Robert M. Allan

Robert M. Allan (September 12, 1880 – May 27, 1965) was a Canadian-born American politician. He was a member of the City Council in Los Angeles, California from 1921 to 1927.

Biography

Born on September 12, 1880, in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, Allan was the son of Martin Smith Allan and Shara Neptune. He was educated in the public schools of Saint John until he was 18, when he emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and finished his schooling there. He did "electrical experimental work" in Boston and moved to California in 1903, where he joined the Electrical Workers Union and worked with the Woodill-Hulse Electric Company and then with the Auto Vehicle Company. He began working in insurance and finance in 1905, then became president of the Guarantee Finance & Securities Company and vice-president of Insurance Plan Mutual Building and Loan. He later formed Allan MacMaster Company, of which he was senior partner.

Public life

City Council

Allan was elected to the City Council in 1921 when the city used an at-large voting system and was reelected in 1923 under the same system. After the adoption of a new city charter in 1925, in which district voting was established, he was chosen as the first councilman from the city's 2nd District, which at that time covered Hollywood south of Franklin Avenue or Hollywood Boulevard and north of Santa Monica Boulevard, and including the Los Feliz district. He was reelected in 1925 but lost to Arthur Alber in 1927. It was said that Allan's loss that year was partly due to the voters' making a "clean sweep at the City Hall" of the council members allied with political boss Kent Kane Parrot.

Later service

Allan was appointed to the city's Board of Public Works in 1933,