Mayor Sam At One: What A Year It Was*

It was one year ago today that I started Mayor Sam's Sister City.

Wow!!!

As a sometime reader of the defunct City Hall anony-blog, The Fourth Floor, I began to post comments as Sam Yorty. Why? Probably because someone else was posting as Norris Poulson.

I was 7 years old when Tom Bradley defeated the sitting Mayor Sam Yorty. My dad, a middle of the road Democrat at the time, came home from the polling place and announced he had voted for Bradley. Mayor Bradley was off to a legendary 20 years as Mayor, and I never gave much thought to Samuel William Yorty after that, other than perhaps when my dad and I would go to the annual Los Angeles Car Show, and in the lobby of the Los Angeles Convention Center sat a bust of Yorty, often stuffed with cigarette butts in his mouth.

Some years later, my stepfather, who passed away this year, was working as the transportation coordinator for a local senior citizen center. One day a gravely voice was on the other end of a phone call, and a gentleman named Sam Yorty was asking for a ride to the doctor. That's about as close as I have ever come to any kind of connection to this old mayor.

To be sure, Mayor Yorty held some very bad opinions that wouldn't fly these days. So did my grandfather - who was a few years older than Yorty actually - and like Yorty was a product of his time. Though they both held views I would consider appalling, both of them were decent, good men who believed in this country, even if they may not have been entirely willing to extend its promise to all its people. That's the opportunity and charge my generation has and I think we've done a damn good job.

The purpose of using Sam Yorty as an icon wasn't to celebrate the man or his flawed ideas. But it was a salute to an era where politics wasn't as cynical, when so many more people were involved in civic life and not everyone was looking for a government solution to the problems that each of us together has the ability and potential to resolve.

Getting back to the blog, when the Fourth Floor was forced out of business, I jumped in. I figured 5-10 people might read and post. I wasn't even sure it would last very long. Boy was I wrong.

If you've been reading this blog, you know the power of what we do here. You know that we bring some level of transparency to government, hold politicians accountable and do our best to get the information to the people. Hopefully, we also entertain and amuse here and there. And yes, we make mistakes, and often we are wrong. Hey, we're humans. But you should know that we are dedicated to making this blog the best ever and we are always working to improve it.

There are many, many people I would like to thank that I can not do by name. You know who you are. Without your support, participation and contributions, we would not be where we are at. There are other people like Jim Alger, the Bear Flag League, Joe Mailander, Boi from Troy, Dgarzilla, Walter Moore, Mr. KABC, Rick Orlov, Flap the Dentist, WestSider, Tofu Girl, the folks at Independent Sources, California Conservative, LA Voice and many others who have given us support, tips, help, shout outs, plugs and props. I thank you as well. I'd even like to go as far as to thank some of the folks we have butted heads with such as Kevin Roderick, Archie Bunker, Cyberlady and the entire CD14 Cutting and Pasting Crew for being a part of it all. I'd also like to thank the many, many staffers for numerous electeds who have helped us get information, fed us information and stuck up for us when needed. You are all making a better Los Angeles.

Two of our past bloggers who are no longer with us, Chief Parker and Mrs. Yorty deserve many, many props. More than I could give. And that's with or without the 80 Neighborhood Watches.

And finally, the utmost of my respect, gratitude and appreciation goes to my longtime partner in crime, Brian Hay, Mayor Frank himself. He's taken a lot of slings and arrows, crazy phone calls & emails and generally a lot of grief. Nonetheless, he works hard to get the story, to dig up information and to keep you informed. This is a fine, fine young man - it is a real honor and privelege to be on the same team with him.

So here we are, having survived a year, a mayoral election, local and national fame, an even an outing. We exist between the adoration of our fans and the venom of our critics (who seem to read us just as much as our fans do) to sit down at a computer and bring forth another day for dum dums everywhere to "blog away."

Once again, thank you, to all of you. Here's to another year!

Cheers,
Mayor Sam
(Michael Higby)

Over at MS2, the birthing of the blog is documented in historic, archeological remnants of the old Fourth Floor Blog.




* Update - Birthday wishes from:

FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog
Boi From Troy
Independent Sources
Martini Republic