C. S. Smith

C. S. Smith (May 6, 1894 – March 30, 1971) served three turbulent years as mayor of Compton, California until he was recalled from office in 1936.

Clifton Stanwood Smith was born in Washington Court House, Ohio on May 6, 1894, the son of Frank C. Smith and Mary Stanwood. He was raised in San Antonio, Texas, where his father was the chief engineer of the San Antonio Power & Light Company, along with other directors Collis P. Huntington and Samuel F.B. Morse. His father was also an organizer of the Memphis Power & Light Company and the Columbus (Ohio) Telephone Company. He was also a successful rancher and cattleman. His ranch stood at the confluence of the rivers which now form "Riverwalk" of San Antonio and the family home still stands in the historic district of San Antonio.

The family relocated to Riverside, California in 1910. Smith graduated as valedictorian of his class from the Peacock Military Academy in San Antonio. When the United States joined the Allies in World War I, Smith enlisted and was commissioned a lieutenant in the Air Service, Signal Corps of America, the first Air Force of the United States. He trained at March Field in Riverside along with another cadet, James Doolittle, who would gain fame for his raid on Tokyo during World War II. Smith graduated first in his class and was retained as an instructor during the rest of the war. He retired from active military duty as a Major in the Army Reserve. He then founded the Long Beach Meat Packing Company and became the concessionaire for over 70 Safeway grocery stores in Southern California. Safeway abruptly cancelled his contracts, nearly ruining him financially. During that time, he moved to Compton, one of the first suburbs of Los Angeles, which was founded in 1880. In Compton, he founded the Compton Airport and earned extra money as a barnstormer. Taking what money he could scrape together, he began what later became one of the largest supermarket chains in Southern California—Smith's Markets. He is credited as one of the first to create large, self-service supermarkets with lower prices and Sunday openings. That led him into severe price wars with the other major chains of the era—Von's, Ralphs and Thiftimart. He made a practice of locating his large markets near the much smaller and more expensive Safeways, effectively driving them out of much of Southern California for decades.

A Roosevelt "New Deal" Democrat, Smith was elected mayor of Compton in 1933. He was mayor at the time of the devastating 1933 Long Beach earthquake, which locally was known as the "Compton Earthquake." The earthquake destroyed the Compton City Hall and most of the city's schools. As mayor, Smith supervised the reconstruction of all schools in the city, the city hall and the fire stations. Many Compton schools still bear his name on their dedication plaques. As the depression worsened, he often anonymously paid the property taxes of residents in danger of losing their homes. Because of his politics and his outspoken nature, he became a lightning rod for controversy. He was a vehement anti-Communist. When the National Recovery Administration cited him for selling sugar below the controlled price, Smith joined other companies to sue the federal government seeking to declare the National Recovery Act unconstitutional. That suit was successful and Smith widely promoted the fact that the government had penalized him for "selling food too low." Smith ultimately owned and operated his own cattle ranch, dairy farms, vegetable produce wholesaler and bakery to service his markets.

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