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Dean, Fred (audio interview #5 of 6)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the fifth of six interviews was conducted in Dean's Long Beach home. 5/24/1982
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- 2020-10-21
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- SUBJECT BIO - Fred Dean was a local businessman who prospered when the radios he sold became popular. He was also interested in local politics and appointed to the boards of directors of such public agencies as the Long Beach Water Commission and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). In this series of interviews, that were conducted as part of a project to study the impact of oil on Long Beach, Dean talks about his public service. He was on the MTA board when the Pacific Electric street cars stopped running in southern California and he served on the Water Commission when they sold some of their land for commercial development. Dean was also an active member of the Long Beach Mounted Police and as urban sprawl engulfed Long Beach, he fought to keep part of town where they could keep their horses. TOPICS - Metropolitan Transit Authority board; Pacific Electric right-of-way; buses; and General Motors;Metropolitan Water District; Lakewood Water Company; Long Beach Water Commission; real estate sales; Long Beach Airport; fluoride; and Colorado River water
- *** File: cbfdean7.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-3:58)... Dean represented the city of Long Beach on the Metropolitan Transit Authority board. He was first appointed by Gov. Earl Warren and served 11 years under 3 different governors. Douglas Newcomb served following Dean and was appointed by Gov. Pat Brown. (3:58-8:40)... The MTA sold $40 million worth of bonds and then bought out the Pacific Electric route with the intention of running the street cars. There was an agreement to run the Red Cars between Long Beach and Los Angeles, which meant that freight trains were to give the street cars the right away. When the agreement came up the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) board, the Pacific Electric would not renew the lease on the right-of-way, so the MTA lost he right-of-way and had to turn to buses. The Red Cars made a lot of noise and residents were happy to see buses replace them. At the time of the interview, there continued to be discussion on a route from Long Beach to Los Angeles over Southern Pacific Railroad tracks or land. Long Beach had a representative on the MTA board because the city supported the bill that created the MTA. Dean was an original board member. (8:40-11:36)... Dean served on the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) board with several chairs including Martin Pollard, who was the first chair, and Al Eyraud, the second chair. Dean believes that General Motors was not the cause of the end of the Pacific Electric system. The Southern Pacific Railroad claimed that it could not afford to have the MTA run street cars on their tracks. The Automobile Club promoted the expansion of freeways and operating buses on them. (11:36-16:06)... The Red Cars ran until about 1962. When Dean resigned, the Metropolitan Transit Authority was spending too much money getting engineering plans together. They talked about a subway and a monorail, but had trouble getting funding for the transportation system. They tried raising fares but that led to fewer passengers. (16:06-19:54)... The state changed the name of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority to the Southern California Rapid Transit District. Dean thinks it should be run by the Board of Supervisors. Dean was appointed by Gov. Pat Brown to the commission along with 9 others. (19:54-24:49)... Dean was appointed to the Long Beach Water Commission in 1953 and served for 14 years. One of the projects the Water Department worked on was selling surplus water land. They advertised to get someone to build industrial building, but this did not work and the commission built their own. The building are called the airport industrial district. The project was recognized nationally for putting people to work and putting the property on tax rolls. (24:49-28:06)... The Long Beach Water Commission bought out the privately owned Lakewood Water Company locations in Long Beach from the owner, Ben Weingart. Long Beach put in better water lines and worked out a deal with Lakewood that they would provide Long Beach with water in case of a water failure. End of tape *** File: cbfdean8.mp3 (0:00-4:42)... Long Beach City Manager Sam Vickers appointed Dean to the Long Beach Water Commission. The Commission sold the land it owned on Spring Street to develop an industrial park. The land was initially acquired by the city of Long Beach when they bought out the Alamitos Water Company and the Long Beach Water Company. Brendon Thomas ran the water department very well. Long Beach has a reservoir of water underground. At the time of the interview, Long Beach was using 60 percent pumped water from wells and 40 percent of its water came from the Metropolitan Water District. (4:42-9:34)... The Metropolitan Water District was in existence before Dean was appointed to the commission. Clyde Moore became the manager of the Long Beach Water Department after Brendon Thomas. During Dean's first year as chair, he eliminated politics in the water department. Since then, the department has run well without political influence. Before that, there were local politicians who wanted to get their friends on the commission. Dean believes that rates would go up and service down if this were to happen. There is a danger of the commission chair putting people in positions because he wants to, not necessarily because they were appropriate for the job. (9:34-15:49)... Dean recalls early complaints of sulfur in Long Beach's water. The commission put in treatment plants to rid water of its smell and to soften the water. There were early problems with aerating the water because there was too much oxygen in the water. Fluoridation of the water was also an issue in Long Beach, although water has fluoride in it already. (15:49-17:40)... When Long Beach water was first mixed with water from the Colorado River, the quality of the water went down. The Colorado River water is very hard and Long Beach began treating it water even more. (17:40-21:59)... Hal Levy was an engineer in charge of real estate; he worked for the Planning Department before he came to work for the Long Beach Water Department which engaged him to sell the commission's property. They offered the land to those who occupied it first. The water commission had owned all of the land that the airport is on. The commission worried about the Lakewood Water Company drilling their wells too close to Long Beach's aquifers. (21:59-25:06)... Lakewood was not annexed by the city of Long Beach, except for a small section north of Carson. Joe Blackburn was responsible for that small section of Lakewood joining Long Beach. People are better off being in Long Beach because of lower taxes. The Lakewood Plan is an agreement with Los Angeles County that allows for the county to provide police and fire protection for the city. Dean believes that Signal Hill should have adopted the Lakewood Plan but should use the city of Long Beach for their services. (25:06-28:35)... There has always been trouble in Signal Hill. The city has a reputation for gambling and prostitution. There was a man by the name of Kid Mexico that Dean believes "practically ran Signal Hill." Dean also believes that Signal Hill was incorporated by Shell Oil Company so they would not have to pay Long Beach city taxes on oil. There are some people who own property in both Signal Hill and Long Beach. End of tape
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