Alexander Pope Papers, 1880-2000, bulk 1978-1990

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Summary

Creators:
Pope, Alexander, 1929-
Abstract:
This collection contains the papers and administrative files of lawyer and Los Angeles County Assessor Alexander Pope (born 1929), chiefly dating from the late 1970s-1990. The collection chiefly contains materials related to the Los Angeles County Assessor's office, materials from the offices of the California Citizens Budget Commission, and Pope's personal files. Notably, the collection includes materials related to the implementation of Proposition 13 (1978), which limited property taxation.
Extent:
369 boxes (approximately 154 linear feet)
Language:
English.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection is divided into three series, with approximately 45 percent of the materials consisting of Pope's Personal files, 34 percent from the County Assessor's Office and the remaining 21 percent from the offices of the California Citizens Budget Commission. The bulk of the materials are administrative in nature and format, such as letters, memos and reports. There is a considerable amount of political ephemera, legislation, litigation and published research documents, as well as photographs. Far and wide, the materials related to the implementation of Proposition 13 are the highlight of the collection.

Individual series descriptions appear below:

Series 1: L.A. County Assessor's Office, 1880-1992

The majority of these files were created by various division chiefs and deal with administrative issues, personnel and valuation of property. Concentrations of interest begin in the Philip Watson era with his field deputy's efforts to write a history of the Assessor's Office, followed by the Bellino audit report and Watson's response to this scrutiny. There are also litigation files, Assessment Appeals Board (AAB) cases, sample forms, departmental activities, work plans, status reports, statistics and California State Board of Equalization documents. There are administrative files from the Pope era regarding such issues as Proposition 13's implementation, split roll, conflict of interests and assessment practices.

Los Angeles County Assessor's Office staff featured in the collection include:

  • Robert H. McNeill, Jr., Assessor Watson's Field Deputy, assigned the task of writing the history of the Los Angeles County Assessor's Office.
  • Glenn Quinn: at times, Assistant Assessor and Director of Assessment Services and Chief, Residential Division, served both Watson and Pope administrations
  • Paul M. Hannah, Assistant Assessor, Director of Valuations, Assessment Services and Assessor's Operations, served both Watson and Pope administrations
  • Sherrill D. Luke, Chief Deputy Assessor during the Pope era; became a judge for the Los Angeles Municipal and Superior courts.
  • Leonard J. Wheeler, Director, Real Property Appraisals; Valuations

Post-Pope assessors marginally represented in this collection:

  • John J. Lynch, 1986-1990
  • Kenneth P. Hahn, 1990-2000 (no relation to the Los Angeles City Council member)

Series 2: Pope: Personal, 1923-1998

Here is found a plethora of campaign materials and administrative documents, the bulk of which come from Pope's own campaigns for assessor, L.A. County Supervisor, 4th District, and his run for the State Board of Equalization. Pope was involved in many other politicians' campaigns, with the most activity involving Adlai Stevenson's presidential runs, Pat Brown for Governor, Pat Russell for LA City Council, and Jerome R. Waldie for Governor.

Formats include correspondence, invitations, filing papers, accounting materials, funding disclosure forms, voting statistics, campaign ephemera and mailers, press kits, agendas, speeches and debate materials. The highlight in this area may very well be an Eisenhower-Nixon comic book. Pope was involved with local Democratic clubs, but also attended national and state conventions and related materials are fully represented here.

Pope was a consultant for the implementation of the McCone Commission report on the Los Angeles riots of 1965 and documents and articles cover related topics such as racism, welfare reform, job programs and business development. There is a wide range of transportation-related documents and publications from the years Pope served on the California Highway Commission (featuring the Mineral King development, Long Beach Freeway extension through South Pasadena) and the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners.

During his years as L.A. County Assessor, Pope was active in developing and promoting legislation to address problem areas of Proposition 13, and other property valuation issues which are featured in the Legal and Legislative sub-series, along with litigation documents. Other Pope activities of note involve the California Assessor's Association (CAA) and the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO). Pope was active in a wide range of community-based organizations including the Westchester Mental Health Clinic, the YMCA and the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Pope's lecture materials and handouts from his trip to China are also in this series, as well as his chronological and administrative files from his law practice.

California Citizens Budget Commission, 1917-2000

The California Citizens Budget Commission first met in 1993 under the auspices of the Center for Governmental Studies. It was a blue-ribbon panel of twenty-three non-partisan community leaders who had the goal of reforming the state's budget process and later, the state's health care system. The series consists substantially of research articles on budget and health care reform and many drafts of the Commission's reports. Administrative files were accumulated by Pope and other CCBC staff including research analyst Karen Klabin, research associate Camelia Siminescu and secretary Chanel Young.

Biographical / historical:

Alexander Hillhouse Pope (born 1929) received his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School in 1952. Although he initially claimed he had no intention of practicing law, Pope did just that for more than twenty years in Los Angeles, California, while continuing his activities with the Democratic Party and local community associations. Pope's tireless campaigning and volunteerism were rewarded when he was appointed Governor Pat Brown's Legislative Secretary (1959-1961). At the community level, Pope was President of the Westchester Mental Health Clinic (1956-67) at a time when some factions still associated psychiatry with communist infiltration. He was also a consultant for the implementation of the McCone Commission Report, which examined the causes and effects of the Watts riots in 1965. Additionally, Pope served on the California Highway Commission (1966-1970) and was a member of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners (1973-1977).

After working in a gubernatorial administration that elevated public education by leaps and bounds and oversaw a litany of public works and services, Alex Pope became a pivotal player in applying a new law that eroded the revenue for such services: Proposition 13. No sooner was Pope the first local politician to oppose the initiative, than he was appointed Assessor of Los Angeles County, the "biggest property tax agency in the world," and had to enforce the will of the voters: June 8, 1978 -- the New Deal and the Great Society were now in the distant past. Pope put aside his opinions and implemented Proposition 13 "within specified time limitations and with a high level of efficiency," according to L.A. County Chief Administrative Officer, Harry L. Hufford.

Proposition 13 was the threshold event for an era of economic belt-tightening and its effects permeated intergovernmental relations as well as local municipal budgets. Pope's endeavors to correct problem areas of Proposition 13 came through litigation and his legislative work with Assemblyman Dave Elder even after Pope left the Assessor's Office in 1986. In 1997 he became Executive Director of the California Citizens Budget Commission which published comprehensive reports on reforming the state budget process and addressing the state's health care needs.

Philip E. Watson was Los Angeles County Assessor from 1963 to 1977. A World War II pilot, he studied accounting at UCLA, became a field appraiser for the county and then deputy assessor. Watson efforts to reform the assessor's office and limit property taxes were sidetracked when Baxter Ward and other members of the County Board of Supervisors accused him of unfair assessment practices, favoring big corporations over small homeowners. These accusations culminated in an audit and report by former Watergate investigator Carmine Bellino, which was highly critical, but ultimately found no wrong-doing. This investigation and Watson's health were deciding factors in his decision to step down from the Assessor's Office in 1977. Watson died in 1986 at age 62 in Rancho Mirage, California.

Acquisition information:
Gift from Alexander Pope: the initial donation, including all the formal Assessor's Office material, was made January 27, 1996. Two additional donations of personal material were made at some point over the next three years. The final donation of California Citizens Budget Commission material was received in September, 2000.
Arrangement:

The Collection is organized into three series, generally based on provenance, and further divided into sub-series:

Series 1: L.A. County Assessor's Office, 1880-1992 (bulk 1967-1986) (Boxes 1-123)

  • 1. Assessor Watson, Boxes 1-19 (1880-1987; bulk: 1973-1978)
  • 2. Assessor Pope - Administrative, Boxes 19-25 (1969-1986)
  • 3. Watson and Pope Staff, Boxes 26-91 (1938-1988; bulk: 1978-1986)
  • 4. Assessor Pope, Boxes 92-115 (1948-1991; bulk 1978-1986)
  • 5. Assessors Lynch and Hahn, Boxes 116-123 (1975-1992; bulk 1987-1989)

Series 2: Pope: Personal, 1923-1998 (bulk 1962-1988) (Boxes 124-289)

  • 1. Pope Campaigns, Boxes 124-154 (1974-1994; bulk dates 1978-1986)
  • 2. Other Campaigns, Candidates, Boxes 155-177 (1949-1993)
  • 3. Democratic Party, Boxes 178-186 (1950-1992)
  • 4. McCone Commission, Boxes 187-193 (1965-1992; bulk: 1965-1967)
  • 5. Transportation, Boxes 194-207 (1945-1989; bulk for Calif. Highway Commission: 1965-67; bulk for Airport Commission: 1973-1987)
  • 6. Assessor's Office, Boxes 208-224 (1967-1998; bulk 1978-1987)
  • 7. Legal and Legislative, Boxes 225-247 (1959-1998; bulk 1978-1990)
  • 8. Issues and Organizations, Boxes 238-257 (1923-1992; bulk 1957-1988)
  • 9. Associations, Nonprofits, Boxes 258- 272 (1955-1992; bulk: 1983-1988)
  • 10. Personal, Boxes 273-283 (1949-1993; bulk: 1987-1988)
  • 11. Research and Development, Boxes 284-289

Series 3: California Citizens Budget Commission, 1917-2000 (bulk 1995-2000) (Boxes 290-369)

  • 1. Administration
  • 2. Research
  • 3. Reports, Publications
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Boxes 282, 283 are SEALED. Originals of redacted documents can be found in Pope Box A, which is also closed.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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