Les Storrs Santa Monica Portrait of a City Yesterday and Today, Santa Monica Bank: Santa Monica, CA, 1974, 67 pp., 1940s
"As a result, the [Douglas Aircraft Co.] company was well prepared for the demands of World War II. At the peak of production in the war years, the company had a total of 160,000 employees in six plants, with close to 40,000 of them in the home plant in Santa Monica.
"As a result of this huge industrial development, Santa Monica's basic character changed from that of a quiet seaside residential community to something very different. Where previously almost all residents had lived in single family homes, apartments began to appear in some numbers, a trend which was to be greatly accelerated in years to come.
" . . .
" . . . a group of Douglas scientists developed into the Rand Corp., and that from the latter sprang System Development Corp . . ."
" . . .
Chapter Five: World War II and its Impact
" . . . December 7, 1941
" . . . the stunned reaction of the people, the sense of outrage, the feeling of urgency which sometimes bordered upon hysteria.
"Citizens of Japanese ancestry were rounded up and shipped on to internment camps at Tule Lake; anti-aircraft guns were set up in front of city hall and elsewhere; the great Douglas Aircraft Co. plant began a program of rapid expansion to fill military orders, the payroll eventually reaching nearly 70,000 persons; the plant and the adjoining municipal airport were effectively camouflaged; young men and some young women rushed to join the armed forces; blackouts were imposed lest there be an attack from the sea; volunteers were enlisted for all manner of duties in what was called "civilian defense."
" . . .
" . . . resulted in a burden upon local government and public facilities for which they were not organized to meet and in which they faced the additional problem of unavailability of supplies.
"Ordinary citizens attempted to fill the gaps as best they could, usually by volunteering for civilian defense duties. Citizen volunteer were trained by [for] police and fire duties, as well as for the strictly wartime services such as block wardens, aircraft spotters, and radio communications personnel.
" . . .
"The influx of thousands of defense workers created an immediate housing shortage, one which was to persist for some years after the war ended. Santa Monica officialdom did what it had to do; it in effect suspended all zoning regulations and urged that accommodations be created for the workers, whether zoning violations resulted or not.
"Buildings intended to house one family . . . provided quarters for four. Camp trailers were parked in back yards, sometimes without adequate sanitary facilities, and used as housing.
" . . .
"The same thing was true of variances granted for wartime industries in areas not zoned for that purpose. Usually such variances purported to be "for the duration of the emergency," but even so, the end of the "emergency" was not declared for many years after the termination of the conflict.
" . . . the owners of the properties came to feel that they had a vested interest in whatever operation had been permitted, whether it was a boarding house, apartment at the rear of the house, or out-of-zone industrial operations.
"Such are the problems which arise in a genuine national emergency.
'Less dramatic . . . than [the civil defense volunteers], the[se] moves to accommodate a sudden increase in demand for housing were far more significant in the long run.
" . . . almost all supplies: gasoline, food, building materials, were rationed. Everything, including labor, was diverted to the war effort, and only the most basic of civilian needs were met.
"There was . . . no answer to the housing problem except "doubling up" in that which was available,
"New residents continued to come to Santa Monica,, public services deteriorated, both because of lack of money, materials and manpower and because of the inherent inefficiency of a form of government which had three administrative heads of equal authority, authority of which each tended to be . . . jealous.
"Municipal tax rates climbed as dissatisfaction increased, and even before the war ended a Board of Freeholders had been chosen to draft a new charter.
" . . .
[Storrs uses the analogy of a corporation and its board of directors when he describes the Board of Freeholders rationale, KR]
" . . . the Board believed that the council-manager form of local government provides the highest degree of efficiency and virtually eliminates political log-rolling."
" . . . the new city council was organized when the council-manager charter became effective in 1947. Maurice M. King . . . acting city manager. . . . city engineer under the old government . . . the council then selected Randall M. Dorton, city manager.
""Dal" Dorton . . . served as city manager in Long Beach and Monterey.
An expert in municipal finance . . . reduced the tax rate and also city expenses, at a rate greater than the national inflationary spiral.
" . . . assessed valuation increased steadily [but not too rapidly for taxpayers] . . .
" . . . a heart attack brought his retirement.
"George Bundy, member of an old and respected Santa Monica family, had served under Dorton as assistant city manager . . . succeeded him . . . and he, too suffered a serious heart attack."