Albert S. Rodda
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Albert S. Rodda
|image = Albert S. Rodda, 1975.jpg
|caption =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1912|7|23}}
|birth_place = Sacramento, California, U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|2010|4|3|1912|7|23}}
|death_place = Sacramento, California, U.S.
|office = Member of the California State Senate
|constituency = 19th district (1959–1967)
5th district (1967–1976)
3rd district (1976–1980)
|term = January 5, 1959 – November 30, 1980
|preceded = Earl D. Desmond
|succeeded = John T. Doolittle
|party = Democratic
|spouse = {{marriage|Clarice Horgan|1941}}
|children = 3
|education = Stanford University
|branch = {{flag|United States Navy}}
|battles = World War II
}}
Albert S. Rodda Jr. (July 23, 1912 – April 3, 2010) was a California State Senator.
Early life and education
Born in Sacramento, California, Rodda graduated from Sacramento High School in 1929 before receiving an A.B. in 1933 and an A.M. in 1934, both in history, from Stanford University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa society. After teaching for several years in Sacramento high schools, Rodda entered the United States Navy Reserve and was a gunnery officer in World War II.{{cite web|url=http://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/2655|title=Albert S. Rodda|publisher=JoinCalifornia Election Archive|access-date=March 19, 2011}} Leaving the Navy Reserve in 1946, he started teaching at Sacramento City College. In 1951, Rodda received a Ph.D. in history and economics from Stanford.{{cite web|url=http://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt1v19q1rp;query=;style=oac4;view=admin#bioghist-1.7.3|title=Inventory of the Albert S. Rodda Papers - Biography|publisher=Online Archive of California|access-date=March 19, 2011}}
Political career
A Democrat, Rodda won a 1958 special election to the California State Senate to represent the 19th District to fill the vacancy created by the death of Earl D. Desmond, defeating Desmond's son and two other Democrats. He was re-elected six times but was defeated in 1980 in an upset by a newcomer, John Doolittle.{{cite news|url=http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/29879 |title=California Rep. Doolittle's improbable rise and fall | work=Sacramento Bee | publisher=McClatchy | agency=Scripps Howard News Service |via=ScrippsNews.com | date=January 14, 2008 |first=Dan | last=Walters |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310202523/http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/29879 |archive-date=March 10, 2012 }}
Rodda's best-known legislative legacy is SB 160, enacted in 1975 and taking effect in 1976, which established collective bargaining for California's public school teachers.{{cite book | editor-last=Hinman | editor-first=Felicitas | date=1976 | title=Collective bargaining in California public education. SB 160--The Rodda Act: Policy and Practice Papers Presented at a Statewide Conference Held in Los Angeles, December 5-6, 1975 | publication-place=Los Angeles | publisher=Institute of Industrial Relations, University of California | id={{ERIC|ED140506}} | oclc=2543499}}
In 1980, the Los Rios Community College District board of trustees named a new administrative-classroom complex at Sacramento City College as Rodda Hall. Shortly after Rodda's departure from the Senate, California State Treasurer Jesse M. Unruh appointed him Executive Secretary of the Commission on State Finance. In 1983, Rodda left the commission and was elected to the Los Rios Community College District board, where he served until 1992.
Personal life
Rodda met Clarice Horgan, an English teacher, when they both taught at Grant Union High School. They married in 1941 and had one son and two daughters.
References
{{reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-ca-sen}}
{{succession box|before=Earl D. Desmond|title=California State Senator
19th District|years=January 5, 1959 – January 2, 1967|after=H. L. Richardson}}
{{succession box|before=Fred W. Marler, Jr.|title=California State Senator
5th District|years=January 2, 1967 – November 30, 1976|after=Milton Marks}}
{{succession box|before=Clare Berryhill|title=California State Senator
3rd District|years=December 6, 1976 – November 30, 1980|after=John Doolittle}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodda, Albert S.}}
Category:Politicians from Sacramento, California
Category:Stanford University alumni
Category:Educators from California
Category:Democratic Party California state senators
Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II
Category:20th-century members of the California State Legislature