Paul H. Lamport (1907–84) was a Hollywood, California, developer and civic leader who was a Los Angeles City Council member between 1965 and 1969.
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Lamport was born February 3, 1907, in Los Angeles, the son of William H. and Frances Lamport. He was married in December 1945 to Ruth G. Lamport of Saint Louis, Missouri. They had a son, Stanley William Lamport.[1]
His official biography dated February 1967, on file in the Los Angeles Public Library, says that he went to "Polytechnical" High School and that he took college courses through the United States Armed Forces Institute and Los Angeles University College of Law. It states that he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree from California College of Law.[1]
His biography states that he was inducted into the Army on November 19, 1942, and served in the European Theater of Operations. "Received battlefield commission in France in 1944. Earned 7 battle stars. Wrote Army handbook on mess management under combat conditions. Extracts of handbook adopted by War Department. Received commendation for this work signed by Brig. Gen. D.O. Elliott. Honorably discharged October 28, 1944."[1]
His biography states he was a director of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, president of the Hollywood Property Owners Association and was commodore of the Long Beach Yacht Club and president of the Civic Regatta Association, which began the Southern California Mid-Winter Regatta. He was "part owner or in several business partnerships involving real estate holdings" and was director of the Metropolitan Bank of Hollywood.[1] He also said in a letter to Paul Coates of the Los Angeles Times that he had at one time been a newspaperman.[2]
Lamport suffered a stroke in 1980 and died on April 2, 1984, at the age of 77. He was survived by his wife, Ruth, and a son, Stanley.[3]
See also List of Los Angeles municipal election returns, 1965, 1969
Lamport was appointed by the City Council in early 1965 to represent Los Angeles City Council District 13 in succession to James Harvey Brown, who had been named a municipal court judge.[4] In that era, the 13th District included Hollywood, Silver Lake, Echo Park and portions of Los Feliz and Lincoln Heights.[5]
Lamport's principal opponent in the election that followed later that year was Mary Tinglof, a former president of the city Board of Education, and a liberal.[6] During the campaign, it was reported that Lamport had misrepresented his academic record and falsely claimed a combat medal for bravery, the Silver Star, among other alleged misstatements in his campaign literature. Lamport said he had attended the schools claimed in his publicity, although he did not complete more than the 10th grade in high school. He said he had received a certificate for the medal but could not find it.[7] It was also revealed that Lamport had been arrested and fined in September 1938 for the illegal possession of two slot machines in a restaurant at 10271 Pico Boulevard, but Mayor Sam Yorty vociferously defended Lamport and threatened to walk out of a news conference and cancel any more as long as reporters insisted on asking him about the situation.[8] Lamport won the election in the final round over Tinglof.
In 1969, "the flamboyant Lamport"[9] lost the election to his former deputy, Robert Stevenson. Before that election the Engineers and Architects Association had charged that Lamport had shown "bias, prejudice and intolerance" in writing a letter accusing the association's representative in City Hall of being "most ineffective, stupid and unaggressive."[10]
Three years later Lamport was appointed by Mayor Yorty as a member of his staff.[11]
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| Preceded by James Harvey Brown |
Los Angeles City Council 13th District 1965–69 |
Succeeded by Robert Stevenson |