1. John Ferraro was an American politician and businessman who was a Democratic member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1966 until his death in 2001, the longest tenure of any member in the city's history.
15 Facts About John Ferraro
1. 2.
John Ferraro enlisted in the US Navy during World War II and was commissioned as an ensign in 1945.
3.
John Ferraro served on a tanker with Warren Christopher, later the Secretary of State under Bill Clinton.
4.
John Ferraro was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974.
5.
Ferraro was an insurance broker with the John Ferraro Company, beginning in 1951, and he invested shrewdly in stocks and real estate that made him a millionaire.
6.
John Ferraro was married to Julie Marie Luckey, daughter of Democratic State Senator E George Luckey, and they had a son, Luckeygian, or Lucky, born about 1956.
7.
John Ferraro was diagnosed with cancer of the spleen in August 1999 and underwent chemotherapy.
8.
John Ferraro entered government service in 1953, when Mayor Norris Poulson appointed him to the city Police Commission, where he served for thirteen years.
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In 1974, Ferraro ran unsuccessfully against fellow Councilman Edmund D Edelman for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and in 1985, he made a futile run against Tom Bradley for mayor.
10.
Ferraro's election as City Council president in 1977 to replace John Gibson allowed him to make committee appointments and set a general direction for the council.
11.
John Ferraro later denied he used his committee appointing power "to reward allies and punish enemies," but he admitted to being practical: "Anybody who mistreats their friends to benefit their enemies is not practicing good politics," he said.
12.
John Ferraro was noted for "spearheading the refurbishment of the Los Angeles Zoo", for "bringing the new Staples Center arena to a revitalized downtown" and helping to attract the 2000 Democratic National Convention to Los Angeles.
13.
John Ferraro was considered pro-development, and he usually supported most everything that building industry leaders wanted, one exception being rent control because of the large number of elderly renters in his district.
14.
John Ferraro opposed building underground transportation lines, believing instead that mass transit should run along freeways or, in the San Fernando Valley, along existing rail lines.
15.
John Ferraro wanted a committee of experts in public policy and constitutional law appointed by the City Council itself.