Les Storrs Santa Monica Portrait of a City Yesterday and Today, Santa Monica Bank: Santa Monica, CA, 1974, 67 pp., 1930s
" . . . the Depression period . . .
" . . . the [U.S.] government [funded] various projects . . . some worthwhile . . . some boondoggling . . . welfare disguised as work.
"Truly constructive works came under the jurisdiction of the Public Works Administration, the others . . . the WPA (Works Progress Adminstration.)
"Santa Monica had its share of both, and even set up a municipal office to coordinate the activities.
"Most significant of the various federally funded projects was the construction of the city hall at its present location.
"The old building, which had stood since 1906 at the corner of Fouth and Santa Monica Boulevard, was obsolete and in need of enlargement to meet the needs of a growing community.
"The city had already acquired the necessary site from the Southern Pacific Railway Co., and the new building was completed in 1938, the Main Street elevation then being identical with that of 1974."
" . . ."
"It started with the DC-1, made to, but far exceedng the specifications of an airline customer. From it developed the DC-2 and then the DC-3, which proved to be the workhorse of the airlines all over the world, and in World War II, the military.
" . . . the [Douglas Aircraft Co.] company . . . became one of the largest in the industry, using methods of construction which were an example to others . . .
"The DC-3 . . . flew December 17, 1935 . . . and orders poured in from all over the world.
"During those years between the wars, Douglas also built a wide variety of military aircraft under orders from both Army and Navy, including bombers, patrol craft, transports, torpedo bombers and even a flying boat . . . the SBD Dauntless, the B-18, the A-20.
"The great Douglas plant gave rise to a host of smaller ones, generally related to the aviation industry and in many cases suppliers of components.
" . . . John K. Northrop, once an engineer with Douglas, originator of the so-called multi-cellular wing and designer of the "flying wing," a tailless airplane. He was once again enlisted by Douglas to help solve a particular design problem involved in a Navy order.
"In 1932 the Northrop Corporation was formed as a Douglas subsidary, with Northrop as president and chief engineer. Later this was merged with Douglas, and Northrop formed the Northrop Aircraft Company, a separate and independent enterprise.
"Not only did the Douglas Aircraft Co. give rise to the Northrop Corp., still a leader in the industry [1974], but former Douglas executives "Dutch" Kindelberger and Leland Atwood started North American Aviation in the late 1930s. At about the same time Harry H. Wetzel, vice president of Douglas, was largely responsible for the organization of the Garrett Corp. "
" . . .
" . . . Harry Wetzel . . . in 1924 . . . explained the controls of the World Flight . . . planes to this reporter . . .
"On another pre-war occasion, the infamous sit-down strike launched against Douglas [1937], when strikers ocuupied the plant and were, it developed, prepared to set it afire, Harry Wetzel was the man I interviewed, first passing through a line of pickets recruited from the longshoremen at San Pedro, who were marching in lockstep in front of the door. I planted my leather heel rather firmly on the instep of a picket, and walked in, learned the Douglas position from Harry Wetzel.
"Later I interviewed Walter Reuther, the then young labor leader who was master-minding the strike, at his Ocean Park hotel room. I do not remember having been especially impressed with his logic, although his delivery was what might have been expected from a fiery redhead.
" . . .
"Still not satisfied that municipal growth and development had been adequately directed, the city administration retained Gordon Whitnall, an eminent city planning expert, as a consultant. As a result, a much improved zoning ordinance was submitted. . . . by the time it was enacted in 1937, it had been much diluted, in response to pressure from builders and other interests. In particular, it was grossly inadequate in the matter of off-street parking requirements.
" . . .
"The brickyards should go.
" . . . clays lying beneath the surface had been found to be excellent for the making of bricks and sewer pipe, a series of brickyards had been in operation for years, and excavating vast holes, 40 or 50 feet deep, and covering literally acres of land.
"Damage to the land was almost as great as that resulting from strip mining of coal or placeer mining of gold.
"Leading the fight to curb and ultimately eliminate the brickyards was Edmund Slama, who devoted much time and energy to this end, and who served for many years on the planning commission.
"The city . . . was confronted by a real legal problem:
"How to close down the yards without being guilty of inverse condemnation, which is the curtailment or elimination of a property right without due compensation.
" . . . it was the law of economics rather than the law of the land which did . . . eliminate the brickyards."
" . . . "
"Drafters of the charter amendment which set up the commission form of government [thought] $250 a month . . . would attract competent men , , , for each of the three commissioners who were charged with all legislative and admistrative responsibilities in city government.
"The amount was set by terms of the charter itself and not subject to easy change.
"For a time $250 a month did . . . attract capable men, who were required to give full time to their city position.
"The city grew, the dollar shrank in value, and the attraction of $250 per month waned. Government became a bit slipshod, if not actually venal, and the first indication of this was fairly open gambling and vice.
"Bookmakers operated rather brazenly, slot machines appeared here and there, bingo games in the amusement district paid off, ostensibly in merchandise, actually in cash.
"It is also a fact that for a brief period at least, a call house operated on La Mesa Drive, and, at about the same time, a full fledged gambling casino was set up on the Ocean Park pier.
"Then there was the case of the gambling barge, Rex, a converted windjammer anchored in the bay, a few miles out from the municipal pier. Water taxis plied regularly between pier and the barge, operated by one Tony Cornero, a widely known figure in the gambling world.
"He claimed immunity by reason of being in international waters, beyond the three mile limit. In due course the courts held otherwise, ruling that the three mile limit was three miles beyond a line drawn from Point Dume to Point Vicente, [too far] for convenient water taxi commuting.
"The gambling barge was shut down, its paraphenalia destroyed by deputy sheriffs.
"This however, by no means ended petty gambling enterprises ashore, and a movement for governmental reform built up, not, however to be effectuated until after the end of the war.
" . . ."