David S. Cunningham Jr.

Cunningham with his predecessor Tom Bradley in 1978.

In 1973, Cunningham, 38, was endorsed by Mayor Bradley for the latter's old seat on the City Council in a special election held on September 18, 1973, his chief opponents being Herbert Carter, 40, former executive secretary of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations and actor George Takei, 36, "familiar to many voters through his role of Sulu on television's 'Star Trek'" series. Other candidates included Juanita Dudley, 43, former assistant regional director of the Urban League; Jordan Daniels Jr., 48, former administrative assistant to Assemblyman Henry Waxman, and Joseph Evanns, 35, a patent attorney.[6]

The results of the election, in which only a plurality was needed to win, were Cunningham, 8,199 votes; Takei, 6,552; Daniels, 2,412, and the others trailing.[1] Cunningham reported spending $62,766 in the campaign, compared with Takei's reported $31,228, and Porter's $26,365. His major reported contributor was Lloyd Rigler, whose food company, Adolphs, gave $3,000.[7]

When he ran for re-election in 1975, he was described as "on his way to becoming the City Council's most prominent liberal." He got "consistently high marks from clean-air groups, and he has publicly battled for fluoridated water and a ban on oil drilling in Santa Monica Bay. He has also suggested the city cut off funding to the Los Angeles Unified School District unless it desegregates its schools." He was opposed by Warren Bradley, 49, a businessman, and Douglas MacMillan, a civil engineer.[8] The results were Cunningham, 3,571 votes; Bradley, 1,621, and MacMillan, 648.[9]

Warren Bradley filed petitions with 5,936 signatures seeking Cunningham's recall in December 1975, based, among other things, on Cunningham's backing of fluoridation in city water and "support of neighborhood half-way houses in the district for convicts and drug addicts."[10] Only 2,472 signatures were proved valid, and the recall effort failed.[11]

In 1978, Cunningham ran for the "hotly contested" 28th Congressional District seat against Assemblyman Julian C. Dixon and State Senator Nate Holden. He lost the Democratic primary to Dixon, who had 42,350 votes; Holden, 29,588; Mayor Merle Hergell of Inglewood, 6,457; and Cunningham, 5,255.[12]

Holden and Cunningham again opposed each other in 1979, when Holden challenged the incumbent councilman for his 10th District seat. Cunningham won by 9,116 votes (51.6 percent) to 7,505 (42.5 percent).[13]

In March 1976, Cunningham and City Councilman Arthur K. Snyder narrowly averted fisticuffs "in an explosive climax to a debate over assistance to small and minority businesses in the city." The two council members swore at each other but were separated by the council's sergeant-at-arms.[14]

In September 1976, Cunningham withdrew a proposal he had submitted that his press relations and public affairs be handled by a new firm whose members included a former aide of his and two other ex-city employees. City Clerk Rex E. Layton said he had "never seen that type of contract before at City Hall."[15]

Cunningham became involved in a "nose-to-nose confrontation" with Councilman Louis Nowell in the City Council chamber in March 1977 after the council, by a vote of 8-4, passed a resolution against "forced busing" in Los Angeles, the practice of transporting schoolchildren far from their homes for the purpose of racial desegregation. He assailed the majority as "stupid" and called them "white bastards." He called Nowell "the greatest racist in the world" and told the San Fernando Valley councilman, who was campaigning to become city controller, that "I'll give you all the trouble you can take if you do get elected. . . . you hate me simply because I'm black."[16] A resolution of censure against Cunningham was proposed by Nowell at a later meeting; it was referred to a committee.[17]

Cunningham agreed to pay $1,178 to the city in December 1977 when it was discovered that Beverly Hills publicist Leonard Herring had been placing telephone calls from his home telephone on behalf of a fund-raising dinner and charging them to Cunningham's City Hall number. Cunningham denied he had given permission.[18]

The councilman was said to have gained new "clout," or influence, when the City Council adopted a "trail-blazing" policy calling for its Grants, Housing and Community Development Committee, chaired by Cunningham, to oversee the distribution of millions of dollars in federal and state housing grants. Cunningham was able to sponsor a $500-a-plate fund-raising dinner, which "gained him entry into an exclusive council club consisting only of Arthur K. Snyder and Zev Yaroslavsky, the only other council members who have charged that much for an event."[19] He later gave $60,000 of his campaign funds to the war chest of his ally, Mayor Bradley.[20]

In August 1986, an investigative report by the Los Angeles Times listed Cunningham as third on a list of City Council members who had received campaign contributions from investment bankers and bond lawyers, a total of $29,200 after $36,600 to Gilbert Lindsay and $31,450 to John Ferraro. The Times cited a "growing link between city politics and the bond business."[21] Cunningham resigned from the City Council on September 30, 1986, and went to work for Cranston Securities Company as a vice president on October 15.[22]