Byron Bernard Brainard (April 1, 1894 – March 19, 1940) was an electrician, auto mechanic, auto salesman, real estate broker and community newspaper editor who was a

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

member between 1933 and 1939.

Biography

Brainard was born April 1, 1894, in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

, was brought to Los Angeles in 1899 at the age of five. He left high school to work as a car washer for the

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names ...

and the

Pullman Company The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...

but acquired his first piece of real estate through his parents while still a minor. He continued his education through

night school A night school is an adult learning school that holds classes in the evening or at night to accommodate people who work during the day. A community college or university may hold night school classes that admit undergraduates. Italy The scuol ...

and extension courses. He worked up to chief mechanic for an automobile company, then turned to real estate and, before his election to the council in 1933, he edited and published the ''Southwest News-Press,'' a

community newspaper Community journalism is locally-oriented, professional news coverage that typically focuses on city neighborhoods, individual suburbs or small towns, rather than metropolitan, state, national or world news. If it covers wider topics, community ...

. He maintained a semiweekly column called "Column Right" while a council member and after."Stroke Fatal to Brainard," ''Los Angeles Times,'' March 20, 1940, page A-3
/ref> Brainard was stricken while eating dinner with his wife, Blanche, at home. He could not be revived at Georgia Street Receiving Hospital. Funeral services were conducted at

Inglewood Park Cemetery Inglewood Park Cemetery, in Inglewood, California, was founded in 1905. A number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities, have been interred or entombed there. History The proposed establishment of "the larges ...

by the Golden Gate

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

and the

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, of which Brainard had been Noble Grand Arch. Besides his wife, he left a son and a daughter. A month after his death on March 19, 1940, an autopsy report revealed that Brainard had died of

choking Choking, also known as foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO), is a phenomenon that occurs when breathing is impeded by a blockage inside of the respiratory tract. An obstruction that prevents oxygen from entering the lungs results in oxygen de ...

when a piece of meat lodged in his throat.

City Council

Elections

Brainard ran for the

5th District District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta * Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...

seat in 1929 and 1931, each time failing to be nominated in the first round. In 1933, however, he ousted incumbent Roy Donley, and he was reelected in 1935 over 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 1934 California gubernatorial election, campaign f ...

candidate,

Charles W. Dempster Charles William Dempster (August 24, 1879 – July 20, 1941) was an American politician who served in three State legislature (United States), state legislatures, those of Montana Legislature, Montana, Idaho Legislature, Idaho, and California Leg ...

. He was reelected in 1937 and 1939, but lost to Arthur E. Briggs in 1941.

Highlights of his term

* He was one of five Council members on Mayor

Fletcher Bowron Fletcher Bowron (August 13, 1887 – September 11, 1968) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. He was the 35th Mayor of Los Angeles from 1938 to 1953. A member of the Republican Party, he was at the time the city's longest-serving mayor ...

's "purge list" in advance of the 1939 elections. * When Mayor Bowron vetoed the surfacing of Amalfi and Warren drives with Warrenite bitulithic pavement on the grounds that the substance was part of a "patent paving racket" not worth the additional cost, Brainard called the veto message "the most asinine statement I ever heard given out by any man in public office." * He and John W. Baumgartner obtained the original allocation of

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

175,000 from the state to begin the project that opened 10th Street and turned it into Olympic Boulevard without having to assess local property owners for the improvements. * In May 1939 he cast the only vote against Bowron's request for an additional $2,000 for the police secret service fund."Council Votes for Secret Fund," ''Los Angeles Times,'' May 19, 1939, page A-10
/ref>

References

Access to the ''Los Angeles Times'' links requires the use of a library card. ---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Brainard, Bryon B. 1894 births 1940 deaths Los Angeles City Council members Accidental deaths in California Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery 20th-century California politicians Politicians from Topeka, Kansas 20th-century American newspaper editors