Arthur K. Snyder
Encyclopedia
Arthur K. Snyder, also known as Art Snyder, (born 1932) was a Los Angeles, California, City Council member between 1967 and 1985 and later engaged in a private law practice.
, with a major in speech, and of Pepperdine College
, where he earned a bachelor of arts in political science. He "Worked his way through college as hod carrier, ditch digger, brick factory worker, sawmill
worker, recreation director and private investigator
." He earned a law degree at the University of Southern California
while at the same time doing public relations work for the American Institute of Architects
.
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A Baptist, he was married on March 5, 1954, to his first wife, Mary Frances Neely, a teacher who was active in Highland Park and Eagle Rock
civic affairs. They had two children, Neely Arthur, born 1960, and Miles John, born 1963. He was later married to Michele Noval, "who fought the councilman in a bitter divorce and child custody case."
Snyder was a captain in the U.S Marines between 1952 and 1955, when he was a legal officer. He was a licensed real estate broker
from 1959 to 1967 and was field deputy for City Councilman John C. Holland
before being elected himself. He was a director of the Southside Chamber of Commerce
in 1957-58 and of the United Northeast Economic Development Association in 1966-68. He was president of the Small Property Owners' League of Los Angeles County in 1957-59. He was active in the American Legion
.
He opened a law firm specializing in immigration, international trade and personal injury in 1982.
Snyder, field deputy for longtime Councilman John C. Holland
, was elected in 1967 to represent Los Angeles City Council District 14
as the successor to Holland, who retired. In that era (1971) the district began "in the East Los Angeles
Mexican-American barrios
of El Sereno and Lincoln Heights
extends westward across the Pasadena Freeway
to Anglo middle-class homes in Glassell Park, Highland Park and Eagle Rock
through Griffith Park
. Around the western edge of the district is the Los Feliz District, with some of the city's more expensive homes."
He was reelected in 1971 and 1975 and had no opposition in 1981. In 1984, however, he faced a recall election
based partially on the fact that the district had shifted toward being heavily Hispanic
in population but also because Snyder had suffered through a string of "political disasters." He was called "a grating symbol to those seeking to elect a Latino to the City Council for the first time in more than 20 years." It was said that he won because of a huge absentee ballot
campaign and high turnout in Anglo areas; but he did carry Hispanic Lincoln Heights.
Snyder was convicted (1996) of campaign finance
violations, and his license to practice law was suspended (2001) for six months.
In 2008, Snyder was a semi retired lawyer
and real estate
investor with holdings in Las Vegas
and Texas
. He maintained his Eagle Rock home as a Law office, serving friends and former clients part time. In 2007, his firm Marisol, LLC, owned the name Don the Beachcomber
restaurants.
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Biography
Snyder was born in the Lincoln Heights area of Los Angeles on November 10, 1932, and went to school in Los Angeles. He was a graduate of Los Angeles City CollegeLos Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...
, with a major in speech, and of Pepperdine College
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...
, where he earned a bachelor of arts in political science. He "Worked his way through college as hod carrier, ditch digger, brick factory worker, sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
worker, recreation director and private investigator
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
." He earned a law degree at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
while at the same time doing public relations work for the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
.
A Baptist, he was married on March 5, 1954, to his first wife, Mary Frances Neely, a teacher who was active in Highland Park and Eagle Rock
Eagle Rock
Eagle Rock can refer to one of the following:Places in the United States*Eagle Rock, North Carolina, an unincorporated community in Wake County, North Carolina, west of Zebulon*Eagle Rock , a town in northern Botetourt County...
civic affairs. They had two children, Neely Arthur, born 1960, and Miles John, born 1963. He was later married to Michele Noval, "who fought the councilman in a bitter divorce and child custody case."
Snyder was a captain in the U.S Marines between 1952 and 1955, when he was a legal officer. He was a licensed real estate broker
Real estate broker
A real estate broker, real estate agent or realtor is a party who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate/real property and attempts to find sellers who wish to sell and buyers who wish to buy...
from 1959 to 1967 and was field deputy for City Councilman John C. Holland
John C. Holland
John C. Holland was one of the longest-serving Los Angeles City Council members, for 24 years from 1943 to 1967, and was known for his losing fight against bringing the Los Angeles Dodgers to Chavez Ravine and for his reputation as a watchdog over the city treasury.-Biography:Holland was born...
before being elected himself. He was a director of the Southside Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
in 1957-58 and of the United Northeast Economic Development Association in 1966-68. He was president of the Small Property Owners' League of Los Angeles County in 1957-59. He was active in the American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
.
He opened a law firm specializing in immigration, international trade and personal injury in 1982.
City Council
See also List of Los Angeles municipal election returns, 1967 and after.Snyder, field deputy for longtime Councilman John C. Holland
John C. Holland
John C. Holland was one of the longest-serving Los Angeles City Council members, for 24 years from 1943 to 1967, and was known for his losing fight against bringing the Los Angeles Dodgers to Chavez Ravine and for his reputation as a watchdog over the city treasury.-Biography:Holland was born...
, was elected in 1967 to represent Los Angeles City Council District 14
Los Angeles City Council District 14
Los Angeles City Council District 14 is one of the 15 districts of the Los Angeles City Council. It is a primarily Latino district in Boyle Heights and Northeast Los Angeles...
as the successor to Holland, who retired. In that era (1971) the district began "in the East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles, California
East Los Angeles is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
Mexican-American barrios
Barrio
Barrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
of El Sereno and Lincoln Heights
Lincoln Heights
Lincoln Heights may refer to:* Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, California* Lincoln Heights, Ohio* Lincoln Heights , Ontario, a neighbourhood* Lincoln Heights, Washington, D.C., a neighbourhood...
extends westward across the Pasadena Freeway
Pasadena Freeway
The Arroyo Seco Parkway, formerly known as the Pasadena Freeway, is the first freeway in California and the western United States. It connects Los Angeles with Pasadena alongside the Arroyo Seco. It is notable not only for being the first, mostly opened in 1940, but for representing the...
to Anglo middle-class homes in Glassell Park, Highland Park and Eagle Rock
Eagle Rock
Eagle Rock can refer to one of the following:Places in the United States*Eagle Rock, North Carolina, an unincorporated community in Wake County, North Carolina, west of Zebulon*Eagle Rock , a town in northern Botetourt County...
through Griffith Park
Griffith Park
Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America...
. Around the western edge of the district is the Los Feliz District, with some of the city's more expensive homes."
He was reelected in 1971 and 1975 and had no opposition in 1981. In 1984, however, he faced a recall election
Recall election
A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...
based partially on the fact that the district had shifted toward being heavily Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
in population but also because Snyder had suffered through a string of "political disasters." He was called "a grating symbol to those seeking to elect a Latino to the City Council for the first time in more than 20 years." It was said that he won because of a huge absentee ballot
Absentee ballot
An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station. Numerous methods have been devised to facilitate this...
campaign and high turnout in Anglo areas; but he did carry Hispanic Lincoln Heights.
Post-council
Snyder later became a lobbyist.Snyder was convicted (1996) of campaign finance
Campaign finance
Campaign finance refers to all funds that are raised and spent in order to promote candidates, parties or policies in some sort of electoral contest. In modern democracies such funds are not necessarily devoted to election campaigns. Issue campaigns in referendums, party activities and party...
violations, and his license to practice law was suspended (2001) for six months.
In 2008, Snyder was a semi retired lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
investor with holdings in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. He maintained his Eagle Rock home as a Law office, serving friends and former clients part time. In 2007, his firm Marisol, LLC, owned the name Don the Beachcomber
Don the Beachcomber
Donn Beach , born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, is the founding father of tiki restaurants, bars and nightclubs. The many so-called "Polynesian" restaurants and pubs that enjoyed great popularity are directly descended from what he created...
restaurants.
Controversies
- Driving record. Snyder's driving record was called into question when it was reported that he had seven minor traffic accidents while driving city automobiles between 1972 and 1980, His trial on a misdemeanor drunk driving charge ended in a hung juryHung juryA hung jury or deadlocked jury is a jury that cannot, by the required voting threshold, agree upon a verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is unable to change its votes due to severe differences of opinion.- England and Wales :...
in October 1980.
- Campaign finances. The councilman was accused by auditors of the California Franchise Tax BoardCalifornia Franchise Tax BoardThe California Franchise Tax Board collects state personal income tax and corporate income tax of California. It is part of the California State and Consumer Services Agency....
of "personally receiving more than $12,000 in interest from his campaign war chest in 1979 without publicly disclosing it."
- Via Marisol. In 1978 Snyder "renamed venerable Hermon Avenue [in Montecito Heights] 'Via Marisol' for his 3-year-old daughter, Erin-Marisol. . . . Locals were outraged. But there were only about 2,500 of them at the time and their tiny number didn't carry much weight at City Hall."
- Criminal investigation. Snyder was investigated in 1985 by authorities for alleged molestation of his young daughter, but the district attorneyDistrict attorneyIn many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
's office decided not to prosecute.
External links
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