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Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Biography of Mike Roos
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Arrangement
  • Indexing Terms

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Mike Roos papers
    Dates: 1977-1991
    Collection number: CSLA-3
    Creator: Roos, Mike
    Collection Size: 190 archival boxes
    Repository: Loyola Marymount University. Library. Department of Archives and Special Collections.
    Los Angeles, California 90045-2659
    Abstract: Mike Roos was California Assemblyman representing the 46th Assembly District, one of the most diverse areas of Los Angeles. The collection spans Roos's tenure in the California State Legislature from 1977 to 1990, with additional material from 1991, and totals 190 boxes.
    Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

    Access

    Collection is open to research under the terms of use of the Department of Archives and Special Collections, Loyola Marymount University.

    Publication Rights

    Materials in the Department of Archives and Special Collections may be subject to copyright. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, Loyola Marymount University does not claim ownership of the copyright of any materials in its collections. The user or publisher must secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Loyola Marymount University does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by the original author or artists or his/her heirs, assigns, or executors.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Series number, Box and Folder number, Mike Roos Papers, CSLA-3, Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University.

    Acquisition Information

    Gift of Mike Roos, 1996. Accession number: 1996.41.

    Biography of Mike Roos

    Michael Roos was born on August 6, 1945 in Memphis, but later moved to New Orleans to attend Tulane University where he earned a B.A. in political science in 1967. Roos then accepted a National Institute of Child Health Fellowship to study aging and public administration at the University of Southern California where he graduated in 1970 with a master's degree in Public Administration. Roos settled in the Los Angeles community of Silver Lake, the area which he would represent his entire legislative career.
    For the next few years, Roos worked for various public affairs agencies and politicians, including serving on the State Finance Committee for President Jimmy Carter. Then in 1977, Roos joined the California legislature, representing one of the most diverse districts in California--the 46th Assembly District--where over 23 languages are spoken within its boundaries. This area encompasses the communities of Silver Lake, Mid-Wilshire, East Hollywood, Griffith Park, Los Feliz, Westlake, MacArthur Park, Pico-Union, portions of Echo Park, and portions of Downtow
    In 1979, Roos again worked with Jimmy Carter, this time serving as his California Campaign Coordinator. The following year, Roos was appointed Majority Floor Leader of the State Assembly--the youngest Majority leader in the history of the Assembly. (He also served the longest tenure--three terms, from 1980-1986. In 1986 he was appointed Speaker Pro Temporare-- the number 2 position in the State Assembly.) As a member of the Assembly, Roos actively served on many committees including Ways and Means, Human Services, Natural Resources, Aging and Long Term Care, International Trade and Intergovernmental Relations, and Policy Research Management.
    Another committee that Roos chaired was the Olympics Oversight Committee--in preparation for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. The committee was created to coordinate state planning and participation in the Olympics including arranging for dignitary security, traffic control, and use of state facilities. The Committee was also responsible for ensuring that the Games were funded privately, not through taxpayer liability. Roos was also interested in a more proactive role for the Committee--using the Olympics to promote California products and foreign trade, to showcase California's cultural and economic diversity, and to focus attention on "our youth."
    In 1987, Roos took on the very heated issue of whether Irwindale would be allowed to build a stadium for the Raiders football team which was leaving Los Angeles after contract complaints with the Coliseum Commission. Legislation was finally passed which prohibited the City of Irwindale from selling bonds to finance a new stadium or to use redevelopment funds for such a purpose.
    Other legislation authored by Roos included over 300 bills concerning issues such as crime, housing, toxic waste, education, landlord/tenant reform, health care, and gun control. Perhaps best remembered are those banning or restricting assault weapons, similar to bills authored by Senator David Roberti.
    Roos was re-elected to the Assembly in 1990, but resigned in March of 1991 in order to accept a position as the first president of what has become Los Angeles's largest education reform movement--LEARN (Los Angeles Educational Alliance for Restructuring Now).

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The Mike Roos Papers provide a record of the activities and interests of Assemblyman Mike Roos during his fourteen years as a California legislator. The legislation records, in particular, document Roos's ongoing support in issues regarding housing, health care, assault weapons, the elderly, and several other major interests. The legislation and the correspondence series are the two largest--the former with sixty-two boxes, the latter with fifty-nine. The correspondence and subject files assist in providing extensive background and supplementary information to the bills described in the legislative series. In fact, there is much overlap between the two series. For example, materials documenting support and opposition to a ban on assault weapons can be found in the legislative series, the correspondence series (subseries F), and in the subject files.
    A wide range of Assembly activities is documented in the collection, but for a relatively small amount of time. Most of the material in this series dates from the late 1980's with the exception of a group of floor session agendas from 1981 to 1984.
    The subject files cover the broadest time period--1979 to 1990--and include correspondence and press clippings grouped around specific subjects. A very large section of this series is devoted to the issue of the Los Angeles Raiders leaving the L.A. Coliseum for the possibility of relocating in Irwindale.
    Most of the newspaper clippings concern assault weapons, the Olympic Oversight Committee, and the FBI "sting" operation in August of 1988.
    Very little audiovisual material is included in this collection. A few photographs depict Roos and various other legislators.
    For maximum accessibility, the collection has been divided into ten separate series, with emphasis on the retention of original order whenever feasible. The series are: Legislation, Assembly Activities, Correspondence, Memoranda, Subject Files, Communications, Audiovisual Materials, Maps and Charts, Memorabilia and Ephemera, and Published Materials.

    Arrangement

    The Mike Roos Papers are arranged into ten series, some of which have subseries:
    • Series 1: Legislation. 1977-1990
    • Series 2: Assembly Activities. 1977-1990
    • Series 3: Correspondence. 1979-1991
    • Series 3. Subseries
    • Series 3. Subseries A: 1981-1990
    • Series 3. Subseries B: 1988-1989
    • Series 3. Subseries C: 1984 (Sharon Usher)
    • Series 3. Subseries D: 1984. (Rich Milner)
    • Series 3. Subseries E: 1988. (Lynn Montgomery)
    • Series 3. Subseries F: 1989-1990. (Patsy Kurokawa)
    • Series 3. Subseries G: 1989-1990. (Dirk Bowler)
    • Series 3. Subseries H: Government Appointments. (1989-1990)
    • Series 3. Subseries I: Invitations. (1984-1985)
    • Series 3. Subseries J: Personal Correspondence
    • Series 3. Subseries K: Condolence Letters. (1989-1990)
    • Series 3. Subseries L: 1989--1990 Session
    • Series 3. Subseries M: 1990--Bills
    • Series 3. Subseries N: Outgoing Correspondence, with Floor Alerts and Committee Agendas (1990-1991)
    • Series 4: Memoranda. 1980--1983
    • Series 5: Subject Files. 1979--1990
    • Series 6: Communications. 1979--1989
    • Series 6. Subseries A: Newspaper Clippings
    • Series 6. Subseries B: Press Releases
    • Series 6. Subseries C: Speeches
    • Series 7: Audiovisual Materials. 1979--1990.
    • Series 7. Subseries A: Audiocassette Tapes
    • Series 7. Subseries B: Photographs
    • Series 8: Maps and Charts
    • Series 9: Memorabilia and Ephemera. 1977--1990
    • Series 9. Subseries A: Certificates and Plaques
    • Series 9. Subseries B: Personal Memoirs
    • Series 9. Subseries C: Stationery
    • Series 10: Published Materials. 1977--1989

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
    Roos, Mike
    California. Legislature. Assembly -- History -- Sources
    Roos, Mike -- Archives
    Legislators -- California
    California -- Politics and government -- 1951- -- Sources