‘Emperor of 9th,’ L.A. Councilman Lindsay, Dies

Gilbert W. Lindsay, the first black Los Angeles city councilman and self-proclaimed “Emperor of the 9th District” for nearly three decades, died Friday of cardiac arrest. He was 90.

The veteran politician’s death at 2:11 a.m. at Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center followed nearly four months of hospitalization for a paralyzing stroke that left him unable to speak.

Lindsay once ruled the inner-city 9th District with a brash arrogance that some compared to the imperious style of Chicago’s late political boss, Richard J. Daley.

He was a short, feisty man who liked big buildings and beautiful women.

But the incapacitation that followed his Sept. 2 stroke left Lindsay unable to conduct city business and touched off a divisive City Hall battle over whether to replace or remove him.

Lindsay had been plagued by failing health for the last two years. He suffered an earlier stroke in 1988 and was briefly hospitalized last June after collapsing in an underground parking garage at City Hall. Critics said then he was unable to represent his constituents.

A tearful Mayor Tom Bradley called Lindsay “a beloved public servant, one who declared on many occasions that he was going to be emperor and councilman for life. He got his wish.”

Bradley ordered that all city flags fly at half staff in observance of Lindsay’s death.

Mike Antonovich, chairman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, praised Lindsay for his “lifelong dedication to the City and County of Los Angeles” and also ordered flags at county facilities lowered to half staff.

“We have all lost a good friend,” Antonovich said.

City Council President John Ferraro, who appeared with Bradley in a joint press conference Friday, said he will request a special election be held during the upcoming April primary to select a successor to Lindsay, whose term expires in 1993.

The council is on holiday vacation until Jan. 2. Bradley said he favors Ferraro’s plan.

Unresolved at Lindsay’s death is a lawsuit filed by his stepson, Herbert Howard, alleging that Lindsay’s former girlfriend, 39-year-old Juanda Chauncie, clandestinely gained the deeds to six residential properties owned by the politician.

Howard, named conservator of his stepfather’s estate earlier this month, had recently moved Lindsay from an Inglewood hospital to Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian to block any attempt to oust the councilman.

A technicality in the City Charter allows the removal of a council member absent from the city for longer than 60 days, unless the member’s absence is officially excused. The Inglewood hospital is just beyond the city limits.

Lindsay was born Nov. 29, 1900, on a cotton plantation in Jasper County, Mississippi. After serving in the Army in the 10th Calvary and 25th Infantry in Arizona, he moved to Los Angeles. He applied for a job with the city and, despite some college credits taken through the Army, he was offered a job as a janitor.

He accepted the post, but in his spare time he enrolled in business and government classes at the University of Southern California and gradually moved up in the clerical ranks of the city government.

In 1952, he worked on then-City Councilman Kenneth Hahn’s successful campaign for county supervisor and was named Hahn’s deputy. On Jan. 28, 1963, he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the City Council, becoming the first black councilman in the city’s recorded history. He overwhelmingly defeated 11 opponents in an election held five months later. He won every ballot thereafter, relying largely on the predominantly black constituency of a district stretching from Chinatown to South-Central Los Angeles.

Lindsay remained a staunch advocate of growth and an ally to developers in an era when growth was being increasingly criticized for crowding out the poor and creating too much traffic and smog.

While praised for revitalizing downtown, he was also accused of neglecting the southern half of his district in South-Central Los Angeles, an area rife with crime and unemployment.

Lindsay was also a champion of civil rights, and his appointment to the City Council paved the way for other minorities, including Bradley, who became the city’s first black mayor.

“If anybody knew Gilbert Lindsay and didn’t love him, something must have been wrong with them,” Ferraro said.

“The legacy Councilman Lindsay leaves behind is one of care, compassion and commitment to all 9th District constituents with whom he shared a very special relationship,” Ferraro said. “The ‘Emperor of the Great 9th’ is dead, but he will always remain in our memories, in our hearts and our love.”

Lindsay’s power base eroded over the years, however, as Latinos increasingly approach the numbers of blacks in the 9th District.

Lindsay aide Bob Gay, accused by critics of being too eager to assume his boss’s job, is a likely candidate for the now-vacant seat.

Others most mentioned as possible successors are Brad Pye, an aide to Hahn. Both Gay and Pye are black.

Bradley said that, as recently as six months ago, when he discussed with Lindsay a likely successor, Lindsay had no preference.

“He didn’t have anyone he wanted to nominate,” Bradley said.

Both Bradley and Councilman Robert Farrell, whose South Los Angeles district abuts the 9th District, said they expect his successor to be black. However, new census data for the city, which will not be available until July, could show that the majority of the district’s residents are Latino.

Whoever wins the seat must be ready to fight to keep the boundaries of the 9th District intact. Early next year, the City Council will begin drawing new lines for its 15 districts and it is possible that council members may attempt to divide the tax-rich downtown portion of the 9th for themselves, carving out the neighborhoods of South-Central.

Lindsay was the last of the city’s old-style political bosses and a man not averse to calling up developers and investment bankers when contributions ran low. He liked to do things on a grand scale and prided himself on bringing skyscrapers to the Los Angeles skyline.

“Gil was one who always said, ‘I like big things, big buildings, big people,’ ” Bradley said. “He was one who just believed in the enormity of life.”

Before his stroke, he could be seen dining at least twice a week at the expensive Tower restaurant atop the Transamerica Building. He fancied lobster bisque, tossed salad and champagne. He always sat at table 9, close to the wraparound windows looking out on downtown.

“He always said he wanted to survey his empire,” said restaurant supervisor Andrew Harding. “He was known as ‘The Emperor’ here.”

Hahn employed Lindsay as a deputy supervisor for 10 years before Lindsay’s City Council appointment. Hahn called him “a man of humor who could see the funny side of life. He was never depressed.”

An unabashed flirt and an often cantankerous councilman, “he just spoke his mind without any restraint,” Hahn said. “He loved beautiful women.”

“He was certainly competent,” said Hahn, who himself suffered a debilitating stroke two years ago. “He outfoxed them all by just staying on the council. When they tried to oust him, he outfoxed them by moving.”

Lindsay explained his success during a period in history when blacks were politically disenfranchised this way: “I proved one thing: If you want something badly enough, all you have to do is roll up your sleeves and go for it.”

Lindsay’s wife, Theresa, died several years ago, and his son, Melvin, died last spring. He is survived by his daughter, Sylvia, and Howard, his stepson.

Funeral services are scheduled for Jan. 4 at 10 a.m. at Victory Baptist Church in Los Angeles.