By Niki Cervantes
Staff Writer

March 31, 2016 -- Former Los Angeles Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who represented the Westside and championed causes in nearby Santa Monica, has died. He was 70.

Rosendahl died early Wednesday at his Mar Vista home after a four-year battle with cancer, officials said. He was surrounded by family and friends.

A beloved figure locally, Rosendahl was the first openly gay man to serve on the Los Angeles City Council and was a television talk show host who featured national politicians as well as those nearer to home.

Rosendahl and current U.S. Congressman Ted Lieu at a 2007 rally to protest jet traffic at Santa Monica Airport. (Photo by The Lookout)

Rosendahl’s popularity earned him local fame, status and political clout, but “it didn’t go to his head,” said former Santa Monica Mayor Mike Feinstein, who was a guest several times on the show. “He was a regular guy.”

“I really loved him,” he said. “He was like a brother."

Rosendahl was diagnosed in 2012 with cancer of the ureter, the duct that passes urine from the kidney to the bladder. His cancer went into remission in 2013 but reappeared a year later.

Los Angeles Councilman Mike Bonin, who now serves the Westside’s 11th District, recalled his predecessor’s “beaming smile and a booming voice.”

Although he represented some of L.A.’s wealthiest neighborhoods, Rosendahl also befriended the “downtrodden throughout his lifetime and during his eight-year stint representing the Westside on the City Council,” Bonin said.

He was often called the “Conscience of the City Council,” focusing on the problem of homelessness, promoting mass transit, curbing overdevelopment and giving neighborhoods a greater voice in city matters, Bonin said.

Rosendahl served the 11th District from 2005 to 2013, when he retired to battle his cancer, which had reached stage four.

Toward the end of his tenure in office, Rosendahl became an outspoken advocate for medical marijuana, which he used to combat the side effects of cancer treatments, Bonin said.

During his tenure, Rosendahl helped start permanent supportive housing for those in need and created a program that housed more than 100 people living in their vehicles in Venice, he said.

He also opened Fisher House, a home for families of veterans receiving treatment at the Veterans Administration campus in West LA, and helped halt expansion of Los Angeles International Airport into nearby neighborhoods, Bonin said.

Rosendahl was an ardent supporter of closing Santa Monica Airport, which bordered his district, attending Santa Monica City Hall rallies and caller for tougher lease terms for aviation-related tenants.

Prior to his election, Rosendahl was the award-winning producer and host of Local Talk, Week in Review and Beyond the Beltway, all public affairs TV shows.

Feinstein remembered appearing several times over the years on Rosendahl's programs, both as a Santa Monica Mayor and City Councilmember, and as a spokesperson for the Green Party.

“It didn’t matter that it was the Green Party,” Feinstein said. “He just wanted to make sure every voice was heard.”

Rosendahl was from Englewood, New Jersey, and was the sixth of eight children. He worked on the campaigns of Eugene McCarthy, Robert F. Kennedy and George McGovern.

As a teenager, he became involved in the civil rights movement and was on the Washington Mall in 1963 to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his
“I Have A Dream” speech.

Rosendahl went on to receive a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science & Economics from Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

He is survived by his longtime partner, Hedi El-Kholti; his brother Thomas Rosendahl and sister-in-law Sheila Rosendahl, and their sons, Robbie-Paul, Ricky-Luke and Arthur of Westchester; his brother Steven Rosendahl of Highlands Ranch, Colorado; his sister Mary LeMothe of Apex, North Carolina; his sister Helen Davoren of Westfield, New Jersey; and his nephew and caregiver, Christopher Rosendahl of Mar Vista.

Funeral and memorial arrangements are pending, but will include a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Monica's Church in Santa Monica, and a memorial service at Mar Vista Park.

In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory can be made to organizations helping the homeless, including Safe Place for Youth, New Directions for Veterans and the Jeff Griffith Youth Center at the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center.