Martin Francis Betkouski (1860 – 1942) was a member of the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro temp ...

between 1910 and 1918."Betkouski Last Rites Due," ''Citizen News,'' Hollywood, May 8, 1942, image 14
/ref>"Deaths," ''Los Angeles Times,'' May 9, 1942, image 24
/ref>

Public service

In 1906 Betkouski was a member of the Los Angeles Fire Commission. A Los Angeles County

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a p ...

in 1917 accused him as a City Council member of misconduct in office in connection with property transactions in the area where

Union Station (Los Angeles) Los Angeles Union Station is the main railway station in Los Angeles, California, and the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States. It opened in May 1939 as the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, replacing La Grande S ...

was eventually built."Council Head Accused," ''Los Angeles Times,'' March 3, 1917, page 1
/ref> According to the ''Los Angeles Times,'' the councilman, from the Seventh

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

, was alleged "to have realized a profit of more than $50,000 by securing options on property within the terminal site, before the owners were aware of the proposed improvement." He was also said to have received a check of "several thousand dollars" from attorney Isadore Dockweiler, who represented the terminal company. Betkouski ran for reelection in 1917, placing 15th in a field of eighteen candidates, of whom only the first nine were successful in a first-past-the post election. The grand jury accusation was dropped after Betkouski lost the election on the grounds that the only penalty he might suffer would be removal from office. In the same year, 1917, Betkouski was elected a member of the Los Angeles

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

Personal life

He was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, and moved to Los Angeles in 1887. He died shortly before May 8, 1942, in his home, 1840 Canyon Drive, Hollywood, survived by his wife, Mary E. Betkouski, a son, Marcellian R. Betkouski, and two daughters, Marie C. Betkouski and Margaret T. Betkouski. Interment was at

Calvary Cemetery (Los Angeles) Calvary Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles runs in the community of East Los Angeles. It is also called "New Calvary Cemetery" because it succeeded the original Calvary Cemetery (on north Broadway), over wh ...

."Official Death List," ''Los Angeles Times,'' May 8, 1942, image 14
/ref>

References

Additional reading

* Paul R. Spizzeri, Homestead Museum, "'In the Big City Class': A Progress Map of the Union Terminal Warehouse District of Los Angeles, April and September 1917," ''The Homestead Blog,'' September 17, 201

{{DEFAULTSORT:Betkouski, Martin F. 1860 births 1942 deaths Politicians from San Francisco Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Los Angeles) Los Angeles City Council members