The “boss” of Signal Hil - Part 1: Signal Hill’s Checkered Past

 

Congressman Craig Hosmer, Signal Hill Mayor Tom Denham,
Councilmember Bill Mendenhall, Gertrude Beebe,
Councilmember Paul Kemner and Kathleen Brady 

           Up until the mid 1980s, Signal Hill was described by many as the last frontier in this part of the Old West.  The 2.2 square mile town was an oil town whose inhabitants included roughnecks, gamblers, prostitutes and those ready for a fight. The city was a gun-toting town, where police handed out pistol permits regularly. It was a place where some made it quite clear that blacks and Jews were not entirely welcome.  It sat on the edge of what many called the “Black Ghetto,” an area to its south where Long Beach African American were allowed to live.  It had its own form of politics, where recall elections were frequent, and where drifters were brought in for municipal elections. They lived in tents for the 45-day residency period and then voted and moved on. Both sides in a hot issue hired these tent voters, and the outcome of a city election in Signal Hill often depended on which faction had the most tents. 

            In 1981, Los Angeles Times reporters Mike Goodman and Richard E. Meyer wrote that up until his death in March 1979 the city was controlled by Thomas Webster Denham, Sr., a Southerner with a gracious, soft-spoken accent. He sold his land and dairy in Florida in 1945 and headed west to Signal Hill with his wife Carribelle, and three sons. By 1962 oil production revenue had dropped off to a point where the surface property for the first time in the city’s history was more valuable than the subsurface wealth. The city sought other avenues of revenue in order to compensate for the loss and encourage further improvement. By 1967, 96 substandard houses had been demolished, of 1300 old oil derricks only 50 were left and 50 open oil sumps cleaned up. Real estate was now becoming the “black gold” of the city. One of the major players in the real estate marker was Thomas Denham, who developed an interest in politics.

            Denham was a trusted, even revered by man in Signal Hill. They called him Mr. Tom. He secured a seat on the Signal Hill City Council, a position he held from 1962-1974. He was also mayor from 1964-1965 and again in 1967-79. He took steps to secure his influence. He and other businessmen began subsidizing the Signal Hill Tribune, the town’s only newspaper by purchasing block subscriptions from publisher H. Fred Harris. Signal Hill began publishing its ordinances in the Tribune in type so large it cost the city extra newspaper space. David Caretto, future city manager of Signal Hill told the Times “The city was subsidizing the newspaper.”

            With his father’s backing, Richard Denham was promoted to police captain. Richard Denham was a graduate of Hamilton Junior High, attended Poly and graduated from high school in Georgia. On his return to Signal Hill, he attended LBCC where he took special classes in law enforcement including USC and California State College, Long Beach where he secured his teaching credential. He was the first member of the Signal Hill Police Department to graduate from the Los Angeles County sheriff’s training academy. He joined the department as a patrol officer in 1954, but resigned after 6 months to enter the contracting business. In July 1957, he rejoined as a patrol officer, promoted to sergeant in October 1960 and captain September 1, 1966. When Chief William F. Stovall Sr. retired January 1, 1968, Captain Denham succeeded Chief Stovall in the job.  

            Richard Denham hired a number of new officers, most with no police experience. At least four had been fired or forced to resign from other departments, according to the Times. “They were losers or men he could control,” said John Jameson, city manager at the time. “Denham would give them one more chance. That’s what he’d tell him.” Among those hired was his brother Tom Denham Jr. Richard Denham said he wanted his officers to be tough. Businessmen applauded the toughness. They saw themselves as a special target, surrounded by the larger urban area of Long Beach and abutting the Long Beach ghetto. Toughness meant security for their property. At the same time, it meant security for Denham property.

            Since 1968, when Richard Denham became police chief, forty-two of those arrested by Signal Hill police formally accused them of beatings without justification.  Several suffered broken ribs, another a punctured lung, several were crippled and one was partially blinded. Two died.  Most accusations of police beatings were hardly noticed. Few, if any, were reported in the Tribune. When anyone filed a claim for damages, the City Council routinely rejected it and turned it over to the insurance carrier.

            Most of those arrested and brutalized by police were transients, some black, some white. Nobody even knew them, but in August 1976, local resident Clifford Holzhauer got into an argument with his wife Susan and asked her to leave the house. She had – and Holzhauer took their 7-month old baby to family members in Sacramento. Susan wanted to see the baby, but Clifford would not tell her where the youngster was.  Susan called police and they arrived along with Susan. Signal Hill officers, with their guns drawn, told Holzhauer to produce the baby. He told them the baby was OK but was not in the house. Police then pushed Susan out the front door, stepped in, and began beating Holzhauer 30 to 50 times. He pleaded with his wife, locked out of the house, to help him because they were “killing me.” She couldn’t do a thing. He lost consciousness and was taken to USC Medical Center where he had neck and groin injuries, three broken ribs and a punctured lung. Police charged Holzhauer with battery. A jury acquitted him.  He sued Signal Hill and agreed to an $8,500 ($39,000 today) settlement.

            When Holzhauer complained to his neighbor who was on the city council he was told not to get involved and to let the insurance company take care of matters. What did attract the attention of others on the council, however, was absenteeism. The Denham brothers were mixing work on family enterprises with police work, and police work was getting short ended. Several on the council staged a small revolt, denying Richard Denham a raise. The Denham’s fought back, also targeting city manager John Jameson who had supported the council’s action. But Jameson was in trouble for another reason – he was interested in putting some blacks on the police force. But Richard Denham told him “no.” Something Denham denied. Jameson said the city’s attitude toward blacks was best demonstrated by an industrial buffer zone it created between its residential area and the city limits, which touched the Long Beach ghetto. Others said Signal Hill racism was typified by its American Legion post, which had its charter revoked in 1964 for calling Jews “a mongrel race” and preaching “niggers don’t want integration and the Jews are pushing integration.”Those that had opposed the Denham’s were voted off the council and Jameson fired.

            On March 22, 1979, Thomas W. Denham, Sr. died leaving an estate worth approximately $1 million ($3.5 million today) and a smoothly running political machine. Before the year was out Police Chief Richard Denham decided to quit. There was a hitch. He was only 47 – three years away from early retirement. He threatened the city with a very substantial stress related disability claim that he would drop in return for a three-year leave of absence, which would keep his city insurance in force. He agreed to pick up the premiums during the leave. Denham claimed the stress was caused by the loss of his raise and criticism of absenteeism. His doctor confirmed the stress and Denham was granted a deferred retirement.

            The Council needed to find a successor. Ten years before, Denham had granted Gaylord (Red) Wert, a police dispatcher, an unusually dramatic promotion. Wert had no other police experience and Denham made him the department’s only lieutenant – his second in command. Now the City Council, without seeking any other candidate, appointed Wert chief of police. He had never been a patrol officer and had never taken a chief’s exam.

           

            In 1981, Signal Hill gained national notoriety because of the jailhouse death of African American football player Ron Settles.  As mentioned in my earlier article on Settles' death,  Settles was stopped for speeding on June 2, 1981, taken to jail and repeatedly struck with fists and billy clubs. The police said he resisted arrest.  Two hours after his arrest, he was found hanged from his cell bars. A coroner’s jury said the death was a homicide. Police and a grand jury said he committed suicide. Following Settles death, Douglas Miller, who lived in the black area of Long Beach at the bottom of Signal Hill said he stayed out of the town and so did his neighbors. “Things always were rough up there. But now it’s worse. They’ve got killers up there.”
            In May 1982, Signal Hill Police Chief, Gaylord (Red) Wert was fired after a new city council took over the governing of the city. A new city was born. Some believe it was Settles’ death and the attendant publicity and looking into past history that changed the city so radically. 

           

Councilmember Wilson

In 1997, a city that once closed its eyes to racial injustice and allowed certain officials to display their disdain for people of African descent elected one of these persons to head their government – Edward H. J. Wilson.  A native of Ventura, California, Wilson was reared across the United States and Europe. His father was a career military man. Wilson graduated from high school in Holland and came back to the US to attend college.  He served five terms as Mayor and in 2013 ran unsuccessfully for the 70^th State Assembly seat. He still serves on the Signal Hill City Council.

Sources:

Cheatham, Charles, “T.R. Philosophy is good enough for Denham” Independent Press Telegram, 23 June 1968.

Goodman, Mike & Meyer, Richard. “Brutality Charges. Signal Hill: Power to the Police.” Los Angeles Times. 11 October 1981.

Robeson, George. “Politics gets sticky up on Signal Hill.” Independent Press Telegram, 15 March 1968.