SOUTH BAY : The Many Public Works of a Public Man

Through 12 terms, former Democratic Rep. Glenn M. Anderson rarely took the forefront of partisan turf wars, social controversies or foreign policy.

But when it came to lining up federal support for freeway tunnels or rail lines, he was a master.

Anderson died Tuesday at 81 from complication of Alzheimer’s disease, almost two years after he retired from a lengthy career that took him to City Hall, Sacramento and Washington. Although he gained the limelight as lieutenant governor in the 1960s, his ability to shepherd an endless list of public works projects through Congress could be his legacy.

As a member of the Public Works and Transportation Committee, which he headed from 1988 to 1990, he made possible the Port of Los Angeles’ main shipping channel (called the Glenn M. Anderson Deep Ship Channel), the Century (105) Freeway (officially named for him) and Metro Rail (which has a plaque in his honor at a Downtown Los Angeles station). His moniker is also on a park in Redondo Beach and a federal building in Long Beach.

“When I went back to Washington, I always went to Glenn Anderson’s office,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Deane Dana. “He was the key congressman to get things done.”

Critics today may call the projects pork, but friends and supporters say he was coming through for the district and was critical in getting projects for other parts of the country through his powerful committee. Quiet and unassuming, he worked behind the scenes to persuade colleagues that the projects would have a national payoff.

During the 1980s, he secured the controversial Metro Rail project by making it part of a omnibus bill that included money for transit programs throughout the country. By the time it reached the House floor, Anderson had made so many deals with other representatives that its victory was assured.

“What he was able to do was translate the importance of his projects to his colleagues, how it would benefit this country and the economy,” said Ezunial (E. Z.) Burts, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.

Many of Anderson’s efforts were directed at the Port of Los Angeles, which he used to call “the sleepy little port.”

His plan to double the cargo-handling capacity of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach helped make the region a world leader in world trade, Burts said.

Raised in Hawthorne, Anderson spent the 1930s putting his UCLA education to use as a real estate developer and investor. He had to be nudged by the local Masonic Lodge into running for City Council in the late 1930s.

He won a spot in 1942 on the state Assembly, where he persuaded lawmakers that the suburban city, with its growing defense industry, was in dire need of more schools and child care.

Anderson left the Assembly in 1951 and went on to be elected lieutenant governor in 1958.

In 1968 he was elected to Congress. He won a narrow reelection victory after his first term but thereafter was reelected easily. He decided not to run in 1992.

Anderson is survived by his wife, Lee; daughter Melinda Anderson Keenan; sons Evan Anderson Braude and Glenn Michael Anderson, and six grandchildren.

Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at Mary Star of the Sea Church, 7th and Meyler streets in San Pedro. Burial will be private at Green Hills Cemetery.

Community correspondent Jon Garcia contributed to this report.