Harold Melvin Bernson (November 19, 1930July 20, 2020) was an American politician who was a member of the Los Angeles City Council for 24 years, from 1979 until his retirement in 2003. A conservative Republican, he was a leading proponent of the San Fernando Valley seceding from the rest of Los Angeles.
Early life Bernson was born in South Gate, California, on November 19, 1930, to Jewish parents, his father from Romania and his mother from Poland. He grew up in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights, where he became a bar mitzvah at the historic Breed Street Shul. He recalled that at the age of ten he attended services at the synagogue three times a day to recite a mourner's prayer for his father. As a young man, he served in the Navy and afterward ran a clothing store in Bakersfield. He moved back to Los Angeles in 1956 and to the San Fernando Valley in 1958.Los Angeles Times, December 07, 1995Jodi Wilgoren, "Jews Debate Fate of Ruins of Old Religious Center," Los Angeles Times, July 23, 1966, page 1Los Angeles Public Library reference file
Civic activities In 1977, he was the Northwest San Fernando Valley chairman for Senator Alan Robbins' anti-busing initiative and amendments before being on the steering committee for Yes on Proposition 13 in 1978. From 1978 to 1979, he was a columnist for the San Fernando Valley Chronicle"Bernson, 48, writes a column in a local weekly newspaper in which he has lambasted [Mayor Tom] Bradley, Mrs. [Joy] Picus, [Zev] Yaroslavsky and [political operative Jack] McGrath and most other downtown establishment figures." —Kevin Roderick, "Valley Voters' Choice Is Clear in Council Runoff," Los Angeles Times, April 5, 1979, page B-3 He was also a cofounder and board member of CIVICC (Committee Investigating Valley Independence for the City/County). In partisan politics, he was a Republican."Bernson Decries Downtown Power," Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1979
City Council
Elections
Bernson and Barbara Klein led the pack of sixteen candidates who in 1979 ran in Los Angeles City Council District 12, in the northwest San Fernando Valley, to succeed retiring Councilmember Robert M. Wilkinson. In the runoff, Bernson easily beat Klein by a vote of 24,825 to 12,415.
Bernson was reelected in every vote thereafter until his own retirement in 2003, although in 1991 he was forced into a runoff with Julie Korenstein, who was one of the challengers who attacked him for backing the controversial Porter Ranch development in his district (below).Rich Connell and Nancy Hill-Holtzman, "Growth Revolt Is a Factor," Los Angeles Times, April 11, 1991 It was, however, not strictly true that Bernson was "pro-growth," the Times reported during that campaign, listing several incidents in which the councilmember had voted against developers' wishes.John Schwada, "City Council Elections 12th District," May 12, 1991, page 3 Bernson labeled Korenstein as "at one time . . . a Peace and Freedom member."Jack Cheevers, "City Council Elections 12th District," Los Angeles Times, May 25, 1991, page 3
Highlights
'Mister Earthquake'
Bernson was dubbed "Mister Earthquake," for his driven attitude toward making city building safe in the event of temblors. The Times said of that Bernson was
the most avid proponent of seismic safety on the Los Angeles City Council for more than a decade, spearheading a slew of safety-minded ordinances, including a widely copied law requiring the retrofitting of thousands of unreinforced masonry buildings. . . . He took an interest in seismic safety and decided to back the proposal, warding off angry building owners and others. . . . But the law did pass, in 1981.
He helped organize the city's first international earthquake conference, attended by 28 countries. He also developed a quake safety booklet for children and help create the "Quakey-Shakey Van," a vehicle that helped teach children about quake safety.
Nevertheless, Bernson refused aid from the Community Redevelopment Agency in rebuilding damage in his district from the 1994 Northridge earthquake on the grounds that the agency was trying to foist "social engineering" off on the area.Geoffrey Mohan, "Bernson to Pull CRA Plan for Quake Aid," Los Angeles Times, San Fernando Valley edition, December 20, 1994, page 1
In 1997, he was given the Alfred E. Alquist Award for Achievement in Earthquake Safety.Dade Hayes, "Councilman Bernson Gets Quake Safety Award," Los Angeles Times, April 5, 1997
Transportation and planning He was chair of the council's Transportation Committee. He also served on the boards of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Southern California Regional Rail Authority.Henry Chu, "Interview With Hal Bernson," Los Angeles Times, October 19, 1997 He was described as "a master of planning issues."
In 2002, at age 71 and cited as the "dean of the Los Angeles City Council, he served as chairman of the LACMTA, the rail authority and the Southern California Association of Governments at the same time.Kurt Streeter, "Hahn Helps Bernson Take the Wheel at MTA," Los Angeles Times, June 28, 2002 The Times noted that Bernson's service on these boards made him the "Stipend King" of the City Council because he was able to collect thousands of dollars in extra pay for attending their meetings. "I put in an awful lot of extra effort in those things I'm involved in," he said.Patrick McGreevy, "Extra Duties Make Benson Council's Stipend King," Los Angeles Times, August 1, 2001
Bernson was presented the first Julian C. Dixon Award in November 2002 as "a leader in transportation [who had] made an outstanding contribution to the transportation community."PR Newswire, November 18, 2002
Porter Ranch
Bus tour. The councilmember guided his colleagues on a bus tour of his district in May 1989, pointing out such problem sites as the proposed 1,300-acre Porter Ranch development, "where a plan to develop the pristine rolling hills into a major $2-billion residential and commercial city center is at the forefront of public debate," and a development project in the Bryant-Street Vanalden neighborhood (below).
Compromise. Mayor Tom Bradley announced in December 1989 that he and Bernson had reached a compromise on the Porter Ranch project in Chatsworth, the biggest single development project in Los Angeles history.Gabe Fuentes, "Bradley, in Turnaround, Agrees to OK Porter Plan Development," Los Angeles Times, December 16, 1989, page 1
Secession
Bernson took a leading role in a drive at the turn of the 20th–21st centuries for the San Fernando Valley to secede from the city of Los Angeles and perhaps even from the county. As well, the councilmember advocated that the Valley pull out of the Los Angeles Unified School District and form its own district for its own schools. He called the proposal the "hottest issue around"" and said the current school system was "a farce."John Schwada, "Valley Councilmen Favor Breakup of District Schools," Los Angeles Times, San Fernando Valley edition, January 16, 1993, page 1
Later, he was a member of the county's Local Area Formation Commission, even while he was a "vocal advocate of speeding up the process" of getting Valley secession on the November 2002 ballot. Despite his statement that he would be neutral as a commissioner,Phil Willon, "Valley Secession Effort's Roots Go Back to the '70s," Los Angeles Times, August 16, 1998 City Council president Alex Padilla replaced him on the commission in August 2001 with Council Member Cindy Miscikowski, a secession opponent.Patrick McGreevy and Michael Finnegan, "Bernson Pulled From Secession Panel," Los Angeles Times, August 16, 2001
Ethics
In 1992, it was reported that the California Fair Political Practices Commission had opened "five separate inquiries into charges of various improprieties against Bernson, but each time closed its files without formal charges" being made.
The city's Ethics Commission found in 1994 that Bernson had failed to disclose the source of $11,000 in campaign contributions made by a private company and ordered him to repay the funds. While rejecting the commission's authority requiring him to repay the money, he said he would donate an equal sum to the police in his district.Hugo Martin, "Councilman to Donate $11,000 to Police," Los Angeles Times, January 7, 1994
In 1997, Bernson ended a two-year battle with the Ethics Commission by paying a $1,500 fine levied against him for spending $1,140 in officeholder account funds to buy season tickets to the Hollywood Bowl. The account is funded by lobbyists and supporters and can be used only on expenses related to serving and communicating with constituents. It was the first case of its kind brought against an elected official since the commission was created in 1990."Bernson Pays $1,500 to Ethics Commission," Los Angeles Times, June 28, 1997
Later the same year, the Ethics Commission rejected a Bernson request to let his staff use Hollywood Bowl tickets that were intended for poor and disabled constituents, after about a hundred of them were left unused because residents who had asked for the complimentary passes never claimed them.Hugo Martin, "Panel Rules Bernson Cannot Use Bowl Tickets," Los Angeles Times, September 3, 1997
Three years later, the Ethics Commission and Bernson agreed that he would pay a $3,000 fine "for improperly accepting an excess amount of free legal services from the law firm of City Hall lobbyist Neil Papiano," who had represented Bernson in the Hollywood Bowl case. The law firm was also fined."Ethics Panel Approves Fine Against Benson," Los Angeles Times, October 31, 2000
In 2001, he agreed that he would pay fines of $18,500 for accepting campaign contributions that exceeded legal limits. "There is no evidence that the violations were committed intentionally or willfully," a written agreement stipulated.Patrick McGreevey, "Bernson Fined by Ethics Panel," Los Angeles Times, August 7, 2001
Travel expenses
An investigative feature by the Times found in April 1990 that Bernson was the "top travel spender" in City Hall, having paid out $120,622 of his campaign funds in three years for trips to places like Louisiana, Hawaii, Israel and Italy, in the latter two of which he and his wife stayed in "luxury hotels." Other trips were made by the couple to Paris, Hong Kong, London, Beijing, British Columbia, New York, Seattle, Boston and Carmel, California. He said the trips were proper and enabled him to do a better job as a councilmember.Jack Cheevers and Gabe Fuentes, "Bernson Is Council's Top Travel Spender," Los Angeles Times, April 8, 1990, page 1
Sunshine Canyon
In the 1980s and 1990s, Bernson was "the major foe"Gabe Fuentes, "Official Orders Dump to Make Changes, but Won't Close It," Los Angeles Times, September 2, 1988 of a controversial proposed enlargement of a landfill project, or dump, in Sunshine Canyon in Granada Hills, at the eastern end of the Santa Susana Mountains. In 1992 he sued Browning-Ferris Industries, operator of the landfill, for libel, alleging that the company "leaked to news reporters a dossier containing false claims about Bernson's spending of public and private funds on travel" (above) in an attempt to discredit him. Jack Cheevers, "Bernson Lawsuit Accuses Landfill Owners of Libel," Los Angeles Times, San Fernando Valley edition, page 3 A Superior Court judge dismissed the action, but the State Supreme Court reinstated it in June 1994, ruling 4–2 that " the usual one-year time limit for filing libel lawsuits can be extended when defendants accused of disseminating allegedly defamatory material intentionally conceal their identities."Ann O'Neill, "Court Revives Libel Suit, Extending Statute of Limitations," Los Angeles Times, San Fernando Valley edition, June 7, 1994, page 4SCOCAL, Bernson v. Browning-Ferris Industries, 7 Cal.4th 926 available at: (http://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/bernson-v-browning-ferris-industries-31591)
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