Longtime Los Angeles city council member and 39-year veteran of City Hall Tom LaBonge has died at the age of 67.
LaBonge died at his Silver Lake home Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reported. His wife, Brigid, told the newspaper she had been unable to wake him after he had been resting on the couch.
The Los Angeles native represented the city’s 4th Council District from 2001 to 2015 after serving as an aide to Mayor Richard Riordan.
LaBonge retired from public office in 2015 but was still often seen as a champion for preservation efforts in Hollywood Hills and Griffith Park.
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said LaBonge was more than just an elected representative.
“He was the ultimate goodwill ambassador, servant, and historian for his City of Angels, and an icon. He led with his heart and truly loved the men and women of the LAPD,” Moore stated.
LaBonge graduated from John Marshall High School in Los Feliz and got his political start with Mayor Tom Bradley’s youth council in 1974, the Times reported.
He would eventually become known as “Mr. Los Angeles.”
“He knew every mascot of every high school in Los Angeles for a reason — so he could engage people and talk to them about their lives,” Council President Nury Martinez posted on Instagram.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti reacted to his former colleague’s death on social media late Thursday.
“No one knew more Angelenos, no person gave more waking hours to our city, no one was a greater cheerleader for our town than Tom,” Garcetti stated.
Councilman Mike Bonin described LaBonge as the Huell Howser of L.A. politics.
“He was such an irrepressible cheerleader for Los Angeles — a walking encyclopedia of all the amazing things and spots and neighborhoods and institutions in L.A.,” Bonin’s quote in the times read.