12 Facts About Bob Ronka

Bob Ronka was born on c 1943 and was a member of the Los Angeles City Council from the San Fernando Valley's 1st District between 1977 and 1981.

The family moved to California in 1945, and Bob Ronka attended North Hollywood High School, where he played trombone in a dance-band workshop that studied music ranging from the big-band sound of the early 1930s to the progressive jazz of Stan Kenton.

Bob Ronka played with the Dixie Smallfry youth group sponsored by radio-television personality Bill Baldwin.

Bob Ronka spent six years in private practice before his election to the City Council and had ""several years of developing industrial parks.

The councilman took preliminary steps toward running against Baxter Ward for the county Board of Supervisors in 1972, but decided against it when private polls showed the Bob Ronka name was not recognized in the supervisorial district.

Bob Ronka faced a recall petition in 1978 in which he was accused of, among other things, receiving unreported cash contributions from the "Mexican Mafia" and of failing to report the gift of a trip to Hawaii and ownership of real property in Westlake Village.

Bob Ronka sought assurance that the games would cost the city nothing, and he favored asking the voters to decide by ballot if the competitions should be held in the city at all.

Bob Ronka gained favorable citywide publicity in February and March 1978 when he cut short a vacation in Acapulco, Mexico, to return home when he heard that heavy storm waters had flooded the Sunland-Tujunga area.

Bob Ronka did not run for reelection in 1981 but was an unsuccessful candidate for city attorney instead.

Bob Ronka retired to Calabasas, California, where he is active in community affairs.

In 1988, he sued Stephen Chrystie, his former attorney, for "breach of trust and fraud" in managing a blind trust while Bob Ronka was on the Los Angeles City Council.

Bob Ronka said that the attorney lost him $1.4 million and invested in slum property, a "potential political embarrassment" that contributed to his decision not to run for council in 1987.