Former state Sen. Alan G. Sieroty, a Beverly Hills Democrat who championed disability rights and efforts to protect California's coast, died Saturday. He was 93 years old.
Sieroty died of natural causes at his Los Angeles home, surrounded by his family, according to his niece Eve Meltzer and longtime friend Evan Kaizer.
Sieroty, whose family founded the Eastern Columbia department store chain, was elected to the California State Assembly in 1966 and served until 1977, when he was elected to the state Senate.
Former state senator Alan Sieroty has died at the age of 93.
(Courtesy of Evan Kaizer)
“He was just a brilliant legislator at a time when you could really work across both parties to get things done,” said Kaizer, president and CEO of Sieroty Co., a Southern California real estate firm for which Sieroty served as chairman of the board of directors. board.
“He authored more than 100 bills,” Kaizer said. “He was responsible for many important environmental laws.”
Perhaps his most famous work in that area, Kaizer said, was his role in the initiative and legislation that led to the creation of the California Coastal Commission.
“One of the things that gave Alan incredible pleasure was being on the beach … and seeing people enjoying the beach and knowing that he had a small role in creating those open spaces,” Kaizer said.
When Sieroty retired from the Senate in 1982, the California Legislature honored him by naming a state beach at Tomales Bay State Park in Marin County after him.
Sieroty was also a big fan of jazz art and music, and criticized George Gershwin's “Rhapsody in Blue” in the days before his death, his niece said. In previous years, when he loved a new jazz album, Kaizer said, he would often buy several copies to give as gifts to friends and family who came over.
Sieroty served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California and the Venice Family Clinic. Recently, he and his family worked with LA Family Housing, a homeless services nonprofit, to transform a former motel into a temporary housing facility for homeless seniors called Sieroty.
