Patrick D. McGee | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 1967 | |
| Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the64th district | |
| In office January 2, 1967 – May 30, 1970 | |
| Preceded by | Lou Cusanovich |
| Succeeded by | Bob Cline |
| In office January 8, 1951 – August 21, 1957 | |
| Preceded by | Sam Yorty |
| Succeeded by | Lou Cusanovich |
| Member of theLos Angeles City Council from the3rd district | |
| In office July 1, 1957 – June 30, 1961 | |
| Preceded by | Robert M. Wilkinson |
| Succeeded by | Thomas D. Shepard |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1916-03-05)March 5, 1916 Osceola, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | May 30, 1970(1970-05-30) (aged 54) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Thomas D'Arcy |
| Education | Notre Dame University |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Royal Canadian Air Force United States Navy |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Patrick D'Arcy McGee (March 5, 1916 – May 30, 1970) was a Republican member of theCalifornia State Assembly for the 64th district from 1950 to 1957 and from 1966 until his death in 1970. He was a Los Angeles City Council member from 1957 to 1961, when he opposed the city's agreement to bring the Dodgers baseball team to a new stadium in Chavez Ravine.
McGee was born on March 5, 1916, nearOsceola, Ontario, Canada, and moved toDetroit,Michigan. as a child. He attendedNotre Dame University until he joined theRoyal Canadian Air Force in 1940 and later theU.S. Navy duringWorld War II. He received aDistinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) for bravery. He flew many bombing missions over Dresden and other German cities, and won the DFC for bringing his B17 to a safe landing in a field in Dover, GB with a flaming hole in the undercarriage and his co-pilot dead. After the war, he earned a degree atHarvard Law School. He next became a research attorney with theDistrict Court of Appeal in Los Angeles.[1][2]
At the time of his death, McGee resided in West Van Nuys, California with his wife Eleanor and their son D'Arcy McGee.
He was a golfer and a chess player.[2]
He died in San Francisco on May 27, 1970; he hadspine cancer. Therosary was recited and arequiem mass was celebrated atSt. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church inReseda.[2]
McGee ran for the 64th Assembly District seat in election years 1950 through 1956 and won all four times. He sought the 38th District seat in the State Senate in 1962, but lost. He was reelected in the 64th Assembly District in 1966 and 1968,[1]
McGee gave up his Assembly position to run in the conservatively orientedLos Angeles City Council District 3 in the WestSan Fernando Valley, which includedWoodland Hills,Encino,Tarzana,Northridge,Reseda andCanoga Park.[3] He won an easy victory in the 1957 primary for a four-year term.
In 1961, however, he did not campaign for reelection but instead ran formayor; he came in third afterNorris Poulson andSam Yorty, who then met in arunoff election.
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As an Assembly member, McGee was active in a bid to obtain legislation to establish a rapid transit authority in the Los Angeles area and was also in "the thick of the fight to getFeather River water" for Southern California.[3]
Conflict, 1957. McGee occasioned controversy when he announced that he would keep hisState Assembly seat while serving as a city councilman because, he said, he could then work with fellow state legislators on a solution to a squabble betweenNorthern andSouthern California overwater rights. He said he would accept no salary from the state.[4] Nevertheless, Attorney-GeneralPat Brown ruled that McGee's stand presented "a distinct conflict of interests" but that only the Assembly could eject McGee.[5] City ControllerDan O. Hoye said he would refuse to give McGee his check for July 1957 because of the situation.[6] On August 1 McGee got neither his pay of $1,000 a month from the city nor his $500-a-month salary from the state because he "presumably" was one of 119 state employees who that month received pay envelopes "mailed out by mistake with nothing in them."[7] McGee resigned from the Assembly near the end of the month.[8]
Dodgers, 1958. McGee was one of the three council members—Harold A. Henry andJohn C. Holland being the others—who voted in 1958 against a proposal to turnChavez Ravine over to theBrooklyn Dodgers for use as a baseball stadium.[9] Calling the proposed pact with the Dodgers stupid, immoral and misleading, he claimed the contract:[10]
Trampolines, 1960. He urged the city Health Department to study the health effects of the populartrampoline centers then opening up in the city.[11]
Boroughs, 1960. He urged the establishment of aborough system to provide more local representation for theSan Fernando Valley.[12]
| Preceded by | Los Angeles City Council 3rd District 1957–61 | Succeeded by |