Leonis C. Malburg (born April 4, 1929) is the former mayor of Vernon, California, and the grandson of the city's founder, John B. Leonis. He joined the Vernon city council in 1956 and has served continuously ever since. He was elected mayor in 1974. As mayor, Malburg has been credited with overseeing the successful implementation of public policy that led the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation to name Vernon the "Most Business-friendly City" in L.A. County.
Malburg, an entrepreneur and former bank president, is also a chairman of the Sanitation District of Los Angeles County, a partnership of 24 independent districts, encompassing 78 cities, which serves nearly 5½ million people in Los Angeles County. The Sanitation Districts build and maintain facilities to manage solid, industrial, and water waste in Los Angeles County. Malburg is also chairman of the Barlow Group, which oversees the operations of the Barlow Respiratory Hospital in Los Angeles; a member of the Woodbury University Board of Trustees; and President (and life-long member) of the Societe Francaise De Bienfaisance Mutuelle De Los Angeles. He is a former director of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a consortium of 26 cities and water districts which provide drinking water to nearly 18 millions people throughout six counties in Southern California.
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Leonis Clos Malburg was born to Raymond and Adelena Malburg at the French Hospital of Los Angeles, in Chinatown. Malburg's father was a mortuary director from San Francisco who played a prominent role in forensic examinations in the Los Angeles coroner's office. Malburg's grandfather, John B. Leonis was a Basque immigrant who founded the City of Vernon in September, 1905 with ranchers Thomas and James Furlong; his great uncle was Miguel Leonis, a California pioneer, who settled much of what is now the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County, California.
Malburg is the product of both public and private education. His early school years were spent at Third Street Elementary and John Burrows Junior High, both in Los Angeles. While he lived with his parents, Malburg spent much of his time with his grandfather who had residences in Vernon, Los Angeles, and in the Angeles National Forest. The elder Leonis was known as the no-nonsense founder of the City of Vernon, California's first and largest exclusively industrial city. In its early days, Vernon was noted for its slaughterhouses and sporting events, including professional boxing and baseball. John B. Leonis served for 45 years as a councilman for the city he co-founded. He was also the founder and president of the First Citizens Bank of Vernon. Malburg's close relationship with his grandfather influenced him to pursue his own banking career, and he eventually obtained his first banking job at First Citizens, starting as a messenger.
In 1943, Malburg was accepted to and attended the Harvard Military Academy in Los Angeles. He was highly regarded for his shooting skills and graduated a two-time champion in rifle marksmanship.
After returning from his service in the U.S. Air Force, Malburg attended Woodbury University in Los Angeles and majored in Business Administration. His fond memories and respect for Woodbury's educational excellence led Malburg to later accept an offer to join Woodbury's Board of Trustees.
Malburg began his banking career as a messenger for First National Bank of Vernon, which was chartered in 1919. He rose within the bank to oversee loans for construction projects and eventually became the bank's Vice President. In 1956, he became the President of First National Bank. When, through a merger, First National became Citizens National Bank, and Malburg stayed on as Vice President and Chairman of the advisory board. Eventually, Citizens National merged with Crocker National Bank and later with Wells Fargo. Malburg retired from banking to manage his family interests and investments.
Malburg's career in city government began when he accepted an appointment to the Vernon city council following the death of a sitting councilman. After eighteen years on the council, Malburg was elected mayor by the council and has served in that capacity since. Under Malburg's leadership, the city has multiplied its surplus while providing businesses within its borders with natural gas service, fiber optic systems, and its own light and power company, with rates up to 40% lower than those outside the city. As mayor, he has also overseen ongoing land development and the city's expanding infrastructure, including a power generation station which bears his name. In 1978, the Mayor and city council made the controversial decision during a labor dispute to dismiss striking firefighters who refused to report for duty or take acting positions on fire calls. It was the opinion of city leaders that the firefighter's illegal actions, which came after their union rescinded its agreement to a solution brokered by a state mediator, left the city with a dangerously thin line of fire defense. Superior Court Judge Harry L. Hupp upheld the city's decision in October, 1978, ruling that the firefighter's strike was indeed illegal. However, after four days of negotiations with the union, the city reinstated the dismissed firefighters. Still, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, responding to political pressure from labor unions seeking retaliation for the initial firings, cancelled its mutual aid agreement with the City of Vernon (a move that was criticized by the president of the 40-member Independent Cities of Los Angeles County Association). The county district attorney's office also charged Malburg and other administrators with crimes unrelated to the strike. In Malburg's case, the district attorney office accused the mayor of falsely declaring his domicile to be the family residence he built in Vernon, charging that his true domicile was the Los Angeles home he inherited from his grandfather. In 1979, Judge William Keene dismissed the charges when it was revealed that the district attorney's office had withheld evidence from the grand jury which directly contradicted the prosecution's claims. Similar charges were filed again, twenty-seven years later, after the city attempted to suppress a report by a city attorney that the city administrator was stealing from the city. In the course of that investigation the District Attorney's relatively new Public Integrity Division learned that Malburg and his wife and son all claimed to live in an apartment within an office building in Vernon. The city's attempt to suppress the report was unsuccessful and the city administrator, Bruce Malkenhorst, Sr., was charged with misappropriating public funds. The mayor and his family were charged with voter fraud. Leonis's son, John Malburg, was sent to prison for child molestation discovered during the same investigation.
After being sued by the City of Vernon over nearly $1.5 million in attorney fees, Malburg resigned the office of mayor on July 1, 2009.[1]
In December 2009, Leonis Malburg and his wife were convicted of conspiracy, perjury, and voter fraud. (see editorial, Los Angeles Times, December 9, 2009, "Justice Comes to Vernon") In January 2010, they were ordered to pay over $600,000 in restitution and fines.
http://www.cityofvernon.org/council_members/mayor.html
http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/history/00-06-16/c06-vernon.html
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