Frank Shaw, Los Angeles Mayor, 1933-1938, enters L.A. Grand Jury room. Photo from L.A. Times Photographic Colloction at UCLA Library.
In 1933, after serving on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Frank L. Shaw was elected to be Mayor of Los Angeles. Unfortunately, he would go on to his mark as having led the most corrupt city administration in Los Angeles history.
In Shaw's first campaign for mayor, the Los Angeles Times questioned his qualifications, even calling into question his citizenship (he was Canadian-born). After Shaw won office, however, he seemed to win the Times over by reappointing a favorite of the newspaper, James Davis, to be police chief. Shaw also arranged for the acquisition of Times property for the city civic center, at four times assessed value. By the 1937 reelection campaign, the Times had become a solid Shaw supporter. Also among Shaw’s early appointments was his brother Joe Shaw, who became a "private secretary" on the city payroll. Joe Shaw came to be seen as the "chief fixer" in City Hall and was allowed to impose his authority over the police and fire departments.
Clifford Clinton, founder of the popular local chain of Clifton Cafeterias and an anti-crime and graft crusader, had earlier formed with others the organization CIVIC (Citizens Independent Vice Investigating Committee) to look into rumors of corruption in local government. CIVIC followed rumors at the Los Angeles County General Hospital that implicated Shaw, when he on the Board of Supervisors. With the urging of county supervisor and reformer John Anson Ford, Clinton was appointed to the County Grand Jury by Judge Fletcher Bowron, to look into allegations of corruption at City Hall. After an investigation of his own, Clinton issued a report that identified more than a thousand gambling and prostitution rackets alleged to be under the protection of Shaw’s administration. Few gave much weight, however, to these charges. Rather, Clinton’s cafeterias began to draw unusual scrutiny by city health inspectors and police.
Clifford E. Clifton, 1937. From the L.A. Daily News Negatives Collection at UCLA Library.
On January 14, 1937, a bomb exploded in the car of private investigator and former cop Harry Raymond. Raymond had been investigating the Shaw administration for anti-Shaw forces and was scheduled to provide testimony on his findings. Despite being struck by more than 150 pieces of shrapnel, Raymond survived the blast. The media initially suggested that the bombing was the work of the mob. Shaw critics, however, immediately aired suspicion that the Shaw administration was involved. The Los Angeles Times countered by suggesting that Raymond and Clinton themselves had staged the bombing as a publicity stunt. The real answer came when it was discovered that Raymond had been under surveillance by a secret police unit for months. Even more damaging was an eyewitness account of an immigrant fruit vendor, who, despite threats, identified those who planted the bomb. A grand jury ended up indicting LAPD Captain Earl Kynette and he was convicted for the bombing attack. Yet indications were that Kynette was directed from somewhere in City Hall.
This was the final straw for Angelenos. In 1938, after the implication of police in the bombing and years of corruption allegations surrounding City Hall, Los Angeles voters turned on Shaw and gave him the distinction of being the first and only mayor of Los Angeles to be removed from office by recall. Judge Bowron, who, as mentioned earlier, had appointed Clinton to the Grand Jury, was elected as the reform candidate to replace Shaw and clean up city government. Historians generally believe that the downfall of Shaw’s administration led the mob to abandon Los Angeles for Las Vegas.
Shaw never ended up being charged with any crime. Although most historical viewpoints paint Shaw’s administration as one of the most corrupt in Los Angeles history, a few historians argued that Shaw was never as corrupt as alleged. At least one historian maintained that Clinton had, in fact, staged the bombing. Shaw was age 61 when ejected from office and he went into retirement. He died in 1958 and is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery.
Frank Shaw was not the first mayor of a major U.S. city to be recalled from office. Prior to Los Angeles removing Shaw from office in 1938, five other U.S. cities successfully recalled their mayors. Seattle, Tacoma and Witchita did so in 1911. Boise did so in 1916, Detroit recall their mayor in 1930, followed by Seattle, yet again, in 1931. In 1909, Los Angeles Mayor Arthur C. Harper almost received the distinction of being the first U.S. mayor of a large city removed by recall, but he resigned before the recall election could be held. A decade before Shaw's recall, L.A. City Councilman Lester R. Rice-Wray was successfully recalled from office. In 1932, three Los Angeles County Superior Court judges, John L. Fleming, Dailey S. Stafford, and Walter Guerin were removed from the bench by recall election.
Also see: The Most Regrettable Mayors of Los Angeles.
