John C. Holland

John C. Holland (July 6, 1893 – March 10, 1970) was one of the longest-serving Los Angeles City Council members, for 24 years from 1943 to 1967, and was known for his losing fight against bringing the Los Angeles Dodgers to Chavez Ravine and for his reputation as a watchdog over the city treasury.

Biography

Holland was born July 6, 1893, in Bartlett, Texas, the son of William Philip Holland of Fluvanna County, Virginia, and Betty Connell Holland of Liberty Hill, Texas. He was married to Alice Colby Wells of Redlands, California, on June 30, 1919. They had two daughters, Mary Elizabeth Neeb and Helen Louise Osterberg.

Holland attended high school in Roswell, New Mexico, and spent one year at the University of Texas. He then attended Stanford University, where he was active in debating and was on the wrestling team. He graduated in 1917 with a prelaw degree and then went into the Army. The proposal was abandoned.

Dodgers, 1957–59 The councilman believed that exchanging the 300 acres of city land in Chavez Ravine for "a 10-acre unused" former baseball stadium, Wrigley Field, was "not in the best interests of the city. "It was the biggest steal of public lands and money since the trade for Manhattan Island with the Indians for a basket of beads," he said.

It was common for him to make three or four speeches an evening to any group which would listen to his side of the Chavez Ravine issue, and then appear early the next morning for a breakfast meeting and another speech before participating in a stormy council session starting at 10 a.m.