenure.

Fullerton College hosted a debate between Dannemeyer and Werner Kuhn, director of the local Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center, on ways to deal with AIDS.

The Observer had pretty good political cartoonists in the 80s. The one below pokes fun at the hypocrisy of Congressmembers like Dannemeyer who consistently voted against funding for AIDS research and counseling.

The 1987 Earthquake

In 1987, the Whittier Narrows Earthquake rocked Fullerton and surrounding areas. I vividly remember this quake, as I had recently moved to Fullerton. I was seven years old.

Education

Anita Varela and John Bedell were elected to the Elemetary School Board.

Adequate school funding was a point of debate between liberals and conservatives. In 1987, California’s governor was Republican George Deukmejian.

In the 1980s, Nancy Reagan’s solution to drug use was to “Just Say No.” This was a bit reductive and simplistic.

Facing state desegregation orders in 1972, the Fullerton School Board voted to close Maple School in south Fullerton and bus all of its mostly Latino and Black students to other schools. By the mid-1980s, nearby Richman School (also south of the tracks) was experiencing the same “white flight” that had contributed to Maple’s segregated status.

When Maple School was closed, it became a community center that housed a preschool for local families. In 1987, the preschool was facing cuts, and Maple parents organized to fight them.

Fullerton Public Library had a Bookmobile that served Fullerton children.

Fullerton College came under fire for having entrance exams that excluded those who needed remedial help.

Meanwhile, CSUF fraternities and sororities were being cited under Fullerton’s newly created Conditional Use Permit ordinance. They fought back with protests at City Hall.

Local Activism & Protests

The Fullerton Observer, being a progressive publication, has always done a good job of spotlighting local activists and protesters, as the following stories demonstrate.

Law & Order

Following the departure of Martin Garibedian, captain Philip Goering was promoted to be the new Police Chief.

Local Champion

US Swimming Champion Janet Evans, who grew up swimming in Fullerton, was featured in the Observer. Today, the sports complex at Independence Park is named after Evans.

History

1987 was the hundred-year anniversary of the founding of Fullerton, as well as the two hundred year anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. To commemorate these, the city held a celebration.

Local historian Warren Bowen wrote a few articles about various aspects of Fullerton’s history.

Part of the centennial celebration involved the restoration of the WPA mural in the police station (formerly City Hall). Bowen took this opportunity to write a brief history of City Hall.

When City Hall was built in 1941, it contained not only the police department and City jail but also the water, engineering, building and welfare offices; and those of the elected treasurer and clerk; the justice of the peace; and, of course, the City Council. 

Bowen also included an article about the popularity of baseball in Fullerton in the 1930s.

Famous baseball players from Fullerton included Walter Johnson, (Washington Senators’ pitcher), Willard Hershberger (Cincinnati Reds catcher), Bus Callan (N.Y. Giants catcher), Arky Vaughan (Pittsburg Pirates shortstop), Del Crandall (Milwaukee Braves catcher), and Steve Busby (K.C. Athletics catcher).

“In the heyday of Arky, and the despair of the depression years, baseball was…the local great escape,” Bowen writes.

John Francis “Pep” Lemon was a popular and influential local coach and baseball booster.

“He was a one man recreation department when no one thought to call it that,” Bowen writes. “His domain was the ball park at Commonwealth (now Amerige Park) at Malden and W. Commonwealth Avenues.”

The ball park is now known as Duane Winters Field in honor of the long time City Councilmember.

In the 1930s, Amerige Park was “in many ways, a community center with daytime baseball and evening softball leagues.” Girls softball was very popular there during WWII.

Fullerton’s local baseball team was known as the Fullerton Merchants and (later) the Fullerton Firemen. Players were recruited by Lemon and included high school and junior college players, oil field workers, police officers, firefighters, the local pharmacist, and others who loved the game.

Players for these popular Sunday afternoon games included Bucky Walters, Vern Wilkinson, Roe White, Pershing “Puss” Hodgson, Del Jones, Bud Dawson, Otto Brandle, Clifford Perry, Lou and Wade Blose, Wee Willie Jones, “Frenchy” Loumagne and Dick Joyce as well as Pep Lemon himself who frequently caught the games. 

“Each Saturday the local newspaper would set forth the expected lineup, and then recap the game on Monday for those who couldn’t make it,” Bowen writes. “The Firemen were part of a league which also featured teams from Collbom Brokers, 20th Century Fox Films, Standard Oil, Cuccio Winery, RKO Radio and the Chili Bowl.”

“It was a place to see and be seen,” Bowen writes. “Families often attended….The games started about 1:00 p.m. You paid 25 cents for an adult admission…You brought an old blanket to soften the wooden, backless benches, and lots of those were army blankets which the vets of WWI were trying to wear out.

Bowen also includes a story about when Fullerton celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1937 with a massive pageant that drew thousands.

Here are some excerpts from the article:

“The event was an all-community effort, which included a queen contest and coronation ball, dedication of plaques by the DAR and others, renaming of Commonwealth Park as Amerige Park, a childrens’ play day at the park, historical exhibits, a ladies card party in the high school gym, a banquet by the 20-30 club; all topped off by three performances of a pageant, with a cast of over 1000, portraying the development of the area. “The Conquest of the Years” featured details of the early Spanish explorations and settlement through growth of the citrus and oil industries of the 20th century. 

“So momentous was the event that the local schools were closed for an entire day and businesses from 1pm Mayor Harry Maxwell and co-founder George Amerige took part in the park rededication, which was followed by a childrens’ play day and two baseball games, one of these featuring the Fullerton Jr. College Hornets vs. Long Beach Jr. College.

“In observance of the event, the Daily News Tribune published the largest edition of a newspaper in the history of the County with feature stories about local people and businesses and over 300 advertisements. 

“Flags and bunting were being hung in Fullerton, while 33 candidates for Queen (later to swell to 52) sold tickets to the pageant and gathered in votes. As the campaign heated up, it became a two way race between Mrs. Pearl McAulay Phillips and Miss Mary Catherine Morgan; the young matron vs. the student. In the final analysis Mrs. Phillips carried the day, and Morgan was “Miss Columbia.” 

“The pageant shaped up under the direction of Miss Hazel Anderson, an imported director from Ohio. Dozens of local business people accepted roles, and students from the high school were enlisted by the hundreds. The simulated wedding of Don Bernardo Yorba and his bride was a part of the event with a younger Bernardo Yorba in the role, and Rosemary Kraemer, also a direct descendant of the Yorbas, as the bride. Other segments showed the Ameriges, a group of Basque sheepherders, an early hotel dance, music, oxcarts, stage coaches and the like. Over 10,000 people attended the performances at the high school stadium.”

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

The Fullerton Observer newspaper was formed in 1978 by Ralph and Natalie Kennedy and friends to provide a more progressive counterbalance to the more conservative Fullerton News-Tribune and Orange County Register. The Fullerton Public Library has digital archives of the Observer stretching back to 1979. Here are some top news stories from 1985.

Local Politics

In 1985, the Fullerton City Council was Dick Ackerman, Buck Catlin, Linda LeQuire, Molly McClanahan, and Chris Norby.

Once again, the conservative majority passed over the regular rotation to deny Molly McClanahan the chance to serve as mayor.

In congress, Fullerton was represented by arch conservative William Dannemeyer, who was a vocal opponent of gay rights.

Housing and Homelessness

For years, the conservative city council majority opposed using government subsidies for affordable housing.

This had the predictable effect of exacerbating Fullerton’s homeless problem, and thus the need for local shelters. Here, again, the council majority was reluctant to offer help.

Despite City Council’s reluctance to deal with homelessness, other local leaders sought to step in to fill the need, creating the first of many regional Homeless Task Forces.

Fullerton Interfaith Emergency Services (now called Pathways of Hope) was seeking to refurbish an old house into the City’s first shelter.

Redevelopment

Back in the 80s, Fullerton had a Redevelopment Agency which had funding to “halt blight or conditions that may lead to blight, and to enhance the economic climate of cities.” While cities had the authority and mandate to use at least some of redevelopment funds for construction of much-needed affordable housing, the council preferred to use it for things like parking structures, rehabilitating shopping centers, parking lots, and sports complexes. 

Councilman Dick Ackerman, who served for twelve years, said he was “strongly opposed to governmentally subsidized housing for low-income people.”

“Not everyone can live here in Fullerton, and we shouldn’t expect government to make it happen,” Ackerman said. “We shouldn’t tinker with the natural flow of free enterprise.”

Meanwhile, Ackerman and the council majority preferred to tinker with other markets by using redevelopment money “to reimburse private developers of the Orangefair [mall] project area.”

Here, the local reflects the national. During the Reagan era, government subsidies for the poor were cut, while big corporations got tax cuts and subsidies.

The City of Fullerton’s Redevelopment Agency also had the power of “eminent domain”–meaning it could take over a private property owner’s land, as long as they were paid a “fair market value.” In a blow to local history, council approved the demolition of the original Fender Guitar factory to make way for a parking structure.

Culture

For a number of years, Fullerton held an annual Founder’s Day Parade and Street Faire.

The Fullerton Museum Center was at first denied redevelopment funding, but then got some.

In the 1980s, downtown Fullerton had a number of book stores and art galleries.

Business

Mulberry Street Ristorante, one of the longest-running and most popular spots downtown, was opened by the Bevins family.

Environment

In environment news, some residents were alarmed by the decision to run toxic waste through the local sewer system.

And plans were still being formulated to deal with Fullerton’s first Superfund site, the McColl dump site.

Transportation

In keeping with its progressive values, the Observer had many articles advocating for bicycles, pedestrians, and better public transit.

Education

In 1985, new members were elected to the High School and Elementary School Boards.

International Issues

Some international issues in 1985 were nuclear proliferation in the context of the Cold War, the revolution in Nicaragua (which the U.S. involved itself in), and apartheid in South Africa.

Immigration

While illegal immigration was not quite the hot-button issue it is today, it was a growing concern. Interestingly, it was the Republican president Reagan who signed a significant Amnesty law for undocumented immigrants in 1986. The Republican party seems to have moved away from that approach.

Labor

In labor news, workers urged the public to boycott Alpha Beta grocery stores in solidarity with the United Farm Workers.

United Farmworker leader Cesar Chavez came to Fullerton to plead the case for better treatment of farmworkers, and even wrote a letter to the Observer on the topic.

Crime

In 1984, CSUF physics professor Edward Cooperman was killed in his office by Vietnamese student Lam Van Minh, allegedly as a result of Cooperman’s efforts to assist the communist government in Vietnam. Some believed that it was an assassination with possible CIA involvement.

Prosecutors argued that Minh shot Cooperman in his office in cold blood.

The trial against Minh took place in 1985, and resulted in a hung jury, and therefore a mistrial. Assistant District Attorney Mel Jensen said he would be refiling a new set of charges against Minh.

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

The Fullerton Observer newspaper was formed in 1978 by Ralph and Natalie Kennedy and friends to provide a more progressive counterbalance to the more conservative Fullerton News-Tribune and Orange County Register. The Fullerton Public Library has digital archives of the Observer stretching back to 1979. Here are some top news stories from 1984.

Transportation

Bicycle advocates faced opposition from the Transportation and Circulation Commission. It would be a while before the establishment of the Bicycle Users Subcommittee.

Meanwhile, in an effort to curb air pollution, the state of California instituted a comprehensive Smog check program for cars.

Education

The Fullerton Public Library used to have a Bookmobile that would bring books to local schools and neighborhoods.

The School Board voted to close the Community Open School, an experimental form of education begun 11 year earlier.

Local Politics

1984 was an election year, and the Observer carried much coverage of the local City Council race, pointing out which candidates were given large contributions from business and developer interests. Generally, the Observer did not support candidates that were heavily subsidized by developers and big business, preferring more independent candidates.

The Observer endorsed three candidates:

Republicans Dick Ackerman and Linda LeQuire were re-elected, and newcomer Chris Norby was elected to replace the outgoing Duane Winters, who had served on City Council for 27 years.

In recognition of Winters’ service, the city named the sports field in Amerige Park (across the street from City Hall) in honor of the long-serving councilmember.

Moderate/liberal Molly McClanahan was passed over as Vice-Mayor by the conservative majority, even though it was her turn in the rotation, a pattern that happened occasionally over the years, and continues to today.

Former Mayor Bob Ward, an advocate for Coyote Hills open space, challenged arch-conservative William Dannemeyer for congress. He lost.

After the passage of Prop 13 placed severe limits on property tax increases, city council sought to fill the budget shortfall with a sales tax increase, which was roundly rejected by voters.

Student Activism

The CSUF campus used to have a pub that served beer (it has since been removed). Students boycotted Coors beer for the company’s anti-union and allegedly racist positions.

Housing

The conservative city council majority consistently voted down affordable housing measures. This, combined with a Reagan administration that was cutting federal government subsidies for affordable housing, exacerbated the growing problem of housing unaffordability and, ultimately, homelessness.

The Strange Killing of Professor Cooperman

CSUF physics professor Edward Cooperman was killed in his office by a Vietnamese student, allegedly as a result of Cooperman’s efforts to assist the communist government in Vietnam.

Some believed that it was an assassination.

Stay tuned for headlines from 1985!

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

The Fullerton Observer newspaper was formed in 1978 by Ralph and Natalie Kennedy and friends to provide a more progressive counterbalance to the more conservative Fullerton News-Tribune and Orange County Register. The Fullerton Public Library has digital archives of the Observer stretching back to 1979. Here are some top news stories from 1983.

Development

City Council approved a deal with CSUF to use redevelopment funds to help build a sports complex.

Housing

On the question of affordable housing, the conservative majority on City Council had a pretty bad record, turning down federal money for affordable housing, or re-allocating it to other purposes. But at some point Buck Catlin flipped and supported the use of county bonds for affordable housing.

Meanwhile, the county Board of Supervisors dismantled their inclusionary housing program, which previously required new housing developments to set aside 10% of the units as affordable.

Budget

The City Budget was still recovering from the fallout of Proposition 13.

Education

Local school districts also faced budget cuts as a result of the decreased property tax revenues caused by Prop 13.

Amidst this decline of revenues, there was talk of closing the Maple Community Center, which served the largely Latino/lower income residents of south Fullerton. As a result of community pushback, the Maple Center was not closed.

Transportation

Fullerton’s bus terminal was built where it still stands today.

At this time, Fullerton bicyclists, including Observer editor Ralph Kennedy, were politically active on behalf of bike transportation.

City Council voted against the extension of a light rail train to the City’s transportation center.

Culture

The City hosted a Fullerton Gold Rush Days Parade.

In the 1980s, Downtown Fullerton had a few cool book stores, including Mugwumps and Aladdin Books.

Open Space

At this time, Fullerton had its share of activists pushing for the preservation of open space, such as the Vista Park at the corner of State College and Bastanchury and West Coyote Hills. In both cases, these involved lands owned by oil companies.

Religion

The marriage of the Republican Party and Evangelical/fundamentalist Christianity began to really take off in the 1980s with the emergence of figures like Jerry Falwell, whose group Moral Majority sought to implement socially conservative policies, like opposing homosexuality and abortion. Fullerton congressman William Dannemeyer, who famously opposed gay rights, spoke at the first annual Fullerton Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast, at which he laid out his ultra-conservative agenda. The Prayer Breakfast still happens every year.

Downtown

In 1980, Fullerton City Council spent several million dollars of Redevelopment dollars on big ugly cement “arcades” downtown, which were universally scorned. Three years later, they voted to tear them down. How many affordable housing units could have been built with those millions?

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

The Fullerton Observer newspaper was formed in 1978 by Ralph and Natalie Kennedy and friends to provide a more progressive counterbalance to the more conservative Fullerton News-Tribune and Orange County Register. The Fullerton Public Library has digital archives of the Observer stretching back to 1979, although the first few years are quite limited. Because of this, I will begin in 1982 with a summary of top news stories.

Local Politics

1982 was a mid-term election year. Molly McClanahan and Buck Catlin were elected, joining Duane Winters, Dick Ackerman, and Linda LeQuire on council. At this time, and for most of Fullerton’s history up to this point, City Council was dominated by white male conservative Republicans. The only somewhat progressive voice on council at this time was McClanahan.

Fullerton incorporated as a city in 1904. By 1982 it had elected four women to council in 78 years–Frances Wood, Sue Tsuda, Molly McClanahan, and Linda LeQuire. It had elected only one minority–Louis Velasco.

Despite this, or perhaps because of this, the council majority opposed an initiative to bring more women and minorities into city government.

As a result of the relatively new Prop 13 (and other factors), Fullerton was facing a budget shortfall. On the chopping block were the usual suspects–human services, library services, etc. The police department, as usual, emerged relatively unscathed, probably because they have a powerful union that contributes to political campaigns.

Development

Back in the 1980s, Fullerton (and all cities in California) had something called a Redevelopment Agency–a pool of funding for community related development projects. At this time, the City was in talks with Cal State Fullerton to use redevelopment money to help the college to build various sports facilities and a hotel. In 1982, this project faced some setbacks, but it would ultimately be approved.

The school district would eventually sell the lands of the former Ford School to the city for a park and development of a senior housing complex.

The (somewhat) iconic Fullerton College bridge over Chapman was built.

Environment

In environmental news, the city was in talks with Chevron over saving some land in Coyote Hills for a nature park. This fight would continue for decades, and is still ongoing, although some areas have been saved.

Various government agencies were deciding what to do about the toxic McColl dump site in northwest Fullerton, which was Fullerton’s first Superfund site.

Student Protests

CSUF students protested the proliferation of nuclear weapons. This was the Reagan era and the Cold War was ramping up in intensity again.

Meanwhile, Fullerton High School students protested for updated textbooks.

Culture

Downtown Fullerton in the 1980s was not the bar/club scene that it is today. It was sleepy, and a bit grungy. Despite this, there was culture. Along with the local punk scene, there were a handful of cool bookstores, like Mugwumps.

In the small art deco building across the street from the Fox Theater, there was an art gallery called Common Ground.

The major annual cultural event in Fullerton was “A Night in Fullerton”–a multi-venue night of art, music, drama, and dance that started back in the 1960s.

Housing

The ever-present problem of affordable (or unaffordable) housing was not helped by the conservative council majority, who consistently voted against affordable housing programs.

Stay tuned for news articles from 1983!

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

Richard “Dick” Ackerman was interviewed in 2018 by Abby Waldrop for the CSUF Oral History Program “Orange County Politics Project.” Here is a summary of what I learned from this interview.

Ackerman was born in Long Beach in 1942, his parents having moved out west from Iowa. His father got a good-paying job at Douglas Aircraft, at a time when aerospace was booming in California. He grew up with “very traditional values.” When he was in elementary school, his parents moved to Lakewood, one of the first post-war master planned communities in the United States. For an excellent (and poetic) reflection on the origin and meaning of Lakewood, I recommend D.J. Waldie’s book Holy Land: a Suburban Memoir.

He attended Bellflower High School, then Long Beach State for two years, graduated from UC Berkeley in 1964, and then law school at Hastings. He found that his political views did not align with the liberal students and activists of the Berkeley area.

It was in law school that he started to develop some political feelings. His best friend Bill was active in the Republican party, so after he graduated he helped to work on some Republican campaigns.

The first campaign he worked on was for “a controversial person named John Schmitz, who ran for Congress.” Schmitz was a far-right politician who was kicked out of the far-right John Birch Society for “extremist rhetoric.”

Ackerman and his friend were in charge of Schmitz’s sign crew. “Our job was to go and take down the other person’s signs and put up his sign,” an act which is illegal.

Schmitz lost that election, but was subsequently elected to the state legislature.

“He’s had a checkered past (laughs) since then,” Ackerman said.

In law school Dick met his wife, Linda. They had three children.

After law school, he got a job at a law firm in Fullerton, where he would spend the next several decades of his life.

In Fullerton, he became president of the Chamber of Commerce.

“Back at that time, our opinion was City Council was sort of anti-business. They were making it harder for business to survive,” he said. “So we decided to start up a PAC (political action committee)…we ran a couple of candidates…got them both elected. Then we were hurting for a candidate the next time, and somebody said, ‘Why don’t you do it?’ And I said, ‘Okay.’ So I did it.”

He was elected to City Council in 1980, and served for 12 years, including two years as mayor.

“I wanted to make the city more business friendly,” he said. “City budgets are always lean because they depend on the state for a lot of their money. The only place you can really control some of your destiny is sales tax. So my goal was to bring in more sales tax.”

He was on council when the city brought in Price Club (later called Costco), which brought in a lot of sales tax revenue, while (arguably) pushing out smaller businesses.

“Some people don’t like the retail stores,” he admitted. “It does put more of an impact on the smaller shops, the mom and pop shops. But the trend was sort of toward the big box even back then.”

Back in the 1980s, Republicans were the majority on city council.

While he was on council the City partnered with CSUF to bring the Marriot Hotel on the CSUF campus.

Using redevelopment money, the city paid all the cost for the football stadium, the baseball stadium, the softball stadium, and the tennis courts in exchange for the city getting use of the university fields when they weren’t using them. The college then used the revenue from the hotel to eventually repay the city what they put in for the investment.

“The only funny thing back then—and I took a little heat—was right after we put the football stadium up, they [CSUF] dropped football a couple of years after that,” he said.

He served on the President’s Advisory Committee under several CSUF presidents, including Donald Shields, Jewel Plummer Cobb, Milton Gordon, and Millie [Garcia]. 

When the State Assembly instituted term limits, long time Republican incumbent Ross Johnson termed out, opening the way for Ackerman to run for the seat, and win, 1995.

His goals in the state legislature were similar to those when he served on city council: “Most of my stuff was business oriented. California, as you may or may not know, is still very bad for business.”

However, unlike on city council, where he was always in the majority, Republicans had become the minority in the state legislature. The change of California from a red to a blue state in the 1990s is a fascinating subject.

“With the exception of one year, I was always in the minority party, but you still do the fight, try and do things, and you have some success,” he said.

For some of the years, however, California had a Republican governor, with Pete Wilson in the 1990s, and Arnold Schwartznegger in the 00s.

He remembers meeting with Schwarzenegger in his smoking tent. “I think he was very strong on business issues. He was more liberal than the Republicans on a lot of other issues.”

In 2000, Ackerman elected to the State Senate, and eventually became the Senate Minority Leader, the highest ranking Republican in the legislature.

California faced a couple recessions in the early to mid 2000s. When Gray Davis was recalled, the budget was “a mess” and the state was 25 billion in debt, so both Republicans and Democrats passed a bond issue to cover the debt.

“The most important vote you’re going to have every year is the budget vote, all of the policy things, and what gets funded, and what doesn’t is in the budget,” he said.

Ackerman termed out of the state legislature in 2008. Regarding term limits, he said, “I think it’s a very bad idea…you’ve got first term people behind the head of Appropriations or head of Budget and they have no background whatsoever.”

He spoke of the importance of reaching across the aisle and working with Democrats.

“I’m a very friendly type person,” he said. “I can get along with people, and some people are more fire brands. They are always attacking people. If you attack people, you’re not going to get anything done. You have to talk to them. I always had good relations with the Democrats, so it wasn’t a problem.”

Although the state at large was turning more blue, back when he was in the state legislature, his districts were still considered safe Republican districts.

After leaving the state legislature, Ackerman went to work in government relations, aka lobbying.

“A lot of it just has to do with relationships and knowing people—and knowing people both Republicans and Democrats,” he said. “I could call up the Speaker, call up the Pro Tem and they take my call…It helps me help clients when they need to talk to somebody about an issue.”

When asked what sort of advice he would give someone who wants to get involved in politics, he said, “First probably work in somebody’s campaign to see if you like it…pick somebody you agree with philosophically…And then run for a local office. Run for school board, or run for city council because those are smaller versions of what you’re going to get at the next level, and see if you like it.”

Ackerman spoke of his philosophy of government, which informed his positions on bills that came up in the legislature.

“Is this going to expand government or constrict government?…Generally, I’m for smaller government. Is it going to be anti-freedom or pro-freedom? Is it going to give people more opportunities or less opportunities? I don’t want to be telling people what to do on everything…I’m against Big Brother. We’ve got too much Big Brotherism going around.”

He spoke of the importance of a baseline of shared facts when making important decisions, either as a legislator or a voter.

“Generally, if you give people the facts and they get the issues and it’s not fake news or altered news on one side or the other…people make the right decisions,” he said. “Verify your source. Find out what the source of your information is, because I think a lot of times they’re making decisions in which they may not have the right facts.”

He said that, currently, the Republican Party in California is not in a good position. He attributes this decline, among other things, to a loss of good middle class jobs.

“My conclusion is we’ve lost the middle class,” he said. “Back in the seventies and eighties we had a gigantic middle class, with manufacturing, engineering, aerospace. Most of those type of companies have gone and those people in that middle are also gone.”

Nationally, he thought, the situation is brighter for Republicans.

“If you take away New York and California, the rest of the nation is pretty normal,” he said. “So I think nationally the Republican Party is okay. Statewide, I think unless something really severe happens, I don’t think we’re going to be gaining much power in California.”

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

Sue Tsuda was interviewed by Scherly Virgill in 2016 for a CSUF Oral History Program project entitled “Women, Politics, and Activism since Suffrage.” Here is a brief bio of Tsuda, based on this interview.

She was born in Clinton, Illinois in 1936 to Ruth Edwards and Virgil Hoff. Her dad worked for the Illinois Central Railroad as a machinist. She had one brother, Virgil Hoff.

When she was growing up, her dad served on the school board, and her mom was active in the League of Women Voters. The whole family was interested in politics. When she was 16 and had gotten her drivers license, she was driving voters to the polls in their rural county.

After high school, she got a scholarship to go to the University of Illinois, where she met her husband. They married in June of 1955 and had three children: Ken, Kesa, and Naomi.

When she was a freshman in college, she got involved in civil rights by picketing the barbers in Champagne-Urbana, Illinois who “would not cut the hair of black students…they said the reason was they didn’t know how to cut Negro hair.” She says they weren’t physically attacked, but were verbally attacked.

Before getting a job at the Hughes plant in Fullerton, her husband was reluctant to  move to California “because there was too much prejudice against Japanese.” But, drawn by the good pay, the family moved out west.

Sue graduated from CSUF in 1978 with a degree in political science. She then got a masters in public administration from Cal State Long Beach.

While living in Orange County, she (like her mother) got involved in the League of Women Voters. 

She liked working for the League because she “they were an organization that provides a great deal of information that’s valid and not biased.”

Part of her involvement in the League included going to city council and planning commission meetings as an observer. She served as head of a League committee on education and helped put together a report entitled The State’s Role in Education. She also served on the state board of the League.

When the Kent State massacre happened in 1970, she went to Washington D.C. with the League and helped marching students to write and file petitions to the government. 

“One of the more moving experiences of my life was to be on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial when they (student protesters) were there,” she recalls. “A crowd of young people dismayed at their government.”

While working with the League, she befriended Molly McClanahan, who would later be elected to City Council.

She worked on the 1972 campaign for Frances Wood, the first woman elected to city council.

“Frances was a real kick in the head,” she recalls. “She had a marvelous but unconventional sense of humor, and was friends with everybody. She found something to like in everyone that she met. I really loved her a great deal.”

Sue got a job working for the county of Orange, then for the city of Westminster as an administrative assistant. She also served as chair of the Fullerton planning commission and as chair of the school board.

In 1978, she ran for City Council and was elected. Because she didn’t have a lot of money, “Some of my friends who were on the campaign committee arranged teas. And people opened their homes and invited their friends and I went and made my presentation to them. We did that all over town.” Her kids’ friends helped by knocking on doors for her campaign. 

During her campaign, the biggest state and local issue was Proposition 13, which restricted increases in property taxes.

“I campaigned vigorously against it, telling people what was going to happen,” she recalls. “And it came to pass unhappily. Now cities and towns are more reliant on state government for funding than they used to be.”

One of the biggest challenges she faced while on council was the decreased city revenue as a result of the passage of Prop 13.

“We used to slurry seal the streets in Fullerton every three years. After Prop 13, it slipped to every seven years,” she said. “There were things in terms of routine maintenance that were pushed back that needed to be done.”

Prior to the passage of Prop 13, the League of Women Voters got the Council to add five cents to property taxes, to support the Library; however, “After Prop 13 you couldn’t do that anymore,” she said.

She also faced opposition from the conservative Republican council majority, who retaliated by not letting her serve as mayor when the time came.

“They wouldn’t let me do it. I was never mayor,” she said. “Served four years on the council. Usually it’s a rotating seat.”

Another big issue in the 1970s was school integration. In 1972, the Fullerton School Board voted to close Maple School because it was a de facto segregated school, with a 98% Black and Latino enrollment. 

“We were trying to figure out the best way of integrating them. It involved busing, which was not happy. We didn’t want to do that because it disrupted kids and bus schedules and all of that,” Tsuda recalls. “We managed to get the school integrated. But we had to take the kids out of their neighborhood. The real key is to desegregate the neighborhoods.”

To read more about the Maple desegregation story, check out my recently-published article “The Limits of Desegregation: a Story of Maple School.”

Tsuda said that feminism, to her, means “that women have equal rights and equal opportunities as everybody else.”

When asked about the makeup of the League of Women Voters in the 1970s, she said, “In Fullerton it was all white women. All middle or upper class, I’d say. People who had the time to indulge.”

Tsuda left Fullerton in 1982 to take a job in Yucca Valley. 

When asked what advice she would give to young women who want to be involved in politics, she said, “Start at the bottom. Get involved where it’s easiest, and most important to you personally to get involved…go to school board meetings and Planning Commission meetings and participate in organizations  locally that support the community. Make yourself informed on what’s going on.”

When asked how she felt about Donald Trump, who was running for president in 2016, she said, “I think he would be a disaster.”

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

For this series, I compare a historic photo of Fullerton with a contemporary one from approximately the same angle. The first photo below is of a Craftsman-style bungalow house built by Dallison Smith Linebarger at the southwest corner of Pomona and Wilshire around 1911. Linebarger moved to Fullerton in 1899, just two years after the town was founded. He owned a livery business and then a citrus ranch. He also served for ten years on the Orange County Board of Supervisors. The house was demolished in 1981 when the Wilshire public parking structure was built. The lot was later developed into a downtown park to complement the plaza, which is shown in the second photo.

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

For this series, I compare a historic photo of Fullerton with a contemporary one from approximately the same angle. The first photo below is of the Southern Counties Gas Company building on Wilshire Avenue next to the Chapman building in the 1920s. The second photo is of a small parking lot today where the gas company building once stood.