Bill Rosendahl

William Joseph Rosendahl (May 15, 1945 – March 30, 2016) was an American politician.

He worked on the Eugene McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy campaigns in the 1968 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

Rosendahl served in the U.S. Army from 1969 to 1971 during the Vietnam War.

He spent a year as a psychiatric social worker, counseling troops returning from combat.

While stationed at Fort Carson, he was special assistant to General Bernard W. Rogers.

Rosendahl was a member of The American Legion, Post 283, in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles.

Prior to his election, Rosendahl was an educator and an award-winning television broadcaster with a long record as a leader in Los Angeles civic affairs.

While he served as Distinguished Professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills until his election, Rosendahl was best known as producer and moderator of critically acclaimed public affairs television shows.

He has hosted public affairs programs, such as Local Talk, Week in Review, and Beyond the Beltway, and produced more than 3,000 programs during his 16 years in journalism.

As a cable executive, Rosendahl fought for better service, upgraded technology, more local programming choices, and better wages and working conditions for his employees.

His public service won him the Cable Ace Award, The Diamond Award, the Freedom of Information Award, the Los Angeles League of Women Voters Public Service Award and the Beacon Award for Cable's Free Air Time Project.

Rosendahl also engaged himself in civic life.

He chaired the California Commission on Tax Policy in the New Economy, served as president of the Los Angeles Press Club, as chairman of the Cable and Telecommunication Association and was a member of the education fund of the Los Angeles League of Women Voters.

He was a regular moderator of community forums, steering discussions on various issues including charter reform, secession and the formation of neighborhood councils.

Rosendahl was active in politics throughout his life.

During the 1972 United States presidential election, he fundraised for Democratic nominee George McGovern.

He later was appointed by the White House to the United States Department of State as Chief of Operations for the U.S. Trade and Development Program.

He later worked as an associate in philanthropic work for John D. Rockefeller III.

He served on the Los Angeles City Council, representing Council District 11 from 2005 to 2013.

He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Prior to being a councilman, Rosendahl was an educator, television broadcaster, and a vice president at Adelphia.

Rosendahl was born the sixth of eight children in Englewood, New Jersey, to a German Catholic household.

His parents fled Europe during the rise of the Nazi Germany.

They had met in New York City and later moved to Bergenfield, New Jersey, before Englewood to make room for their growing family.

While attending St. Cecilia Catholic School, he was elected president of the junior class and president of the student government.

Rosendahl graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science and economics from Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

He went on to attend the University of Pittsburgh, where he demonstrated against the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program on campus.

He graduated with a Master of Social Work in urban organizing and political views.

In the May 2005 election, Rosendahl defeated community activist Flora Gil Krisiloff 56.6% to 43.4% to replace Westside City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who termed out.

He represented the Los Angeles City Council District 11, which included neighborhoods from Pacific Palisades to Westchester, Los Angeles.

A resident of Mar Vista, Rosendahl was the first openly gay man elected to the Los Angeles City Council and was the city’s highest-ranking LGBT official.

He has often been described by his colleagues as the "conscience of the City Council".

He denounced the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan.

He was the Chair of the Transportation Committee, Vice Chair of the Trade, Commerce &Tourism, he was a member of Budget & Finance, Vice Chair of the Ad Hoc Stadium Committee, a member of the Ad Hoc on Economic Recovery & Reinvestment and a member of Board of Referred Powers.

Serving as chairman of the Transportation Committee, he attempted to use his position to ease traffic congestion in America's most congested city, using Measure R funding to push for subway construction from finally completing the Green Line to expanding the Expo Line creating new bus routes, and seeking innovative solutions to mitigate the traffic problem.

He served as vice-chair of the Commerce Committee, which oversees Los Angeles World Airports, including Los Angeles International Airport.

Rosendahl was also a member of the council’s Transportation Committee, Budget & Finance Committee, and Ad Hoc Committee on Homelessness, which he co-founded.

He chaired of the Southern California Regional Airport Authority and one of the city's appointees to the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.

From the time he took office in July 2005, Rosendahl focused upon: stopping the expansion of Los Angeles International Airport, promoting mass transit, enhancing public safety, curbing overdevelopment, standing up for tenants’ rights and for affordable housing, seeking solutions to the problem of homelessness and giving neighborhoods a greater voice in city decision-making.

According to some his most notable achievement was the historic agreement between LAX and airport neighbors, ending airport expansion and promoting regional aviation.