Patrick D'Arcy McGee (March 5, 1916 – May 30, 1970) was a Republican member of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

for the 64th district from 1950 to 1957 and from 1966 until his death in 1970. He was a Los Angeles City Council member from 1957 to 1961, when he opposed the city's agreement to bring the Dodgers baseball team to a new stadium in Chavez Ravine.

Biography

McGee was born on March 5, 1916, near Osceola, Ontario, Canada, and moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. as a child. He attended

Notre Dame University The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Catholic religious order o ...

until he joined the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

in 1940 and later the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He received a

Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers, and since 1993 to other ranks, of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other British Armed Forces, services, and formerly to officers of other ...

for bravery. He flew many bombing missions over Dresden and other German cities, and won the DFC for bringing his B17 to a safe landing in a field in Dover, GB with a flaming hole in the undercarriage and his co-pilot dead. After the war, he earned a degree at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. He next became a research attorney with the District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles.JoinCalifornia, citing ''California Blue Book.''
/ref> At the time of his death, McGee resided in West Van Nuys, California with his wife Eleanor and their son D'Arcy McGee. He was a golfer and a chess player.Tom Goff, "Patrick D. McGee, Assemblyman, Dies," ''Los Angeles Times,'' May 28, 1970, page 1
/ref> He died in San Francisco on May 27, 1970; he had spine cancer. The

rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...

was recited and a

requiem mass A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is u ...

was celebrated at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Reseda.

Public life

Elections

State

McGee ran for the 64th Assembly District seat in election years 1950 through 1956 and won all four times. He sought the 38th District seat in the State Senate in 1962, but lost. He was reelected in the 64th Assembly District in 1966 and 1968,

City

McGee gave up his Assembly position to run in the conservatively oriented

Los Angeles City Council District 3 Los Angeles's 3rd City Council district is one of the fifteen districts in the Los Angeles City Council. It is currently represented by Democrat Bob Blumenfield since 2013 after winning an election to succeed Dennis Zine, who termed out and ran ...

in the West

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

, which included Woodland Hills, Encino, Tarzana, Northridge, Reseda and

Canoga Park Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and ...

."Tight Race Promised in 3rd Council District Fight," ''Los Angeles Times,'' March 21, 1957, page B-10
/ref> He won an easy victory in the 1957 primary for a four-year term. In 1961, however, he did not campaign for reelection but instead ran for

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

; he came in third after

Norris Poulson Charles Norris Poulson (July 23, 1895 – September 25, 1982) was an American politician who represented Southern California in public office at the local, state, and federal levels. He served as the 36th Mayor of Los Angeles from 1953 to 1961, a ...

and

Sam Yorty Samuel William Yorty (October 1, 1909 – June 5, 1998) was an American politician, attorney, and radio host from Los Angeles, California. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the California State Assembly, ...

, who then met in a

runoff election The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

State Assembly

As an Assembly member, McGee was active in a bid to obtain legislation to establish a rapid transit authority in the Los Angeles area and was also in "the thick of the fight to get Feather River water" for Southern California.

City Council

Conflict, 1957. McGee occasioned controversy when he announced that he would keep his State Assembly seat while serving as a city councilman because, he said, he could then work with fellow state legislators on a solution to a squabble between

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...

and

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

over

water rights Water right in water law is the right of a user to use water from a water source, e.g., a river, stream, pond or source of groundwater. In areas with plentiful water and few users, such systems are generally not complicated or contentious. In o ...

. He said he would accept no salary from the state. Nevertheless, Attorney-General

Pat Brown Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown (April 21, 1905 – February 16, 1996) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd governor of California from 1959 to 1967. His first elected office was as district attorney for San Francisco, and he ...

ruled that McGee's stand presented "a distinct conflict of interests" but that only the Assembly could eject McGee. City Controller Dan O. Hoye said he would refuse to give McGee his check for July 1957 because of the situation. On August 1 McGee got neither his pay of $1,000 a month from the city nor his $500-a-month salary from the state because he "presumably" was one of 119 state employees who that month received pay envelopes "mailed out by mistake with nothing in them." McGee resigned from the Assembly near the end of the month. Dodgers, 1958. McGee was one of the three council members— Harold A. Henry and John C. Holland being the others—who voted in 1958 against a proposal to turn

Chavez Ravine Chavez Ravine is a shallow canyon in Los Angeles, California. It sits in a large promontory of hills north of downtown Los Angeles, next to Major League Baseball's Dodger Stadium. Chavez Ravine was named for a 19th-century Los Angeles councilm ...

over to the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

for use as a baseball stadium. Calling the proposed pact with the Dodgers stupid, immoral and misleading, he claimed the contract: # Did not provide for revenue for the city. # Contained an "illegal and immoral" provision to divide any future oil revenues between the city and a trust fund to be spent for a Dodger youth program, which represented an agreement to "spend public money for private individuals." # Failed to specify that if the land were not used for baseball if would revert to the city. # Bound the city to spend up to $2 million to improve the land before it is turned over to the Dodgers. # Was worded so the Dodgers could violate the agreement but still keep title to the land. Trampolines, 1960. He urged the city Health Department to study the health effects of the popular

trampoline A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame often using many coiled spring (device), springs. People bounce on trampolines for recreational and competitive purposes. The fabric that use ...

centers then opening up in the city. Boroughs, 1960. He urged the establishment of a borough system to provide more local representation for the

."Lack of Good Representation," ''Los Angeles Times,'' May 8, 1960, page 1
/ref>

References

External links

In re McGee, 36 Cal.2d 592 . A. No. 21755. In Bank. Jan. 10, 1951.' In re Patrick D. McGee, Contesting Nomination to an Office.'' Eldon James Markwort, appellant, v. Patrick D. McGee, respondent.
Join California Patrick D. McGee
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGee, Patrick D. Los Angeles City Council members 1916 births 1970 deaths Canadian World War II pilots Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Canadian Air Force officers Harvard Law School alumni University of Notre Dame alumni Republican Party members of the California State Assembly United States Navy personnel of World War II Canadian emigrants to the United States 20th-century members of the California State Legislature