Bob Ronka
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Bob Ronka (born c. 1943) was a member of the Los Angeles City Council from the San Fernando Valley's 1st District between 1977 and 1981.


Biography

Ronka was born about 1943, the son of Ilmari Ronka, first-chair trombonist in the
NBC Symphony Orchestra The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, the parent corporation of the National Broadcasting Company especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC ...
, and Loraine Vera Aalbu of
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, who worked with her sisters as
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
artists. The family moved to California in 1945, and Ronka attended
North Hollywood High School North Hollywood High School (NHHS) is a public high school in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is in the San Fernando Valley and enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Several neighborhoods, including m ...
, where he played trombone in a dance-band workshop that studied music ranging from the
big-band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...
sound of the early 1930s to the
progressive jazz Progressive music is music that attempts to expand existing stylistic boundaries associated with specific genres of music. The word comes from the basic concept of "progress", which refers to advancements through accumulation, and is often dep ...
of
Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though ...
. He also played with the Dixie Smallfry youth group sponsored by radio-television personality Bill Baldwin. A
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
student at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
, Ronka earned a law degree at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
before serving in the Army in
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
, where he was awarded a
Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...
."Three for City Council," ''Los Angeles Times,'' March 20, 1977, page D-6
/ref>


Private practice

Ronka spent six years in private practice before his election to the City Council and had ""several years of developing
industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...
s." A Democrat, he was a member of an advisory council formed by Los Angeles District Attorney John Van de Kamp to study reform of the
juvenile justice Juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal systems, chi ...
system and was also active with the San Fernando Valley Bar Association.


City council


Elections

The liberal Ronka, an attorney who specialized in real estate, was elected to represent Los Angeles City Council District 1 in 1977, succeeding veteran Councilman Louis R. Nowell, who did not seek reelection. He defeated the Nowell-backed Jim Peterson by a 62%-38% margin and served for just four years. In that era (1971), the 1st District was the largest geographic area in the city, about 76 square miles, which was a sixth the total area of Los Angeles. It included Arleta, Lake View Terrace, Mission Hills,
Pacoima Pacoima (Tataviam language: ''Pakoinga'', meaning "entrance") is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley region of LA. Geography Location Pacoima is bordered by the Los Angele ...
,
Shadow Hills Shadow Hills (originally Hansen Heights) is a neighborhood in the Verdugo Mountains and northeastern San Fernando Valley, within the city of Los Angeles, California. Geography Shadow Hills is in the northwestern Verdugo Mountains, near the weste ...
, Sunland-Tujunga, Sun Valley and Sylmar. The councilman took preliminary steps toward running against
Baxter Ward Baxter Ward Schwellenbach (November 5, 1919 – February 4, 2002) was a television news anchor who served two terms on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Prior to his election on the board, he ran third in an unsuccessful bid to unsea ...
for the county Board of Supervisors in 1972, but decided against it when private polls showed the Ronka name was not recognized in the supervisorial district.


Highlights


Recall

Ronka faced a recall petition in 1978 in which he was accused of, among other things, receiving unreported cash contributions from the "
Mexican Mafia The Mexican Mafia (Spanish: ''Mafia Mexicana''), also known as ''La eMe'' (Spanish for "the M"), is a predominantly Mexican American prison gang and criminal organization in the United States. Despite its name, the Mexican Mafia has no origins i ...
" and of failing to report the gift of a trip to Hawaii and ownership of real property in
Westlake Village Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County, California, on its western border with Ventura County. Upon its incorporation in 1981, Westlake Village became the 82nd municipality of Los Angeles County.Baker, Pam (2002). ''Thousand Oaks We ...
. The allegations of criminal activity were investigated by the district attorney's office, which found no reason to continue the probe. The petition lacked enough signatures to bring about an election.


Olympics

The councilman was one of the leading skeptics about the idea of hosting the
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...
, for which Los Angeles was the only candidate. He sought assurance that the games would cost the city nothing, and he favored asking the voters to decide by ballot if the competitions should be held in the city at all. This ultimately resulted in a ballot measure forbidding Los Angeles from spending taxpayer monies on the games without reimbursement. Ronka was on the negotiating team with Mayor Tom Bradley and a Bradley aide, Anton Calleia, which dickered in 1978 with the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
in
Athens, Greece Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, over terms of the contract to bring the games to California, "and every time Bradley and Calleia appeared to give way on a point, he onkaobjected publicly." Soon the councilman was "shunted aside" from the negotiations, and he returned from Athens a day before the others to tell reporters that Bradley and Calleia had been " double-crossed" by "landed gentry and . . . brittle, archaic, arcane aristocrats." " Lord Killanin," Ronka said, speaking of the Irish president of the Olympic Committee, "has shown himself again to be totally brittle and autocratic and inflexible." In the final City Council decision, Ronka voted against the contract, but it was nevertheless approved, 8–4.


Flooding

He gained favorable citywide publicity in February and March 1978 when he cut short a vacation in
Acapulco, Mexico Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicircular bay, Acapulco has been a port since the ear ...
, (from a planned three days to an actual twenty minutes) to return home when he heard that heavy storm waters had flooded the Sunland-Tujunga area. The ''Los Angeles Times'' reported: "Ronka slipped out of his low-profile image when disaster struck his district Feb. 9, and subsequently he has become almost as regular a television figure as the weatherman." Interviews by " Mr. Clean, as the Harvard-educated freshman councilman is sometimes called . . . may be turning into political gold." Ronka warned that "Body parts and human flesh" from the flooded Verdugo Hills Cemetery and rats and poisons and dead snakes were threatening the area. City officials played down the alarmist reports, but residents said they were grateful for Ronka's on-the-scene presence and his fight in City Hall to cut
red tape Red tape is a concept employed to denounce excessive or redundant regulation and adherence to formal rules for creating unnecessary constraints on action and decision-making. The occurrence of red tape is usually associated with governments but a ...
. (According to Thomas Noguchi's book ''Coroner,'' some 100 bodies were indeed sent plunging from the flooded cemetery into homes, businesses and city streets.)


Aides

In 1978 Ronka verified a ''Los Angeles Times'' report that he had hired five former political campaign workers as City of Los Angeles employees to work for him under the federal
Comprehensive Employment and Training Act The Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA, ) was a United States federal law enacted by the Congress, and signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973 to train workers and provide them with jobs in the public service. ...
but said: "They were qualified, they are hard workers, they weren't coming in on a tenured position. I make no apologies for them." One of the aides, Larry Hanna, was fired by Ronka and led a recall drive against him (above). It was soon determined that other council members had made the same kind of appointments, and a few weeks later the U.S. Department of Labor announced that it would no longer pay the salaries—about $3 million annually—to the council-hired workers.


Reputation

It was said that Ronka was disliked by his fellow City Council members because he was not a team player but instead acted like a "publicity hound." Bad feeling developed, for example, between Ronka and Council President
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. Bef ...
, who was "astonished and angry" when Ronka voted against the Olympics contract although Ferraro had felt he had Ronka's firm commitment to vote in favor. As well, some other city officials felt that Ronka was
grandstanding Political posturing, also known as political grandstanding (from the notion of performing to crowds in the grandstands), political theatre, or "kabuki", is the use of speech or actions to gain political support through emotional or affective appe ...
in his publicity during the Sunland-Tujunga floods (above).


City attorney campaign

Ronka did not run for reelection in 1981 but was an unsuccessful candidate for city attorney instead.Erwin Baker, "Ronka Plans to Run for City Attorney Post, Quit Council," ''Los Angeles Times,'' August 12, 1980, page C-1
/ref> His political campaign caused a citywide furor with television ads saying that the councilman's opponent, City Controller
Ira Reiner Ira Kenneth Reiner (born February 15, 1936) is an American attorney and politician who served as the Los Angeles City Attorney from 1981 to 1984 and Los Angeles County District Attorney from 1984 to 1992. The McMartin preschool trial occurred dur ...
, had represented
Leslie Van Houten Leslie Louise Van Houten (born August 23, 1949) is an American convicted murderer and former member of the Manson Family. During her time with Manson's group, she was known by aliases such as Louella Alexandria, Leslie Marie Sankston, Linda Sue O ...
, an associate of mass murderer
Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934 – November 19, 2017) was an American criminal, cult leader, and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some cult members committed a Manson ...
, as her attorney in court. Another spot said Reiner was "private attorney (for the) Manson family." A campaign mailer claimed that Reiner had "solicited Manson as a client in order to draw press attention and make himself famous." (Reiner actually had served briefly as Van Houten's attorney but "was dismissed when he insisted on separating her defense from Manson's and going against Manson's wishes.") Ronka ordered the ads pulled, but the damage was done: Support fell away, and the editorial page of the ''Los Angeles Times'' withdrew its endorsement."Kenneth Reich, "Ronka Kills Controversial Ad, Assails Reiner," ''Los Angeles Times,'' April 10, 1981, page A-9
/ref> Ronka survived the primary election in April but lost to Reiner in June, 231,540 to 133,205.


Calabasas

Ronka retired to
Calabasas, California Calabasas (, ; Spanish language in California, Spanish for "winter squash, squashes") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States.blind trust A blind trust is a trust in which the beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust, and no right to intervene in their handling. In a blind trust, the trustees ( fiduciaries, or those who have been given power of attorney) have f ...
while Ronka was on the Los Angeles City Council. He said that the attorney lost him $1.4 million and also invested in slum property, a "potential political embarrassment" that contributed to his decision not to run for council in 1987. Chrystie denied the charge and said that "Mr. Ronka has retired on the millions I made for him." Ronka told a reporter that most of his income came from profitable investment in the
Warner Center Warner Center is a master-planned neighborhood and business district development in the Canoga Park and Woodland Hills neighborhoods of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California.Station 84(Woodland Hills) an(Canoga Park) serve Warn ...
development in Woodland Hills. The outcome of the suit is not in the public record.Richard Simon, "Ronka Sues Lawyer for $2.4 Million," ''Los Angeles Times,'' June 3, 1988
/ref>


References

Access to some ''Los Angeles Times'' links may require the use of a library card. ---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Ronka, Bob 1940s births Living people Los Angeles City Council members People from Calabasas, California Stanford University alumni Harvard Law School alumni United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War California Democrats United States Army soldiers North Hollywood High School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)