When Cockatoo Inn owner Andy ran for office
Coronavirus has sometimes made us forget that 2020 is an election year. While 2020 has been called one of the most turbulent years in recent memory, 1968 definitely gives it a run for its money. Coincidentally, that was also the year when Cockatoo Inn owner Andy ran for office.
Spoiler Alert
Andy Lococo was nearing the end of his time at the Cockatoo Inn. In 1968, he ran for Hawthorne City Council. Two council seats were up for grabs, and spoiler alert – he didn’t win. The seats were kept by incumbents Hubert L. Cunningham and Champ W. Clark (not to be confused with former Speaker of the House, James Beauchamp Clark).
But while the councilmen captured nearly 70% of the 14,079 votes, the underdogs who ran in this race were notable.
Mr. Hawthorne
First, there was well-known Hawthornian, Walter D. Dixon, who received 198 votes. As stated in the Daily Breeze, Walt was in the Navy and flew over 55 missions all over the world. He taught flying after the war, opened a camera store in 1982, and became Hawthorne’s top historian. He released a book with Jerry Roberts in 2005 called “Hawthorne”. It chronicled the town’s earliest days and most notable figures. (He included the Cockatoo in the book as well.) Walt passed away in 2007. A nice write up of his life can be found at the Leuzinger High Class of 1981 website.
Here’s a photo of Walt Dixon taken a year before the 1968 election, happily performing civic duties.
Fred T. Morgan
If you went to Hawthorne High in the 60s, you probably know the name of this popular music teacher. If it’s the same Mr. Morgan, he also ran alongside Andy in the 1968 City Council race, garnering a respectable 1,022 votes. He was in the news as recently as 2018 for giving Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson an “F” on a music composition assignment. He later called it the “million dollar F”! (Brian turned in what would become the Beach Boys hit, “Surfin'”!) Brian returned to Hawthorne High in 2018 and had his grade overturned to an A!
Andy Lococo and David Rice
Lastly, there was Andy (who finished the race with 1,389 votes) and David Rice, a friend of Andy’s who frequented the Cockatoo. According to CockatooInn.com reader Curt Lint, Dave Rice was the District Attorney for the city of Inglewood. He met Rice at the Cockatoo whilst with Dixon Collins, a well-known figure during the golden age of Baja. All four men made waves in Baja, having separate building projects in the Mexican state. (We wrote previously on Andy’s interest in Baja.) According to Lint, Andy did have a property built there. It was a leisure spot for his circle, of which Dave Rice was a part. In the election, Rice captured 1,408 votes.
Not out of the game
When Cockatoo Inn owner Andy ran for office, it was somewhat of a long shot. Despite the election results, Andy remained influential. A few years later, Hawthorne’s political divisions were on full public display. In 1971, Andy found himself at the center of City Manager Richard Pennock’s firing. During that time, Mayor Gregory Page charged that the reason for his firing was that Pennock patronized the Cockatoo Inn with councilmen Hubert Cunningham, Joe Miller, and Chief of Police Coleman Young. He further charged that meetings were attended by Andy Lococo, in which they discussed city business. Mayor Page said Andy’s association with the ‘Cosa Nostra’ and his prior convictions affected the city’s affairs.
In response, Councilman Cunningham praised the Cockatoo Inn:
Neither Miller nor I deny going to the Cockatoo, as does almost everyone else in town. It is one of the nicest restaurants in town. I have been there with a number of people: senators, congressmen, lawyers, judges, and ministers.
H. Cunningham, “Bitter Political Battle Erupts Among Hawthorne Councilmen,” Ray Ripton, LA Times, 1971
Cunningham went on to say that he welcomed a full investigation of the city, and warned that the Mayor would come out worse. He and Joe Miller sought to have the Mayor recalled.
Clearly, Andy still had the trust of local lawmakers and law enforcement. He also had enough clout to draw the ire of other politicians, and was used as a lightning rod in political battles on more than one occasion.
Do you love the Cockatoo? Show everyone what the best midcentury hotel and restaurant were with the official Cockatoo Inn t-shirt!
Wow I remember even Sgt Mc Nally speaking highly of Uncle Andy. I was put down for being related to Andy because of his mobs ties. 1968 is the year things started falling apart for the Cockatoo and the Lococos.
Hi Felice, welcome to the site! Very true, 1968 (and on) brewed lots of trouble for Andy. We may document some of those events later on the site. Thanks for your comments!
My mother was raised in Hawthorne. graduated from Luzinger HS 1955. My grandfather, grandmother lived off 137th &Hawthorne Blvd. working at the Hawthorne Convelsant Center, running their nursing home locations. which were close to the Cockatoo Inn Restaurant. it was the BEST PLACE in town for Italian cuisine. I remember one of the son’s of the family as he was closer to my age. I think his name was Andy Jr or Nick?? however, this place was absolutely the spot to go in the 1970s. you walked in the front door and smelled candles very good smell. Dark inside the dining room, but it didn’t matter. went to LHS and knew many people in Hawthorne. Our go to place was there and you never knew who you might run into. I lived this place and Hollywood Park was the best too. didn’t care for Harness Racing. loved Thoroughbreds the best. Would follow my friends boyfriend from Hollywood Park over to Restaurant many times. thank God it was dark inside because he didn’t know we were spying on him. LOL He would leave the track and go to the INN for a drink or two at tge bar. it was absolutely hysterical. she thought he was cheating so she insisted that we go to the track (ran through Parking Lot- Find his ca, park near him and go into track, get the racing corm, and bet on a few horse’s. He spent many nights after the races drinks at the bar. Since we were spying on him we had to be low profile. I laugh so hard thinking About how young I was and doing this kind of stuff. I just lived to eat tge great spaghetti and bread there. I wasn’t old enough to drink yet. However, when I turned 21, sat at the bar ordered drink, had dinner when ever I could. moved to Inglewood once I met my son’s father which brought me even closer to the restaurant. Lacoco Family were still running the place then. We knew about the family and didn’t care. it was the hottest place in town. Unless you went to Hollywood. which didn’t like Italian restaurants. The Rainbow’s (Sunset Blvd) food wasn’t like the Cockatoo Inn’s food. There was no place like it. And to this day, nope!!! No place. I was so sad when it was demolitioned. So many great memories of a place with so much history and the design,(Roy’s) was one of it’s kind in the state of California. Property was absolutely one of a kind. The Mid-century design was a bit like you might see in Europe. Loved walking in the door sun shining And it was dark. The door was very unique too. I could go on and on about the place. I must of driven by it too at least over 1000 times or more. Because, Hawthorne Blvd was a great way to go to Hollywood! And of corse Tommy’s was on Imperial Hwy too.
I spent lots of nights going to the Strip driving by the place. Always looking at the door. Seeing fancy cars & limos pulling up. If I remember correctly, limited parking in front of the place? or you couldn’t park in front? can’t remember. We always paid the car so we parked in the back. I just remembered ALL the people who went there and knew the Lacoco family.
Reading all the stories were so fun. Hollywood Park connected to so many of my memories there. I hope this comes through as I wanted to post a picture of the Inn and see what stories my Los Angeles friends have to say About this place. surely there are many more stories to be told. I really felt nostalgic reading this website today and needed to share my memories of such a great HISTORICAL LANDMARK IN LA.
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN!
I couldn’t edit my message for some reason my phone wasn’t letting me scroll back up to proof read my message.
Thank you for all the memories and such a great place to have dinner, drinks, chase people (LOL- because sometimes following Jim my friends boyfriend turned into a chase) we just should of known he was on his way to the restaurant for a drink and went there first. But no so crazy Sally. She had to always follow him. She never knew he would end up there most of the time. A few times he would go home, liquor store, friends house.
How crazy she(we)were chasing him trying to stay far enough so he didn’t see us foolishly following him.
Susan Raigosa
suzbran1@gmail.com