In Southern California, women pursued roles in politics for decades and shaped the duties of the government to better the lives of the public. Laura Chick began her political career in Los Angeles and grew to be the Inspector General of California.
"Why would women want to enter a traditionally nasty, back-biting business where there is no privacy, no secrets and more challenges than climbing Mt. Everest? The answer is simple: to be part of the process that literally changes lives for the better and makes a contribution to the world at large." -Joanne Rajoppi, 1993
Campaign Struggles and Triumphs
As a young girl in New York in the early 1950s, Laura Chick experienced a symbolic moment in her childhood in which she stood up to a little girl’s bully. “That instinct in me to not be able to walk away from something that I see is wrong,” fueled her future calling to local politics.
Laura Chick became active in local politics when she returned to school to obtain her social work credentials. Chick desired to right the injustices in her community and placed much of her energy into political work. She boldly decided to run against Joy Picus, a Los Angeles Councilwoman she previously worked for during past elections between 1991 and 1998. Chick claimed, “this councilmember was getting pretty worn out by this time. I was hoping she was not going to run for a fifth term because I was pretty much starting to think I wanted to run. I really knew inside myself, I could do the job better.”
With the clock ticking, a tight budget, and determination Laura Chick campaigned for Los Angeles Councilwoman by going door to door in 1993. “I was getting more unregistered voters…but, what happened for me in that early and disorganized precinct walking besides getting blisters [was] I didn’t waste time. I was really hearing from people and what was important to them.” She discovered Los Angelenos were concerned with public safety and education. With the help of volunteers and fundraising, Chick reassured her community that she fan for their values. She won the nomination after a runoff vote in June 1993.
Chick felt the political sting instantaneously. “I was accused by women leaders and women organizations of being a very bad person and endangering a female seat on the council because there were a lot of people running in the primary. They were all men, other than the councilwoman and myself.” Her passion for politics remained unreciprocated by her husband, he did not agree with her decision to run and their marriage ended in divorce after the election in 1993. Chick learned to develop a thick skin to harsh criticisms and opposition while running, a skill that helped her throughout her time in public office.
“Men are put off balance when they see a woman in a powerful position. Socialization and bias dictates they can’t treat her as an equal, while position says they must. They face a dilemma... for many, the way to address it is to reinforce their own maleness.”-Joanne Rajoppi, 1993
Overcoming Biases
Laura Chick entered office in 1993 and stepped into a challenging environment were colleagues wielded power through inequalities and bias behind closed doors.
“There was a lot of sexism in play,” Chick remembered. In the council meetings men were granted more time to discuss their ideas, men treated each other leniently if they arrived late or decided to leave early. The Los Angeles Councilmen obtained the, “prime plum committees and the prime assignments, and there were certain committees that were women committees like the environmental committee or parks and recreation. But public safety? No. The juice committees that gave you a better position to fundraise for your next campaign, the men got in there.” Colleagues ignored Chick at meetings and she continued to hear obnoxious comments.
Frustrated and disturbed by such unprofessional and biased behavior, during her first term as a council member, Laura Chick marched to the chair of the public safety committee. “It was emotional and challenging for me to do this. With the chair of public safety, I told him if he continued to interrupt me, to not call on me, to denigrate me when I made suggestions, that I would take him on in public. I had really been taking it silently for too long.” He apologized and treated her like an equal member of the council. Practices of equality changed once she found her voice in office.
Changes and Achievements
Throughout her political career as Los Angeles City Councilwoman from 1993 to 2001, City Controller from 2001 to 2009, and California State Inspector General in 2009 to 2010, Laura Chick enacted meaningful changes for her community.
Laura Chick assigned audits to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), and the Department of Water and Power. Her audits brought to light the inequalities and the misuse of funding, time, and labor. She prioritized backlogged rape kits in the LAPD and implemented the use of civilian workers for clerical work in the police department. This decision both freed officers to patrol the community and save money. Chick activated the Commission on the Status of Women in the LAFD that recorded the hiring and work of women, statistics that were not considered a priority before.
II. Although Chick frustratingly had to fight tooth and nail to better her community, she victoriously spearheaded many projects and programs to fulfil her campaign promises. Chick obtained federal funding for the police department that was allocated to gang prevention and aided in the return and creation of social programs. She successfully fought for an anti-truancy order in public schools and voiced her anxieties of racial profiling. She insisted on tracking and recording the practice. Chick successfully obtained revitalization efforts for Canoga Park and Reseda.
Credits:
Created with images by Joshua Sukoff - "The United States Capitol Rotunda" • Birmingham Museums Trust - "Suffragette Banner - Votes For Women, 1910-1920" • Paul Weaver - "4th of July - Waving Flag." Created with information from Los Angeles Times - CAWP Center for American Women and Politics - The Lawrence de Graaf Center for Oral and Public History. Quotes from The Lawrence de Graaf Center for Oral and Public History - "Women in Office: Getting There and Staying There" by Joanne Rajoppi