Ernest L. Webster (1889–1954) was a pioneer automobile dealer in Los Angeles, California, and representative of the 3rd District on the Los Angeles City Council between 1927 and 1931.

Biography

Webster was born in 1889 in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, whic ...

, to Warren Webster, originally from Pennsylvania, and Jane William Webster, from

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. As a youth he worked for the Youngstown Sheet and Tubing Company as a pattern maker. In 1914 he became an automobile salesman and moved to California in 1917, where he worked at early automobile agencies both in Los Angeles and San Diego. He formed the Landsdale-Webster Company, dealing in automobile accessories, in 1925, and then the Startomatic Company, which was later leased to the

Bendix Corporation Bendix Corporation is an American manufacturing and engineering company which, during various times in its existence, made automotive brake shoes and systems, vacuum tubes, aircraft brakes, aeronautical hydraulics and electric power systems, av ...

. He was married on December 25, 1912, to Nettie Elizabeth Kline.Los Angeles Public Library reference file
/ref>"Webster Heeds District's Call," ''Los Angeles Times,'' April 17, 1927, page B-3
/ref> In 1934, he said his hobbies were his bungalow home at 5139 Maplewood Avenue, in today's Larchmont District, "with its rock pool, rose garden, barbecue and outdoor clubroom." After his retirement from public service he was in the commercial photography business. He died on January 16, 1954, leaving his widow; a sister, Mrs. Addie Ford, and two brothers, John and Warren.

Public service

Webster ran in 1927 for the 3rd Councilmanic District post as an anti-

Parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittac ...

candidate, and trounced the incumbent, Isaac F. Hughes by a vote of 9,608 to 2,386 in the June final. He was easily reelected in May 1929. At that time, the 3rd District was known as the "West Washington area," but it actually lay mostly south of the

Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains is a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in ...

east of Sawtelle, with its eastern boundary at Western Avenue, and its southern boundary running along Washington Boulevard to embrace the Palms area. It included the

Los Angeles Country Club The Los Angeles Country Club is a golf and country club on the west coast of the United States, located in Los Angeles, California. History In the fall of 1897, a group of Los Angeles residents organized the Los Angeles Golf Club, and a lot w ...

and the Sawtelle district, and all the Santa Monica Mountains west of Sawtelle to the

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxn ...

line, including Pacific Palisades and

Topanga Canyon Topanga () ( Tongva: ''Topaa'nga'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow ...

. During his two terms, he was instrumental in installing a traffic-signal system on

Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the princip ...

and unsuccessfully advocated legislation for public nurses in parochial schools. In January 1930, Webster and seven other council members who had voted in favor of granting a rock-crushing permit in the Santa Monica Mountains were unsuccessfully targeted for recall on the grounds that the eight

have conspired with . . .
Alphonzo Bell Alphonzo Edward Bell Sr. (September 29, 1875 – December 27, 1947) was an American oil multi-millionaire, real estate developer, philanthropist, and champion tennis player. The westside Los Angeles residential community of Bel Air is name ...
, Samuel Traylor and Chapin A. Day, all multi-millionaires, to grant this group a special spot zoning permit to crush and ship . . . from the high-class residential section of Santa Monica, limestone and rock for cement.

Webster was among six council members who in May 1930 unsuccessfully opposed allocating funds to make a study of leveling Bunker Hill, "which stands as a hindrance to traffic and a bar to development in the northwestern downtown territory.""Bunker Hill Survey Voted," ''Los Angeles Times,'' May 20, 1930, page A-10
/ref> He ran for reelection again in 1931 but was beaten by James Stuart McKnight, 7,866 to 4,861. He was appointed secretary of the city's Building and Safety Commission in 1934."E.L. Webster, Ex-Councilman, Taken by Death," ''Los Angeles Times,'' January 17, 1954, page 41
/ref>

References

Access to the ''Los Angeles Times'' links requires the use of a library card. {{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Ernest Leroy 1889 births 1954 deaths Los Angeles City Council members 20th-century American politicians