Braude Thrived in Council Environment

When City Councilman Marvin Braude took office in 1965, the Beatles’ song “Yesterday” was on top of the charts, the Voting Rights Act just became law and the U.S. began its first full-scale combat offensive in Vietnam.

This summer, Braude walked out of City Hall for the last time as councilman, retiring after 32 years in office.

During that time, the 76-year-old former economics and politics professor established himself as the most devout--and some would say stubborn--environmentalist on the panel.

In the late 1980s, Braude and then-Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky teamed up to lead an initiative that banned offshore oil drilling along the entire Los Angeles coastline.

A few years later, Braude--a former two-packs-a-day smoker--led the fight to ban smoking in restaurants.

Braude also helped bring a bike path to Venice Beach, and blocked a freeway from replacing Pacific Coast Highway.

He prevailed over big business in another initiative drive, winning overwhelming support for a 1986 proposition that restricted development in 75% of the city and stopped high-rises in Westwood and Encino.

He successfully fought landfills in the Santa Monica Mountains and helped preserve much of the area as a park. As a departing gift, his old foes at the county sanitation district agreed to name the swath of parkland in his honor.

Before he retired, he gave his colleagues some insight into his views on policymaking.

During a recent discussion about plans to build a rail line across the San Fernando Valley, he said whatever decision council members make, it should not be influenced by the fear of short-term criticism.

No decision can make everyone happy, he said, adding that the most important decisions should be made with the city’s best long-term interest in mind.

“Years from now you will look back and see that the flak you took was infinitesimal.”