Martin F. Betkouski
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Martin F. Betkouski | |
|---|---|
 Betkouski in 1915 | |
| Member of the Los Angeles City Council for the at-large district | |
| In office December 10, 1909 – July 1, 1917 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1860 |
| Died | 1942 (aged 81–82) |
Martin Francis Betkouski (1860 – 1942) was a member of the Los Angeles City Council between 1909 and 1917.[1][2]
In 1906 Betkouski was a member of the Los Angeles Fire Commission.[3]
A Los Angeles County grand jury in 1917 accused him as a City Council member of misconduct in office in connection with property transactions in the area where Union Station (Los Angeles) was eventually built.[4]
According to the Los Angeles Times, the councilman, from the Seventh Ward, was alleged "to have realized a profit of more than $50,000 by securing options on property within the terminal site, before the owners were aware of the proposed improvement." He was also said to have received a check of "several thousand dollars" from attorney Isadore Dockweiler, who represented the terminal company.[4]
Betkouski ran for reelection in 1917, placing 15th in a field of eighteen candidates, of whom only the first nine were successful in a first-past-the post election.[5]
The grand jury accusation was dropped after Betkouski lost the election on the grounds that the only penalty he might suffer would be removal from office.[6] In the same year, 1917, Betkouski was elected a member of the Los Angeles Board of Trade.[7]