South Gate, California

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South Gate is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is part of the Gateway Cities region of southeastern Los Angeles County. In 2005 the city had an estimated total population of 103,547.^[1] The "City of South Gate" was incorporated on 20 January 1923 by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors^[2].

In 1990, South Gate was one of ten U.S. communities to receive the All-America City Award from the National Civic League.^[3]

South Gate includes the Hollydale community, sometimes incorrectly referred to as a separate city.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Government 2.1 Scandal and corruption 2.2 Finances 3 Economy 4 Demographics 4.1 Demographics History 5 Notable natives and residents 6 Libraries 7 Education 7.1 Public primary schools 7.2 Public middle schools 7.3 Public high schools 7.4 Private primary schools 7.5 Private high schools 7.6 Continuation Schools 7.7 Colleges and Universities 8 Trivia 9 See also 10 Notes 11 External links

[edit] Geography

South Gate is located at 33°56′39″N, 118°11′42″W (33.944264, -118.194903)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 19.4 km² (7.5 mi²). 19.1 km² (7.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.60% water.

The Los Angeles River runs through the eastern part of South Gate.

[edit] Government

Elected officials (as of August 2006):

• Mayor: Maria Davila
• Vice Mayor: Bill DeWitt
• Council Member: Henry Gonzalez
• Council Member: Gregory Martinez
• Council Member: Gil Hurtado
• Treasurer: Rudy Navarro
• Clerk: Carmen Avalos

[edit] Scandal and corruption

From 1997 to 2003, then-city treasurer, Albert Robles, along with three accomplices on the city council, accepted bribes and in turn gave taxpayer dollars to friends and relatives to perform city contracts. The three accomplices formed a majority of the five member city council, so they could effectively run the city any way they wanted. For example, in 2002, Robles was arrested on felony threat charges but was appointed by the city council to the deputy city manager position and had his legal bills covered by the city. The city council gave themselves a 2000% pay raise, and cut the pay of city clerk Carmen Avalos by 90%, after she complained about corruption and election fraud in the city to the California State Secretary.^[4]

On 28 January 2003, voters recalled Robles along with his political allies, former Mayor Xochitl Ruvalcaba, former Vice Mayor Raul Moriel, and former city councilmember Maria Benavides.^[5][6]

Robles was convicted of bribery in July 2005.^[7] In November 2006 he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, ordered to pay the city of South Gate $639,000 in restitution, and was immediately put into custody.^[8]

In March 2006, Rudy Navarro, who was elected to replace Albert Robles as city treasurer, was caught making a false statement on his biography as posted on the city's official web site. He claimed that he earned a degree from San Diego State University, when he actually had not completed all the requirements.^{[9] [10] [11]}

South Gate's recent political history has been has been characterized by political observers and editors as having elements of Third World Politics. ^{[12] [13]}

[edit] Finances

South Gate was $150 million in debt in 2005.^[7]

[edit] Economy

South Gate's commercial activity is concentrated in the following zones:

• Tweedy Mile (from Long Beach Boulevard to Hunt Avenue)
• Firestone Boulevard (from Alameda Street to Garfield Avenue)
• Garfield Avenue (at Firestone Boulevard; at Imperial Highway; and from McKinley Avenue to Century Boulevard)

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there are 96,375 people, 23,213 households, and 20,056 families residing in the city. The population density is 5,048.9/km² (13,084.6/mi²). There are 24,269 housing units at an average density of 1,271.4/km² (3,294.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 41.65% White, 0.96% African American, 0.93% Native American, 0.83% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 50.96% from other races, and 4.55% from two or more races. 92.00% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 23,213 households out of which 58.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% are married couples living together, 18.4% have a female householder with no husband present, and 13.6% are non-families. 10.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 4.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 4.15 and the average family size is 4.37.

In the city the population is spread out with 35.6% under the age of 18, 12.5% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 14.9% from 45 to 64, and 5.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 26 years. For every 100 females there are 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 95.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $35,695, and the median income for a family is $35,789. Males have a median income of $25,350 versus $19,978 for females. The per capita income for the city is $10,602. 19.2% of the population and 17.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 24.2% of those under the age of 18 and 12.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

[edit] Demographics History

The South Gate area was inhabited by the Gabrielino/Tongva Indians before development by Spanish ranchers.

South Gate developed during the 1920s and 1930s as an industrial city (primarily in "metal-bashing" industries) and its blue-collar community was predominantly white.^[14] During the 1940s and 1950s, South Gate was one of the most fiercely segregationist cities in Southern California; gangs of white youths were known to prowl the streets looking for blacks who dared to cross over from neighboring Watts. One of the most infamous clubs of the area at that time was the Spook Hunters.^[15]

After the Watts Riots in 1965, many young white families began to flee South Gate for other areas.^[16]

Since the 1970s, South Gate has had a large Hispanic community, which became dominant in the 1990s as working-class Hispanics and immigrant Latin American families filled the vacuum left by white flight.

[edit] Notable natives and residents

• Araya, Tom — bass guitarist and vocalist of the rock band Slayer
• Cypress Hill — Latino rap group
• Griffin, Doug — former Major League Baseball player
• Harvey, Doug — former Major League Baseball upmire
• Lombardo, Dave — drummer and founding member of the rock band Slayer
• Mellow Man Ace — Cuban rap artist
• Nen, Dick — former Major League Baseball player
• Robles, Albert — former South Gate mayor convicted of bribery, money laundering, and depriving the electorate
• Romar, Lorenzo — Washington Huskies Head Basketball Coach
• Rozelle, Pete – former National Football League Commissioner
• Seaborg, Glenn T. — 1951 Chemistry Nobel Laureate
• Smith, Roger — late actor, writer, and producer
• Sullivan, Niki — late guitarist of rock and roll band The Crickets

[edit] Libraries

South Gate hosts the following two branches of the County of Los Angeles Public Library:

• Hollydale Library
• Leland R. Weaver Library

[edit] Education

South Gate is served by the Los Angeles Unified School District public school system.

[edit] Public primary schools

• Bryson Avenue Elementary School
• Hollydale Elementary School
• Independence Elementary School
• Liberty Boulevard Elementary School
• Montara Avenue Elementary School
• San Gabriel Avenue Elementary School
• San Miguel Elementary School (math and science magnet school)
• South Gate New Elementary #6
• Stanford Avenue Elementary School (1-5)
• Stanford New Primary Center (K)
• State Street Elementary School
• Tweedy Elementary School
• Victoria Avenue Elementary School

[edit] Public middle schools

• South Gate Middle School
• South East Middle School

[edit] Public high schools

• South Gate High School
• South East High School

In 2003 and 2004 South Gate High School was featured in Newsweek's list of the Top 1000 U.S. Public Schools ranking 792 and 1025, respectively.^[17]

[edit] Private primary schools

• Lollypop Lane Preschool and Kindergarten
• Redeemer Lutheran School
• Saint Helen Elementary School

[edit] Private high schools

• Academia Betel
• Faith Christian Academy

[edit] Continuation Schools

Odyssey Continuation School

[edit] Colleges and Universities

• Career College of America (private)
• South Gate Satellite Campus, East Los Angeles College

[edit] Trivia

• Amelia Earhart learned to fly at Kinner Field, a dirt field located on Century Boulevard at Long Beach Boulevard.^[18]
• The A.R. Maas Chemical Company began operating in South Gate in 1922.
• Firestone Tire and Rubber Company built its South Gate factory on a former bean field and produced its first tire there on 15 June 1928.^[19]
• In 1936 the General Motors plant went into production in South Gate with 1,000 employees.^[20]
• South Gate has 4 area codes : 323, 562, 310, and 424 (overlay to 310 area code).^[21]
• A dramatic incident occurred at the last city council meeting after the 2003 recall election: The mayor, Xochitl Ruvalcaba, punched then 67 year old councilmember Henry Gonzalez as he reached for a speaker's card that she refused to hand-over for review; she later accused him of trying to fondle her breast during the public city council meeting.^[4][22][23]

[edit] See also

• Albert Gonzalez
• Seaborg Home

[edit] Notes

1. ^ U.S. Census 2005 estimate
2. ^ http://www.cityofsouthgate.org/southgategardens.htm
3. ^ http://www.ncl.org/aac/past_winners/past_winners.html
4. ^ ^{a b} "South Gate: Mexico Comes to California; How an all-American town became a barrio" (html), 19 May 2003 Issue, The American Conservative, 19 May 2003. Retrieved on 2006-12-01. (in English)
5. ^ County of Los Angeles Department of Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk JANUARY 28, 2003 - SPECIAL ELECTION Final Official Election Returns (Los Angeles County Only) (English) (html). County of Los Angeles Department of Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (28 January 2003). Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
6. ^ "South Gate Voters Clean House; Ousted Robles Said He May Seek Office Again" (html), KNBC Los Angeles, 29 January 2003. Retrieved on 2006-12-01. (in English)
7. ^ ^{a b} Rosenzweig, David. "Ex-South Gate treasurer convicted in bribery case" (html), 29 July 2005 Issue, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2005. Retrieved on 2006-12-01. (in English)
8. ^ Becerra, Hector. "Robles sentenced to 10 years; The former South Gate treasurer, convicted of stealing millions from the city, is taken into custody. He insists his power was exaggerated." (html), 29 November 2006 Issue, Los Angeles Times, 29 November 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-02. (in English)
9. ^ SOUTH GATE CITY TREASURER (English) (html). City of South Gate. “One of three children, Rudy is proud of the fact that he is the first member of his family to earn a college degree. He chose to attend San Diego State University, where he majored in both Finance and Political Science, with a minor in International Conflict Resolution.”
10. ^ Treasurer Elected to Help Clean Up South Gate Admits Resume Fib (English) (html). Cactus Thorns; Irreverent Barbs On Desert Politics (20 March 2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-01. “Rudy Navarro, 26, admitted he did not graduate from San Diego State University as he had claimed on the resume that's posted on the city's Web site, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. "I don't know what I was thinking. It was stupid," said Navarro, adding that until this week he hadn't even told his parents he had yet to finish college. "Maybe it was the pressure to make myself look better than the previous person. My intention was really to come out and help."”
11. ^ "(Unknown article title)".
12. ^ Bebitch Jeffe, Sherry. "Southgate", March 2004 Issue, March 2003. Retrieved on 4 December 2006. (in English) “Using a strategy reminiscent of old-style Mexican politics, the besieged incumbents began offering their constituents "freebies," including one-month's free trash service, a plan for free medical care out of a new health clinic, and raffles which awarded a new television set to one newly registered voter and a free, new house, offered by the city, to one lucky non-homeowner.”
13. ^ Marosi, Richard. "The Freebies Pile Up as South Gate Goes to Polls ; Some residents say the city's largess before a recall vote resembles the graft they saw in Mexico", 25 Jan 2003 Issue, 25 Jan 2003. Retrieved on 4 December 2006. (in English) “Have Third World politics come to South Gate? As three council members and the treasurer face a closely watched recall election Tuesday, many residents say the answer is yes... If the recall targets prevail, residents and political observers say, South Gate-style politics could spread to other Latino- majority communities, since candidates like to lift pages from other successful politicians' playbooks.”
14. ^ McGrath, Roger D.. "South Gate: Mexico Comes to California; How an All-American Town Became a Barrio" (html), 19 May 2003 Issue, The American Conservative, 19 May 2003. Retrieved on 2006-12-01. (in English) “The population was mostly blue collar: many of the new arrivals during the 1930s were Dust Bowl migrants who brought with them "hillbilly" music, Protestant fundamentalism, and rawboned toughness.”
15. ^ Alonso, Alejandro A.. Black Street Gangs in Los Angeles: A History (excerpts from Territoriality Among African American Street Gangs in Los Angeles) (English) (html). Territoriality Among African American Street Gangs in Los Angeles. Retrieved on 2006-12-01. “In Huntington Park, Bell, and South Gate, towns that were predominately white, teenagers formed some of the early street clubs during the 1940s. One of the most infamous clubs of that time was the Spook Hunters, a group of white teenagers that often attacked black youths. If blacks were seen outside of the black settlement area, which was roughly bounded by Slauson to the South, Alameda Avenue to the east, and Main[5] Street to the west, they were often attacked. The name of this club emphasized their racist attitude towards blacks, as “Spook” is a derogatory term used to identify blacks and “Hunters” highlighted their desire to attack blacks as their method of fighting integration and promoting residential segregation. Their animosity towards blacks was publicly known; the back of their club jackets displayed an animated black face with exaggerated facial features and a noose hanging around the neck. The Spook Hunters would often cross Alameda traveling west to violently attack black youths from the area. In Thrasher’s study of Chicago gangs, he observed a similar white gang in Chicago during the 1920s, the Dirty Dozens, who often attacked black youths with knives, blackjacks, and revolvers because of racial differences (Thrasher 1963:37). Raymond Wright was one of the founders of a black club called the Businessmen, a large East side club based at South Park between Slauson Avenue and Vernon Avenue. He stated that “you couldn’t pass Alameda, because those white boys in South Gate would set you on fire,”[6] and fear of attack among black youths was not, surprisingly, common. In 1941, white students at Fremont High School threatened blacks by burning them in effigy and displaying posters saying, “we want no niggers at this school” (Bunch 1990: 118). There were racial confrontations at Manual Arts High School on Vermont and 42nd Street, and at Adams High School during the 1940s (Davis 1990:293). In 1943, conflicts between blacks and whites occurred at 5th and San Pedro Streets, resulting in a riot on Central Avenue (Bunch 1990:118). white clubs in Inglewood, Gardena, and on the West side engaged in similar acts, but the Spook Hunters were the most violent of all white clubs in Los Angeles.”
16. ^ McGrath, Roger D.. "South Gate: Mexico Comes to California; How an All-American Town Became a Barrio" (html), 19 May 2003 Issue, The American Conservative, 19 May 2003. Retrieved on 2006-12-01. (in English) “In August 1965, the Watts riots erupted. Watts was virtually 100 percent black, and South Gate, immediately to the east of Watts, was nearly 100 percent white. Although the rioters were mostly confined to black areas of south-central Los Angeles and did not cross the line into South Gate, younger whites in south Gate started to look elsewhere to buy their first houses. As the white population of South Gate began to decline, the Mexican population, which earlier had establised a foothold, began to increase.”
17. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7723397/site/newsweek/
18. ^ http://www.cityofsouthgate.org/southgategardens.htm]
19. ^ http://www.cityofsouthgate.org/thenewcity.htm
20. ^ http://www.cityofsouthgate.org/thenewcity.htm]
21. ^ http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/Static/telco/reports/area+code+info/ac310pubmtgs/areacodechange-310npa_overlaymap.pdf
22. ^ York, Anthony. "Personal ties lead Dymally into Vernon elections fight" (html), 20 July 2006 Issue, Capitol Weekly: A Newspaper of California Government and Politicsc, 20 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-01. (in English)
23. ^ "Mayor Punches Councilman At Her Last Meeting; Audience Members: 'Arrest The Mayor'" (html), Associated Press, 4 February 2003. Retrieved on 2006-12-01. (in English)

[edit] External links

• CityOfSouthGate.org - South Gate's official Site
• SouthGateHS.org - South Gate High School's official website.
• SouthEastHS.com - South East High School's official
• SouthGateChamber.org - South Gate Chamber of Commerce official website.
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 33.944264° -118.194903°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA