Bill Rosendahl
Encyclopedia
William Joseph "Bill" Rosendahl (born May 15, 1945) is an American politician. He is serving on the Los Angeles City Council
Los Angeles City Council
The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles.The Council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tempore are chosen by the Council at the first regular meeting after...

, representing Council District 11. He is a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

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Biography

Rosendahl won election to Los Angeles City Council in May 2005 with a commanding mandate for positive change. He represents the 11th District, which includes the communities of Brentwood, Del Rey, Mar Vista, Pacific Palisades, Palms, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista, Venice, West LA and Westchester.

Rosendahl is the Chair of the Transportation Committee, Vice Chair of the Trade, Commerce &Tourism, he's a member of Budget & Finance, Vice Chair of the Ad Hoc Stadium Committee, a member of the Ad Hoc on Economic Recovery & Reinvestment, and a member of Board of Referred Powers.

Serving as chairman of the Transportation Committee, he plans to use his unique position to ease traffic congestion in Americas most congested city, using Measure R funding to push for subway construction from finally completing the Green Line to expanding the Expo Line creating new bus routes, and seeking innovative solutions to mitigate the traffic problem. He serves as vice-chair of the Commerce Committee, which oversees Los Angeles World Airports, including Los Angeles International Airport. Rosendahl is also a member of the council’s Transportation Committee, Budget & Finance Committee, and Ad Hoc Committee on Homelessness, which he co-founded. He is also the chair of the Southern California Regional Airport Authority and one of the city's appointees to the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission and the Exposition Light Rail Construction Authority.

Since taking office in July 2005, Rosendahl has focused on: stopping the expansion of Los Angeles International Airport, promoting mass transit, enhancing public safety, curbing overdevelopment, standing up for tenants’ rights and for affordable housing, seeking solutions to the problem of homelessness, and giving our neighborhoods a greater voice in city decision-making. His most notable achievement so far has been the historic agreement between LAX and airport neighbors, ending airport expansion and promoting regional aviation.

A resident of Mar Vista, the largest community in the 11th District, Rosendahl is the first openly gay man elected to the Los Angeles City Council, and is the city’s highest-ranking GLBT official.

Prior to his election, Rosendahl was an educator and an award-winning television broadcaster with a long record as a leader in Los Angeles civic affairs.

While he served as Distinguished Professor at Cal State Dominguez Hills until his election, Rosendahl is best known as producer and moderator of critically acclaimed public affairs television shows. As host of "Local Talk", "Week in Review" and "Beyond the Beltway" Rosendahl created a needed forum for discussion of public affairs. An advocate of empowering people through information, Rosendahl produced more than 3,000 programs over 16 years, opening the airwaves to all viewpoints and steering thoughtful dialogue on the most complex and controversial issues.

As a cable executive, Rosendahl fought tirelessly for better service, upgraded technology, more local programming choices, and better wages and working conditions for his employees.

Rosendahl's public service won him the Cable Ace Award, The Diamond Award, the Freedom of Information Award, the Los Angeles League of Women Voters Public Service Award and the Beacon Award for Cable's Free Air Time Project.

Rosendahl also engaged himself in civic life. He chaired the California Commission on Tax Policy in the New Economy, served as president of the Los Angeles Press Club, as chairman of the Cable and Telecommunication Association and was a member of the education fund of the Los Angeles League of Women Voters. He was a regular moderator of community forums, steering discussions on various issues including charter reform, secession and the formation of neighborhood councils.

Prior to his cable TV career, Rosendahl was a White House appointee to the State Department as Chief of Operations for the U.S. Trade and Development Program, served as an associate in philanthropic work for John D. Rockefeller, III and worked on many political campaigns, including Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential bid.

A Vietnam-era veteran, Rosendahl served in the U.S. Army from 1969 to 1971, spending a year as a psychiatric social worker, counseling troops returning from combat. As special assistant to the commanding general at Ft. Carson, Colorado, he won national recognition for reorganizing the base and boosting morale of the service people. Rosendahl is currently a member of The American Legion, Post 283, in Pacific Palisades.

Rosendahl holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science & Economics from St. Vincent College, Latrobe, PA. He is also as a world traveler who has visited 52 countries.

Personal life

Prior to being elected in May 2005, Rosendahl was an educator, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 broadcaster, and a vice president at Adelphia.

Rosendahl, like former councilwoman Jackie Goldberg
Jackie Goldberg
Jackie Goldberg is an American politician and teacher, and a member of the Democratic Party. She is a former member of the California State Assembly....

, is openly gay
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

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External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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