Posted on 10/08/2012 8:03:27 AM PDT by EveningStar
Mervyn M. Dymally, the Trinidad-born former teacher whose ground-breaking if sometimes-controversial political career spanned more than four decades and included a stint as California's only black lieutenant governor, has died. He was 86.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
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When he was lieutenant governor of California, there was a plane crash in San Diego which killed everyone on board. I remember reading that Dymally had originally been scheduled to be on that flight but had cancelled or changed to a different flight...so he was lucky to live another 30+ years.
I had to look this one up to see who was Governor when this man served, since I moved out of CA in 1973. I don’t remember him at all. He must have been Lt. Gov. to Jerry Brown during Gov. Moonbeam’s first term in office. His biographical material does not mention the name of the Gov. at all. In fact, they call the Lt. Governor’s office his first “non-partisan” statewide office where Dymally won election. I sure don’t remember Lt. Gov. being non-partisan in CA. Is it still considered non-partisan?
Well, then the article on Dymally is wrong because it stated that the Lt. Governorship is “non-partisan”. I don’t think it was considered “non-partisan” when I was growing up there, and I wondered when it changed. Thaks for the info on the “top two” system. I’ll have to mull that over a little bit.
I’m just waiting for the day when the Republicans are competitive again. I’ll probably die before that happens.
In 1981, attorney Ed Masry (same guy in Erin Brockovich) was convicted of a felony for an gift of $10,000 to bribe Lt. Governor Mervin Dymally to not investigate activities of his client, a religious cult group named Morningland in San Diego County. The conviction was later overturned on appeal.
From San Jose Mercury:
“During his time in politics Dymally was also tainted by numerous investigations of fraud, bribery and pay-for-play campaign contributions.”
From Wikipedia:
“Dymally was an “old friend” of Peoples Temple founder Jim Jones. When Jones decided to move his congregation to Jonestown, Guyana, Dymally “wrote the Guyanese prime minister to reassure him that Jones was an upstanding citizen.” The Jonestown compound would be the site of the mass suicide of over 900 people on November 18, 1978.”
Dymally was a scumbag, and we are better off now that he is gone.
RIP.
Pat Brown was that governator.
I’ve lived in California for most of my life, and steadily since 1957. During that time those offices have always been partisan.
No, no, no. Reagan defeated Pat Brown. After 2 terms Regan chose not to run again, and Jerry Brown (Gov. Moonbeam) was elected, taking over in 1974.
Ol’ Jerry did not want to live in the mansion that Reagan’s friends built for him and donated to the State, so he sold it and holed up in his sleeping bag — ostensibly on Linda Ronstadt’s floor. I never understood that, but I didn’t liver there any more by that time.
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