Re: Neighborhood Character

10/22/07 - posted by Paul Rosenberg

Would that penurious West Portal supervisor have been James Sullivan? The 1950s were great times for the Sullivans. John J. Sullivan was on the board through November, 1953, when he was caught in a strange sexual encounter with a steward at the Elks' Club and had to resign. Mayor Robinson appointed Clarissa Shortall McMahon, only the second woman on our board of supervisors, to replace that Sullivan. The second Sullivan was James Sullivan whom Mayor Robinson appointed in 1954 to replace Matt Carberry whom Mayor Robinson appointed sheriff to replace the late Dan Gallagher. James Sullivan died in office in 1960 and Mayor Christopher appointed Joseph Tinney to replace him. (It was rumored that James Sullivan was destitute and Mayor Christopher paid for his funeral.) The third was, curiously, J. Joseph Sullivan whom Mayor Christopher appointed to replace Francis McCarty who had been appointed judge in 1958. (J. Joseph had run for mayor in 1951 against incumbent Elmer Robinson and Supervisor George J. Christopher and siphoned Christopher votes allowing Robinson to win re-election by two thousand votes.) J. Joseph did not run for election choosing to challenge unsuccessfully Dion Holm for city attorney. So, the 1950s had three Sullivans, two at the same time. (There have been five Sullivans on our board of supervisors. John T. Sullivan was elected to a single term in 1882 and Matthew I. Sullivan (briefly Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court) was appointed to the board in 1907. No other surname has appeared on the board as often as Sullivan. Next most common surnames have been Gallagher (James, George, Andrew, and Dan) and McCarthy (Timothy, William N., William H., and Leo T.)) But, I digress...