Cristobal Aguilar

Jose Cristobal Aguilar (* around 1816 in Los Angeles , California ; †  April 11, 1886 there ) was an American politician . Between 1866 and 1872 he was mayor of Los Angeles twice.

Career

Cristobal Aguilar was born around 1816 in Los Angeles, which at that time still belonged to Spain . It was not until Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821 that California also fell to Mexico. During the Mexican-American War , the area became part of the United States. Thus he was born a Spanish citizen, later became a Mexican, and finally an American. However, he never learned the English language, which later led to communication problems with the Anglo-American part of the population. During the Mexican period he held a number of local administrative positions. After the city was transferred to the United States, he sat on the city ​​council several times between 1850 and 1862 . Politically, he had joined the Democratic Party . From 1854 to 1864 he was with a few interruptions also a member of the district council of Los Angeles County .

In 1866, Aguilar was elected mayor of Los Angeles. He held this office between May 10, 1866 and December 7, 1868. For three months of this time (May to August 1867) he was temporarily suspended from this office for reasons that are not known to us. During this time he held the financially higher post of Water Overseer of Los Angeles . Between December 9, 1870 and December 5, 1872 he was again mayor of his hometown. During his time as mayor, two more schools were opened and the fire brigade was equipped with a steam gun. A number of new businesses and businesses also sprang up, including the city's first bank, which opened with $ 100,000 in capital.

After the end of his time as mayor, Aguilar was three more times the water commissioner of Los Angeles (1868-1869, 1873-1875 and 1877-1878). Otherwise he wrote articles in a newspaper published in Spanish about local events. He died on April 11, 1886.

Web links

• The Political Graveyard
• The Mayors of Los Angeles
• Death report in the Los Angeles Daily Herald from April 13, 1886