winning elections—in 1949 he had no opponent—until 1957, when he was defeated by Karl L. Rundberg. Controversies Public housing Harby switched his position from "yes" to "no" in December 1951 to block a City Council vote of 8 to 7 a proposed $100 million public-housing plan that had divided the city, with business and real-estate factions on one side and labor and progressive interests on the other. Harby explained his reason by saying: I find upon further investigation that much of this proposed housing ... is not essentially a slum clearance project and buildings will be built on heretofore unoccupied territory. When you remove the slum-clearance element from public housing, there is nothing much left but Socialism. Although he said his mail ran 10 to 1 in favor of his stand, he also displayed a letter containing a death threat, and his Halm Avenue home was "invaded" by protestors and picketed. Art and music Harby was also known for his opposition to modern art, sculpture and music. He objected to the City Art Department accepting a gift of a painting titled "Bird on the Moon," noting that "I never saw any birds on the moon. Is this picture as crazy as it sounds?" He said the whole idea was "nuts, much like most of the rest of this so-called modern art." He also was the principal opponent to a statuary group by sculptor Bernard Rosenthal that had been designed for the new Police Building across Main Street from the City Hall. He suggested that the "14-foot, 1000-pound brass-and-bronze statue be consigned to a smelter and its metal salvaged for a tablet memorializing policemen who have given their lives in service to the community." The statue in question represented "a father, young boy, mother and a babe in arms expressing the idea that the Police Department is dedicated to the protection of the family." After Harby's motion was referred to committee, members of the Council marched in a body to view the sculpture. Harby climbed atop a scaffold, pointed to the figure representing the babe in arms and asked, "This is a baby?" In a letter to the Los Angeles Times, Harby praised the artistry of singer Jeanette MacDonald and attacked modern music, which he called "gibberish" that "to me and millions of others is nothing but the echo of the drums of darkest Africa. ... Meaningless, purposeless and repulsive." He