John Mullins (1879-1967) was on City Council in 1907. It appears that he was a very important guy in Oakland politics in the 1920s. He served on the board of supervisors after that and then in the Alameda County District Attorney's office. He was instrumental in later- Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren's later career. You can read his oral history of Warren's time in California here.
Mullins also had something to do with "the Kelly machine, the Knowlands, the KKK, and the political parties including local progressives."1 (More information in "No There There" by Chris Rhomberg.) Apparently he was initially a Kelly supporter in the 1920s but left them to support Earl Warren. Kelly and the Klan punished him and he did not win reelection in 1928.3
John Mullins is described in the oral history this way: "The Mullinses lived in a Mediterranean style apartment house near Lake Merritt in Oakland. Mr. Mullins, whose arteriosclerosis kept him seated in a chair, had the round face and reddish coloring of the Irish, with lively eyes and an obvious desire to construct a clear and unambiguous interview."2
It seems the John Mullins resigned from City Council at the end of his term in 1909 and was replaced by Albert P. Stiefvater by Mayor Frank K. Mott.4
References
- "Perspectives on the Alameda County District Attorney's Office Volume 1."
- "Perspectives on the Alameda County District Attorney's Office."
- Rhomberg, Chris. No There There: Race, Class and Political Community in Oakland. University of California Press: 2004.
- Blake, Evarts. Greater Oakland. 1911.
