John Patrick Cassidy (May 10, 1903 – September 24, 1989) was a newspaperman and public relations practitioner who became a Los Angeles City Council member in District 12 between 1962 and 1967. Before and after his term he was a field deputy to two City Council members, and in 1967 he was briefly the head of public relations for the city's Recreation and Parks Department. Biography Born May 10, 1903 in Boise, Idaho, Cassidy was the son of Henry Francis Cassidy and Mae Zelette Cassidy. The elder Cassidy was the founder and publisher of The Evening Journal, a newspaper begun in 1908 in Santa Monica, California. Zelette continued as publisher after the death of her husband until the outbreak of World War I. The couple had four children—Henry, Helen, Margaret and John Patrick. Cassidy attended St. Joseph's Academy in Berkeley, California, Los Angeles High School, St. Mary's College, UCLA and USC. He was a merchant sailor for three years, and during World War II he was in the U.S. Navy. As a journalist, he worked on the Los Angeles Record, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Examiner, the Associated Press, United Press and International News Service. He directed his own public relations office for 14 years and conducted political campaigns on national, state and local levels over a period of 27 years. Cassidy was the father of three children—Patricia Colleen (Balyeat), Sue and John Jr. He was later divorced. City Council Appointment and elections See also List of Los Angeles municipal election returns, 1963 and 1967 Cassidy was a friend of City Councilman Ransom M. Callicott and served five years as the councilman's field deputy; Callicott had been elected in 1955 to represent the Los Angeles City Council District 12 but died in 1963, with Cassidy appointed at the age of 59 by unanimous vote of the City Council on December 7, 1962, to succeed him until the April 2, 1963, primary election."Cassidy Takes Council Seat of Callicott," Los Angeles Times, December 8, 1962, page 17 The Los Angeles Times reported: Cassidy had been Callicott's personal choice as a successor. . . . Callicott, who died last month, asked Cassidy to move from West Los Angeles into the 12th district two years ago. The late councilman was in poor health and was understood to be grooming Cassidy for the $12,000-a-year job. Cassidy faced the downtown voters in April 1963 and