Gilbert D. Smith | |
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![]() Gilbert Smith, mayor of Carson | |
Mayor of Carson | |
In office 1970–1971 | |
Preceded by | John L. Junk |
Succeeded by | John H. Leahy |
In office 1974–1975 | |
Preceded by | Sak Yamamoto |
Succeeded by | Clarence A. Bridgers |
City Council of Carson | |
In office February 1968 – March 1980 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1933 or 1934 (age 89–90) |
Spouse | Glenda Smith |
Children | 3 |
Gilbert D. Smith (born 1933/1934) is an American politician who served as the first African-American mayor of Carson, California.
Smith was born in Los Angeles and attended Los Angeles public schools. [1] In 1952, he graduated from Manual Arts High School and then went on to study commercial art at the Los Angeles Trade–Technical College. [1] He operates his own commercial art business. [1] Smith was active in community organizations which led to his involvement in the Dominguez-Carson incorporation movement (Dominguez being one of the proposed names for the new city) and served as chairman of the Dominguez-Carson Coordinating Council. [1]
In 1968, he was elected as one of five members to the first City Council of Carson, incorporated February 20, 1968. [2] In 1970, he was elected to a four-year term on the City Council and [3] then was appointed mayor in a unanimous vote by the City Council [4] succeeding John L. Junk. [5] Carson was less than 20% African-American at the time. [4] In June 1970, he implemented a summer jobs program to take idle teens off the streets. [6] He also set an action list to tackle the largest problems that he identified in the city: the limited regulation of the city's 97 junk and salvage yards; the proximity of residential areas to the city's seven refineries; and the future use of closed dump sites. [1] The city of 75,000 was also bisected by three freeways diving the city into separate communities and had little in the way of shopping or recreation. [7]
In November 1970, the city was raked with allegations of bribery charging the city's prior mayor, John Junk, an incumbent councilmember, Dannie H. Spence, a former deputy district attorney and attorney general who were both from Carson, a member of Carson's Environmental Control Commission, and a former member of the Parks and Recreation Commission; they were all charged with soliciting bribes to resolve zoning matters. [7] Smith froze all new zoning requests for review. [7] In December 1970, he dedicated the Main Street project, paid for with gas taxes, which created a shopping and recreational street for the city. [8] In January 1971, he was appointed to the transportation committee of League of California Cities, Los Angeles County Division. [9] In May 1971, the City Council appointed John H. Leahy as mayor. [10] In October 1971, the city broken ground on a new post office. [11] In May 1973, Smith unsuccessfully ran for the open seat in the 67th district of the California Assembly after the death of Larry Townsend running on a platform of using tax revenues to develop more mass transportation to reduce pollution, and to reevaluate the need for so many freeways, in particular, the Century Freeway. [12] In March 1974, he won re-election to the City Council in a nine-way race competing for two open seats finishing second with 991 votes to John A. Marbut (1,050 votes). [13] He was reappointed mayor, [14] succeeding Sak Yamamoto, [15] and was faced with the approval of a $5.4 million budget with nearly all of it dedicated to the current provision of services (with a $22,000 cushion). [16] In May 1975, he was named a vice chairman of the United Way. [17] In 1975, John Marbut was appointed mayor. [18] In the same year, the Council rejected opening new waste facilities in city. [18] In January 1977, he was named as president of the California League of Cities and tasked with assisting California cities to manage reductions in property taxes without losing revenues. [19] [20] Smith was credited with helping to transform Carson from a hodgepodge city of salvage yards and refineries bisected by highways to a city with a vibrant shopping corridor that derives all its revenues from sales and gas taxes. [19] In March 1978, he won re-election to the City Council in a ten-way race competing for two open seats finishing first with 3,065 votes to John A. Marbut (3,031 votes). [21] Smith announced that he would resign in November 1979 although after the successful recall of councilmen Sak Yamamoto and John Marbut, he would stay on until March 1980. [22]
He is married to Glenda Smith; they have three sons. [1]