Roosevelt F. Dorn

Roosevelt F. Dorn, the former mayor of Inglewood, California, was born October 29, 1935, in Checotah, Oklahoma.

Dorn was elected mayor in 1997 to fill the unexpired term of Edward Vincent, who had become a member of the state Assembly.^[1] He was elected to a full term on November 3, 1998, and again in 2003 and 2007.

Dorn served in the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1958. Joining the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department as a deputy, he was a Superior Court bailiff from 1961 to 1969. After obtaining a law degree in 1969 from the Whittier Law School and passing the California State Bar Examination in 1969, Dorn worked as an assistant city attorney for the City of Los Angeles until 1979. California Governor Jerry Brown appointed him to the Municipal Court in 1979 and to the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1980.

He married Joyce Evelyn Glosson in 1965. They have three children; Bryan Keith, Renee Felicia, and Rochelle Francine.

He is a member of several professional organizations including: National Bar Association, John Langston Bar Association, 100 Black Men of America (past national vice president), 100 Black Men of Los Angeles (past president), U.S. Conference of Mayors, National Conference of Black Mayors (past president), NAACP, New Frontier Democratic Club, and Whittier Alumni Association.

Resignation

Dorn pleaded guilty on January 25, 2010, to a misdemeanor conflict-of-interest charge in connection with a low-interest loan he received from a program originally intended to help city administrators with the high cost of living in Inglewood. In June 2004 Dorn had voted with the majority of the City Council to extend the program to elected officials. Later, he obtained one of the low-cost loans for himself, at $500,000, using half to pay off his existing home mortgage and putting the other half in a bank account. He repaid the money in October 2006. As his trial was preparing to open, he quit his position as mayor of Inglewood and agreed to a guilty plea. He was placed on probation for two years, was fined $2,000 and was barred from ever holding public office again.^[2][3]

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