Content area
Full Text
A radio minister called him one of the "criminals who spoil paradise." Before World War II, he was a powerful presence in L.A.'s smoke-filled rooms, where political deals were made. His fall from the pinnacle to disgrace was as dramatic as his climb, and today his name--William George Bonelli--has virtually disappeared from the history books.
Bonelli rose from the Los Angeles City Council to head the far- reaching state Board of Equalization. He was accused of using the job to collect protection money and sell liquor licenses to suspected mobsters and ex-cons, or of swapping the licenses for political favors.
During the early 1950s, when government hearings enthralled television audiences, Bonelli was grilled on nationwide TV about his reputed connections with organized crime.
He died a fugitive in Mexico, where he had fled to avoid another of his many indictments.
Bonelli built the first tract homes in the Santa Clarita Valley and turned a piece of land in Saugus from a rodeo arena into an auto raceway. But his notoriety surpassed those accomplishments; he was the central figure, the "Liquor Czar," in scandals that reached all the way to Sacramento.
Born on his family's ranch in Kingman, Ariz., Bonelli came to Los Angeles about 1912. He graduated from USC, then pursued a master's degree at Occidental College and a law degree from Southwestern University. In 1927, as a professor of political science at Occidental, he was elected to the City Council.
Early on, rumors of Bonelli links to organized crime began to surface. In his popular radio broadcasts, the Rev. "Fighting Bob" Shuler spoke out against Bonelli. In 1931, when his broadcasting license was revoked, Shuler used his pulpit to help drive elected officials such as Bonelli from office.
Bonelli vaulted onto the ballot to run for mayor against John Clinton Porter in 1929. He lost. But in 1931, Bonelli won a seat in the state Assembly and, three years later, he worked on acting Gov. Frank Merriam's election campaign.
Reportedly as payback for helping Merriam raise $10 million to wage a highly charged smear campaign to defeat socialist Upton Sinclair, Bonelli...