Fiedler, Bobbi, 1937-2019

<p>Roberta Frances "Bobbi" Fiedler (née Horowitz; April 22, 1937 – March 3, 2019) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Representative from California.</p>

<p>Born Roberta Frances Horowitz in Santa Monica, California on April 22, 1937, Fiedler attended area public schools. Studies continued at Santa Monica Technical School (1955–1957) and Santa Monica City College (1955–1959).</p>

<p>Fiedler began her political career at Encino's Lanai Road Elementary School, where she mobilized other mothers to protest court-ordered desegregation busing. Fiedler formed an organization called Bustop in 1976, and the organization grew to 30,000 members in weeks. Fiedler's role in the grass-roots group helped propel her to public office, as she won a surprising upset in 1977 against Los Angeles school board president Robert Docter, who favored desegregation busing. While serving on the Los Angeles (City) Board of Education, Fiedler and fellow board member Roberta Weintraub were fierce opponents of desegregation busing.</p>

<p>Thrust onto the public stage because of her opposition to a controversial Los Angeles busing program, Bobbi Fiedler managed to convert her local celebrity into a political career. The former homemaker and businesswoman who described herself as a “fiscal conservative and a social liberal” managed to unseat a prominent incumbent to earn a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Fiedler’s congressional career ended following an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate.</p>

<p>Roberta (Bobbi) Frances Horowitz was born to Jack and Sylvia Levin Horowitz in Santa Monica, California, on April 22, 1937. After graduating from Santa Monica High School in 1955, she attended Santa Monica Technical School and Santa Monica City College through 1959. During the 1960s, she and her husband owned and operated two pharmacies in the San Fernando section of Los Angeles and had two children: Randy and Lisa. The Fiedlers later divorced.</p>

<p>Bobbi Fiedler first entered the public spotlight when she became a vocal critic of a divisive Los Angeles busing program of the 1970s. Aimed at promoting racial integration in Southern California public schools, the mandatory busing system attracted the ire of parents throughout the district because of its tendency to force children to travel long distances to and from school. As a parent volunteer in a local elementary school, Fiedler led the charge of disgruntled parents by organizing an anti-busing group called BUSTOP. Fiedler’s notoriety from her work with the protest organization helped launch her political career. In 1977 she won election to the influential Los Angeles city board of education which oversaw an urban school district encompassing more than 3 million people. The high-profile leadership position spurred Fiedler’s ascent on both the state and national scene. From 1977 through 1987, Fiedler served as a delegate to the California State Republican conventions, and she also was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1980 and 1984. During the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas, Fiedler delivered a speech seconding President Ronald Reagan’s nomination for re-election.</p>