Harold Harby (September 8, 1894 – November 24, 1978) was elected to the Los Angeles, California, City Council in 1939, but he had to leave office in 1942 when he was convicted of using a city car for a trip out of the state. He was reelected in 1943 and served until 1957. Harby was noted for casting a 1951 swing vote that killed a $100 million proposal to build a massive public-housing project in the city as well as for his opposition to modern art and music. Biography Harby was born September 8, 1894, in Gjøvik, Norway, the son of Mr. and Mrs. O.J. Harby. He attended high school in that country and came to the United States in 1910. He was married in 1917 to Emmalee Thompson of Great Falls, Montana. They had two sons, Harold D. and Thornton L., and in the late 1930s he was living at 2642 Halm Avenue in the Mid-City area. He moved to California in 1918 to work at West Coast shipyards and then became associated with the oil business, working at various times for Shell Oil, Richfield Oil and Pacific Western Oil. Harby died November 24, 1978, in Laguna Hills, California, after a lengthy illness. Memorial services were in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Cypress. City Council Tenure See also List of Los Angeles municipal election returns, 1939–57 Harby was a materials and supply executive for Richfield in 1939 when he defeated incumbent Robert S. MacAlister in Los Angeles City Council District 11, which at that time included the West Adams and Venice areas. He was supported by political leader Clifford Clinton and served through 1957 — with one exception: The single break came in 1942, when he fell out with Clinton, who seized on an incident (he discovered that Harby had used a city car for a trip out of state) to oust him from office. Harby said he had been given permission to use the vehicle and the City Council voted to confirm the use as official business. But the matter was taken to Superior Court, where Harby was removed from office."Harby Found Guilty of City Car Misuse," Los Angeles Times, January 9, 1942, page 1 The City Council appointed Dave Stannard to take his place in May 1942, but the next year, 1943, Harby was reelected by a vote of 6,392 for himself and 5,988 for Stannard. Harby kept