At a car lot just off the 405 in the San Fernando Valley, there is more than meets the eye.<\/p>\n
Galpin Motors sells new and used Fords \u2014 touting itself as one of the largest dealerships in the world. But next door, it also displays exotic rides: Shelby Cobras. A vintage purple Rolls-Royce. Sylvester Stallone\u2019s Harley from \u201cThe Expendables.\u201d <\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s the on-site diner, the Horseless Carriage, where the vinyl-covered booths have hosted generations of Valley power brokers and men who have shaped the policies of the Los Angeles Police Department for decades.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bert Boeckmann, owner and president of Galpin Motors, stands with new Fords in his showroom.<\/p>\n
( Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Former Galpin boss Herbert \u201cBert\u201d Boeckmann was an influential figure in local politics and a member of the city\u2019s Board of Police Commissioners, the civilian panel that oversees the LAPD. A longtime lawyer for car dealer, Alan Skobin, also served on the commission. <\/p>\n
Now, another member of the Galpin Motors family is poised to carry on the legacy. <\/p>\n
The City Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether Jeffrey Skobin, a vice president at Galpin, will follow in his father Alan\u2019s footsteps and join the commission.<\/p>\n
Appointed by Mayor Karen Bass, the younger Skobin, 45, already serves on an advisory board that gives the mayor input on issues facing the Valley. He did not respond to an interview request from The Times.<\/p>\n
Skobin cleared one hurdle last week, when the council\u2019s public safety committee approved his nomination by a 3-1 vote.<\/p>\n
Several committee members professed to knowing Skobin\u2019s family, with one lauding him for the \u201cgood stock you come from.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skobin said he wouldn\u2019t take the role of commissioner lightly. The five-member panel acts like a corporate board of directors, setting LAPD policies, approving its budget and scrutinizing police shootings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recognize the seriousness of this role and the gravity of this responsibility,\u201d Skobin told the committee. \u201cMy story is deeply tied to Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n
A mega-dealership with five franchises, Galpin has long wielded influence as a source of jobs and tax revenue for the city. It was Boeckmann who established the business as a powerful player in local politics<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rare classic Porsche sports cars on display in the Galpin Hall of Customs during the LA Auto Show\u2019s opening day at Los Angeles Convention Center in 2021.<\/p>\n (Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Boeckmann was a self-made millionaire who started out as a car salesman in 1953, seven years after Galpin opened. He eventually bought out the company\u2019s founder, Frank Galpin. <\/p>\n In the decades that followed, he amassed a large corporate empire in the Valley that also included vast land holdings and a film production company.<\/p>\n Boeckmann and his wife, Jane, longtime publisher of the Valley magazine, backed George W. Bush for president, Gray Davis for governor and Antonio Villaraigosa for mayor. <\/p>\n Galpin\u2019s website features a picture of Boeckmann and his wife meeting California Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1974. \u201cWhen I think about what\u2019s right in America, I will always think of men like Bert Boeckmann,\u201d said the future president, according to the company.<\/p>\n Samantha Stevens, a Los Angeles political consultant and former legislative staffer, said candidates routinely made pilgrimages to the Galpin lot on Roscoe Boulevard to court Boekmann.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody would go and ask for their support, not just the money. You wanted the name on the endorsement list,\u201d Stevens said.<\/p>\n Although Boeckmann leaned conservative, she said, he was also a force behind the scenes in L.A.\u2019s left-leaning City Hall and seemed to put aside politics when he found causes or candidates that he believed in \u2014 including a failed push for the Valley to break away and form its own city.<\/p>\n Ford Explorers on a Galpin storage lot on Woodley Avenue near Van Nuys Airport. <\/p>\n (Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n \u201cI remember sending my liberal Democrat candidates to meet with them, and they would get donations,\u201d Stevens said.<\/p>\n First appointed to the Police Commission by then-Mayor Tom Bradley in 1983, Boeckmann served two stints under three mayors.<\/p>\n During his 17 combined years on the panel, Boeckmann gained a reputation as its most conservative member \u2014 with critics calling him an apologist for former Chief Daryl Gates. <\/p>\n He sat on the commission during two of the darkest chapters in LAPD history: The fallout of the 1991 beating of Black motorist Rodney King and the Rampart corruption scandal, which uncovered cops planting evidence, dealing drugs and committing other crimes. <\/p>\n Boekmann died in 2023 at age 93, but the company still maintains close ties with both the LAPD and City Hall.<\/p>\n Campaign finance records show that Galpin and its employees, including Jeffrey Skobin, have made contributions to numerous local, state and politicians, though not Bass\u2019 mayoral campaign. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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