J. Win Austin was a retired businessman who became a Los Angeles, California, City Council member from 1941 to 1953. He was earlier on the Police and Health commissions.

Biography

Austin was an executive of a graphite, a lead and a bridge company in Detroit, Michigan. He retired and moved to Los Angeles in 1928 or 1929, living at 722 South Beverly Glen Boulevard. He was a member of the

Los Angeles Country Club The Los Angeles Country Club is a golf and country club in Los Angeles, California, United States. The club is noted for being very exclusive. It hosted the 2023 U.S. Open on its North Course. History In the fall of 1897, a group of Los Ang ...

and founded an organization for the preservation of California history—Los Rancheros de San Jose Breakfast Club."J. Win Austin Named to Health Board," ''Los Angeles Times,'' July 13, 1939, page A-2
/ref>"Every Council Post at Stake," ''Los Angeles Times,'' March 30, 1941, page 2
/ref> He had a son, Edmund. After retiring in 1955, Austin and his wife moved to Wailaia Kahala, Hawaii.

Public service

In 1939, 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 ...

appointed Austin to the Board of Health Commissioners, and in 1940 he was on the Board of Police Commissioners.

Elections

Austin ran for the 3rd District spot being vacated by Stephen W. Cunningham in 1941 and overcame the first-round lead of Paul V. Parker to win in the final vote, 10,446 to Parker's 8,649. In 1943, he beat Parker 7,587 to 575 in the primary. He was reelected every two years thereafter but did not run in 1953.

Positions

Police Commission

Uniforms, 1940. The commission adopted his motion to require police officers, except those on plainclothes duty, to wear uniforms while working. Speed, 1941. He opposed a proposal to raise the highway speed limit to 65 miles an hour. Dancers, 1941. His proposal that taxi dancers be required to undergo physical examination twice a year as a condition in issuing permits to

dance halls Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing, but usually refers to a specific type of twentieth-century venue, with dance clubs (nightclubs) becoming more popular towards the end of the century. The palais de danse was a term ap ...

brought a ruling from City Attorney Ray L. Chesebro that "such a requirement would not stand up in the courts on the grounds that it would be unreasonable." Tunnels, 1941. Austin's motion directing the chief of police to stop "the practice of motorists tooting prolonged blasts on their auto horns while passing through the Second and Third Street tunnels" was adopted by the commission.

City Council

Noise, 1953. Austin scored noise "both in the skies and on the streets" and asked Police Chief William H. Parker to "take some action to quiet it down," perhaps by requiring mufflers on low-flying airplanes that "disturb thousands." He also was critical of "exhaust sounds of automobiles, mostly from foreign-made cars." Monument, 1953. He opposed the proposed allocation of $75,000 as the city's share of building a monument atop Fort Moore Hill to honor the pioneers who raised the first American flag in Los Angeles. No protest, 1953. Austin spent the last day of his term in "almost continuous session" with seven other conservative members of the City Council while police were searching for the missing members to make up a

quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a group necessary to constitute the group at a meeting. In a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature), a quorum is necessary to conduct the business of ...

so that business could take place. The missing men were

boycotting A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict s ...

the council over the proposed elimination of a public-housing program. The boycott ended the next day when new members were seated."Police Seek Six Missing Members," ''Los Angeles Times,'' June 10, 1953, page 1
/ref>

References

Access to the ''Los Angeles Times'' links may require the use of a library card. ---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, J. Win Los Angeles City Council members