Roger Arnebergh
| Roger Arnebergh | |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles City Attorney | |
| In office 1953–1973 | |
| Preceded by | Ray L. Chesebro |
| Succeeded by | Burt Pines |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 17, 1909 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | January 25, 2004 (aged 94) Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Religion | Presbyterianism |
Roger Arnebergh (August 17, 1909 – January 25, 2004) was an American politician. He served as Los Angeles City Attorney from 1953 to 1973.
Early life
Arnebergh was born, Victor Arneberg, on August 17, 1909 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, of Norwegian and Danish ancestry, the son of Targe Arnebergh and Amelia Graagaard. Although he dropped out of high school at the age of fifteen, he received a law degree through extension learning.
Career
Arnebergh won the election for Los Angeles City Attorney in 1953 because he was supported by Ray L. Chesebro, who was retiring. He would be re-elected five times with little opposition. Arnebergh always said that he sought additional terms only at the urging of other lawyers and community and business leaders, who would sign petitions in their thousands. He saw himself more as a lawyer than a politician.
Throughout his 20 years as city attorney, Arneburgh usually ran unopposed. However in 1973, Burt Pines and Ira Reiner both ran for the office against Arneburgh. He was then forced into a runoff against Burt Pines, who won by 58%. During those 20 years in office, Arnebergh led a department that increased from 76 to 185 lawyers and was widely praised for his fair handling of disputes among city departments and his enforcement of misdemeanors.
After 1973, Arnebergh practiced law privately in Van Nuys. He was briefly in the limelight in 1991, as part of Citizens for Integrity and Viability in the City Charter, which supported under siege former Police Chief Daryl Gates, and was against changes in the selection, removal and tenure of future police chiefs.
Personal life
Arnebergh married Emilie Katherine Rogers (1908 – 2009), on May 1, 1937. They had one child, a daughter, Patricia Holt.
The lean, 6' 1" Arnebergh regularly played in veterans' tennis tournaments. A Los Angeles Times reporter noted that with the sunglasses Arnebergh wore on court, he looked "like a movie star."
Arnebergh died of natural causes on January 25, 2004 in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, at the age of 94. He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California.