The Most Regrettable Mayors

of Los Angeles

Los Angeles has had its share of regrettable mayors. Stephen C. Foster, 5th Mayor of Los Angeles, resigned as mayor in 1855 to lead a lynch mob. In a lawless Los Angeles at the time, Foster called a vigilante mob to be patient and give the court a chance to try an accused murderer, David Brown. If Brown wasn’t convicted, Foster promised, he would resign and lynch the defendant himself. Brown was acquitted and Foster kept the promise. He was re-elected to office a year later. Damien Marchesseault, 7th Mayor of Los Angeles, committed suicide in 1868, by shooting himself in the city council’s empty chambers. Marchesseault despaired over the suffering inflicted on his wife from his uncontrolled drinking, gambling and mounting personal debts and the public embarrassment it brought on them. Arthur Cyprian Harper, 26th Mayor of Los Angeles, resigned in 1909 rather than face a recall election. Harper and associates allegedly sold worthless stocks to local brothels and saloons in exchange for protection of prostitution and gambling activities. Charles E. Sebastian, 30th Mayor of Los Angeles and a former Chief of the LAPD, resigned from office in 1916 after less than a year in office. He did so after relentless bad press about an extramarital affair and a batch of letters he had written to his mistress, found by his wife, in which he demeaned his wife (“The Haybag Letters”). Frank L. Shaw, 34th Mayor of Los Angeles, became, in 1938, the first U.S. mayor successfully recalled from office. Shaw was alleged to have protected gambling and prostitution rackets and was implicated in a conspiracy with corrupt police officers to kill an anti-corruption private investigator.

Also see: List of Mayors of Los Angeles

Our List of L.A.'s Most Regrettable Mayors (Ranked)