Former state senator and onetime Monrovia mayor Richard “Dick” Mountjoy, an arch conservative known for sticking to his guns, died of a heart attack Monday night. He was 83.
Mountjoy, a Republican, served more than 20 years in the state legislature, both in the assembly and the state senate, where at one point he held a seat in both simultaneously.
Though Mountjoy’s beliefs sometimes put him at odds with his party, California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte described Mountjoy as a man “of deep faith and a love of life.”
“He was always ready for a fight, but never got personal,” Brulte said in a statement. “Friends and foe alike had respect for his deeply held beliefs.”
Mountjoy, owner of a construction company, was elected to the state assembly in 1978, where he served until 1995. In Nov. 1994, he won both the 59th Assembly District seat and a special election to fill out the remaining term of Sen. Frank Hill, who was convicted of felony corruption charges. Mountjoy intended to use his remaining time in office in the state assembly to help remove Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown from his post, but Mountjoy was expelled from the assembly before the vote because of his dual offices.
He remained on the state senate until 2000. He later unsuccessfully ran in 2006 for U.S. Senate against Democrat Diane Feinstein.
His son, Dennis Mountjoy, followed in his father’s footsteps and represented Monrovia in the state Assembly from 2000 to 2006.
“Dick was a warrior, he didn’t follow the crowd or anything like that, he just did what he felt was right,” said Mike Spence, a West Covina councilman and former president of the California Republican Assembly. “He was a great guy.”
Spence succeeded Mountjoy as the president of the CRA in 2003.
An iconic figure in Southern California’s Republican party and later in the area’s Tea Party movement, Mountjoy’s endorsement carried weight long after he ended his political career.
It was Mountjoy’s nod that pushed former state Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, who lost the primary to the more liberal Republican Neel Kashkari, to run for Governor last year. Mountjoy asked Donnelly to run while the pair ate dessert at Mountjoy’s home, and Donnelly said it was the confirmation he needed to cement a brewing idea.
“He gave me a great deal of advice on what I would be facing, I wish I had listened to him more,” Donnelly said.
Donnelly said Mountjoy faced the same challenges as the California GOP shifted away from the conservatism that Mountjoy represented. He no longer had to fight against just the Democrats, but his own party members.
“I guess I’m in a small fraternity, of which he was the founding member,” Donnelly said.
Mountjoy once said he went to Sacramento to “kick over tables” not to make friends, according to Donnelly.
“To me, this is a sad day for California,” Donnelly said.
Mountjoy always looked to God and the Constitution when bringing legislation forward, said Peggy Mew, his former chief of staff. Even when both parties agreed, Mountjoy would speak up if he thought otherwise.
“He had a heart and a philosophy and a belief, and he wasn’t going to change, and that’s why he was so fun to work with,” Mew said. “He was a great human being.”
She said the respect he garnered was shown by most of his staff staying with him for the entirety of his political career.
Mew pointed to Mountjoy’s success in removing poisonous additive Methly Tertiary Butly Ether (MTBE) from gasoline in the late 1990s as part of his legacy, though his Republican colleagues fought him on it.
“He didn’t care because it was the right thing to do,” she said.
Called a “statesmen” by many, Mew said Mountjoy couldn’t wait to get home from Sacramento every week. He often went to restaurants and bars where he wasn’t known as part of an attempt get people’s honest opinions.
“He never thought of himself as more important, he always thought of himself as ‘I’m just carrying your message,’” she said.
Mountjoy’s conservative views often put him at odds with minority groups, particularly after the passage of Prop. 187, a bill he championed that denied state services to undocumented immigrants. A federal judge blocked the bill — which passed among California’s voters — from being fully implemented.
Ralph Walker, a civil rights activist and Monrovian, said Mountjoy, a city council member from 1968-76, was the father of Monrovia’s more conservative political atmosphere. Though Mountjoy represented some of the very ideals Walker fought against, Mountjoy came on Walker’s public access show in the late 1990s as one of the first guests and often greeted him warmly when their paths crossed.
“He’s greatly loved by some, controversial to others — especially people of color,” Walker said. “There was part of him that was part of the conservative old guard that kept people of color limited in their political opportunities. That is one part of his legacy.”
Outside of his political career, Mountjoy was still known as a “man of his word,” said former Assemblyman Chris Lancaster, whose father Bill Lancaster served with Mountjoy. The younger Lancaster was 14-years-old when he met Mountjoy. An avid fisherman, Mountjoy knew “every hook, fly, lure, everything,” Lancaster said. He always maintained a sense of humor, even after his wife, Earline, died in 2009.
“He was quite the character,” Lancaster said. “We were lucky to have him so long.”
