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wanted a donation and was armed with his accountant and a hard luck story to show us how "broke" he was. When he found out that all we wanted was his endorsement, he gave it readily. We then had a good visit with him. He gave us both memberships to the Forum Club which is an exclusive restaurant on the first level of the Forum.

Contrary to my comments so far, I enjoyed the time I spent in Inglewood. The interesting human factor in racial integration far out weighed the frustration of trying to make it work. Some people were so wrapped up in the problems that they could not forget it and go about their every day lives. One man, a medical doctor, had a fatal heart attack while addressing the Board of Education at a regular meeting. Business places closed rather than try to accommodate black customers. Dentists moved to Orange County rather than work on black patients.

The Superintendent was a former Business Manager and when he moved up to the head spot I took his place. He was very bright and was fluent in six languages. He had no trouble making decisions. In fact he sometimes made the same one five or six times. You never knew whether or when a policy would be changed so you just had to do what you thought best and hope you would be supported. He was the one who started the television project that I had to stop. He also set up the policy of buying war surplus vehicles as a way to save money which turned out to be so costly. I had to be very diplomatic in changing these and other policies but managed to do so successfully.

I recall one incident involving a woman board member. She had requested a cash advance to attend a convention in Chicago. I gave her $500 out of a small Revolving Cash Fund which I administered in the office. She was to make the trip and then turn in a list of expenses so I could reimburse the Revolving Fund. A month later she had still not filed and expense report so I called her and asked her to please get it to me. Just after that I found out that the Board Member had not gone to Chicago, as authorized, but had gone on a "spree" to San Francisco. I called the County Auditor and told him the whole story. His comments were, "Sam, we are dealing here with an elected official. You and I do not know where she went, do we? You get a list of expenses for her or from her, have her sign it and send it to me. We will reimburse your Revolving Fund."

I understood the direction clearly. I also began to understand the power of an elected official. My secretary was most competent and she made up a list of expenses for the Chicago Convention totaling $500. The Board Member came in and signed it and I was off the hook. In thirty years of working with Board members this was my only experience with dishonesty.

I have previously mentioned a Citizens Advisory Committee which was appointed by the Board of Education to devise a plan that would solve the problem of racially balancing the schools. There were about forty members on the committee but it was completely dominated by a medical doctor who was a real crusader for integration. (He had no children in Inglewood schools.) The doctor got himself elected chairman of the committee and began to control all considerations for the group and would not allow anyone to look