Cristobal Aguilar

José Cristóbal Aguilar (July 5, 1814 – April 11, 1883) was a pioneer of Los Angeles, California politics in the early days of American rule. He was the last Hispanic mayor of the city until 2005.

Background

Aguilar was born in 1814 in Los Angeles, which was then under Spanish rule. His parents were José María Aguilar and María Ygnacia Elizalde. José Maria Aguilar was the grantee of Rancho Cañada de los Nogales. The Aguilars lived in a spacious adobe located on what is now North Main Street. This old adobe was a prominent landmark that later served two important, but very different functions. The first was as the town calabozo or jail, and then as the town's first hospital in 1858.

On October 30, 1848, Aguilar married Maria Dolores Yorba at the San Gabriel Mission just east of Los Angeles. His wife was the daughter of José Antonio de los Remidios Yorba and María Catalina Verdugo. The Yorbas possessed vast land holdings including most of the Santa Ana Valley (in present-day Orange County, California).

Cristóbal and Dolores had five children, which were as follows:

• Librada, a daughter born in 1850
• José, born in 1851
• Matias, a second son born in 1858
• Guadalupe, born in 1860
• Rosa, born in 1863

Aguilar could not speak English, but, as reported by Los Angeles historian H.D. Barrows in 1899, he "made a good and acceptable Mayor because of the general familiarity of citizens of all nationalities then residing here, with the Spanish tongue."^[1]

Political life

After Alta California became part of the United States, Aguilar made a name for himself in local government. When the Mexican ayuntamiento system was abolished in favor of an American mayor and city council system in 1850, Aguilar was among the first members of the Los Angeles Common Council, the predecessor of the Los Angeles City Council. He served several non-consecutive terms from 1850 until the early 1860s.

He was also elected several times to the office of county supervisor. He served on the third Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 1854, the 4th (1855), the 5th (1856), the 9th (1860), the 11th (1862), and the 12th (1864). The latter two (1862, 1864) were both two year terms when that office had such a term beginning in 1862. Prior to 1862 the term was for one year.

Aguilar was first elected mayor on May 7, 1866. The election was certified three days later and he assumed office that same day. One of his earliest accomplishments was the establishment of a park site, which later became known as Pershing Square. However, all was not rosy in city hall.

In a bit of political maneuvering, Aguilar was unseated for three months in the middle of his first term and replaced by Damien Marchesseault. During that time he served as zanjero or Water Overseer. Being in a desert with risks of both drought and flooding a constant threat, this position was actually considered more important than the mayor and paid the highest salary of any city official at the time. On August 8, 1867, Aguilar was re-instated as mayor and served the remainder of his term. His decision in 1868 to retain control over the city's water rights and reserves is considered one of the most important in Los Angeles' history.

In 1868, Aguilar lost re-election to Joel Turner and was subsequently appointed as Water Overseer once again. After resigning his post, Aguilar challenged Joel Turner again in 1870, defeating him this time. He served until 1872, when he lost decisively to James R. Toberman, who made Aguilar's limited English an issue in the race.

A year later, Aguilar received still another appointment as Water Overseer and served until December 5, 1878. During the period of December 9, 1875 through December 6, 1877, it is not clear whether Aguilar or anyone served in that capacity because the position is not addressed in the council minutes.

Later years

After retiring from politics Aguilar wrote for La Cronica, the City's leading Spanish-language newspaper at the time. In the paper, he wrote a regular column on local community issues. He died of heart disease on April 11, 1883 at the age of 68.

References

• Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials: 1850—1938, Compiled under Direction of Municipal Reference Library City Hall, Los Angeles March 1938 (Reprinted 1966)

External links

• Estrada, William. "The Last Latino Mayor of Los Angeles: Jose Cristobal Aguilar, 1866-1868, 1871-1872," Center For Law In The Public Interest, June 30, 2005
• Schmal, John P. "The Four Latino Mayors of Los Angeles," HispanicVista, May 23, 2005
• Schmal, John P. "The Election of Cristobal Aguilar," LatinoLA, October 5, 2005

v t e Mayors of Los Angeles S. Foster Hodges Wilson Nichols Coronel S. Foster T. Foster S. Foster Requena Nichols Marchessault Mellus Woodworth Marchessault Mascarel Aguilar Turner Aguilar Toberman Beaudry MacDougal Cohn Toberman Thom Spence Workman Bryson Hazard Bonsall Rowan Rader Snyder Eaton Snyder McAleer Harper Stephens Alexander Rose Sebastian Woodman Snyder Cryer Porter Shaw Bowron Poulson Yorty Bradley Riordan Hahn Villaraigosa Garcetti