Ernani Bernardi, 94

Former Los Angeles City Councilman from the San Fernando Valley Ernani Bernardi died yesterday at the age of 94. To give you some perspective, Bernardi was elected to the 7th Council District seat in 1961 - 7 years after the birth of his successor Richard Alarcon and 12 years before the birth of Alarcon's successor Alex Padilla. When Bernardi retired from the Council, Alarcon was 39 and Padilla was close to graduating from MIT.

Bernardi was known to be a fierce advocate for the Valley and a hard core critic of wasteful government spending. He opposed redevelopment schemes and foresaw the exodus of business and jobs from LA if the government didn't change its ways.

One of our readers grew up with Councilman Bernardi as a close family friend. Here he reflects in the following letter to Ernani:

Dear Mr. Bernardi, You may not remember me, but you know my grandpa really well and I know he is sad to see you leave. In fact, my very first political memory of you was attending a fundraiser in your honor (for a non-profit) when I was 6 years old. You were old then just like you are now, but you paid attention to me and called me a young man (first time I had ever been called that, I was 6 remember). I never thanked you for that. I grew up and got politically active, worked on campaigns and always saw you around. My grandfather would tell me how you’d still play your sax once a week in the San Fernando Valley. I never got to see you play.

I recall the time you rode in my car as I assisted you from one event to another one day not too long ago, you were proud to see me and thought the world of my grandpa, which made me hope folks can think the same of me one day. You seemed to always know what you wanted and your position in life even after you retired. You still fought the CRA tooth and nail and never cared much for any bond, no matter the cause. You were consistent, articulate and relevant in any debate you entered. I always thought of myself as special for knowing you and being able to tell stories about you –it made me feel older than I really am. And for that I thank you.

I ask all Angelenos to take a second and know that Mr. Bernardi is the reason why investment in the Valley exist, since his lawsuit capped a CRA project in downtown. This forced the community redevelopment agency to look elsewhere to invest. If you work on campaigns you can thank Mr. Bernardi for the campaign-finance laws we have in place (he got the ball rolling). Mr. Bernardi never ran a real glossy campaign; in fact he never really campaigned much at all. In his later years any campaign that got his endorsement would have their event at the Enardi Bernardi Senior Center in Van Nuys (believe me everyone knew him there). He was a star to many in his generation, and you to me you were that guy that called me young man and for that I will never forget you.