A. J. Barnes was the first person to represent the 12th district of the Los Angeles City Council under the new charter in 1925. He served until 1927. Barnes, a

contractor A contractor is a person or company that performs work on a contract basis. The term may refer to: Business roles * Defense contractor, arms industry which provides weapons or military goods to a government * General contractor, an individual o ...

and

real-estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

man"For Supervisoral Posts," ''Los Angeles Times,'' August 29, 1926, page B-2
/ref> who had lived in Los Angeles since 1904, was elected to the City Council in 1925, but failed in a re-election bid in 1927, when he lost the primary election to

Douglas Eads Foster Douglas Eads Foster (August 21, 1875 – July 22, 1962) was a dentist who served on the Los Angeles City Council between 1927 and 1929. Biography Foster was born August 21, 1875, in Warrensburg, Missouri, the son of James Madison Foster and Agne ...

and Clarence W. Horn by just seven votes, determined only after a recount was held. Barnes was known as a supporter of Mayor

George E. Cryer George Edward Cryer (May 13, 1875 – May 24, 1961) was an American lawyer and politician. A Republican, Cryer served as the 32nd Mayor of Los Angeles from 1921 to 1929, a period of rapid growth in the city's population. During his administ ...

, and he was endorsed by organized labor. The 12th District at that time was bounded by Main Street,

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...

Temple Street A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called church (building), churches), Hindui ...

, Fountain Avenue and Hoover Street. Barnes ran unsuccessfully for the

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their first ...

two times. After his City Council service, he became a field secretary for Supervisor J. Don Mahaffey. In 1932 he was active in a protest movement against a proposal to give the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

preferential rights to use the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...

during the football season. In 1934, Barnes was secretary of the

California Progressive Party The California Progressive Party, also named California Bull Moose, was a political party that flourished from 1912 to 1944 and lasted through the 1960s. In 1910, Hiram W. Johnson, a nominal Republican who was backed by suffragette and early femi ...

State Central Committee and caused a stir when he resigned his position in protest of the party's support of Raymond L. Haight in the gubernatorial election that year and urged support for Governor

Frank Merriam Frank Finley Merriam (December 22, 1865 – April 25, 1955) was an American Republican politician who served as the 28th governor of California from June 2, 1934 until January 2, 1939. Assuming the governorship at the height of the Great Depress ...

in order to avoid giving the election to

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in seve ...

, the

End Poverty in California End Poverty in California (EPIC) was a political campaign started in 1934 by socialist writer Upton Sinclair (best known as author of ''The Jungle''). The movement formed the basis for Sinclair's campaign for Governor of California in 1934. The p ...

candidate. Barnes ran as the Progressive Party's candidate for the state Board of Equalization later that year and came in third."Shontz Vote Crushes Foe," ''Los Angeles Times,'' November 8, 1934
/ref>

References

Other sources

* ''Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials: 1850–1938,'' compiled under the direction of the Municipal Reference Library, City Hall, Los Angeles, March 1938 (reprinted 1966) ------- {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, A. J. Los Angeles City Council members California Progressives (1924)