William Mihrtad Paparian (born 1949 in Los Angeles, California) is an American politician, a former mayor of Pasadena, California, serving from 1995 to 1997. He was also a member of the Pasadena City Council from 1987 to 1999, and a Green Party candidate for Congress in 2006. He was the first Armenian-American mayor of Pasadena, as well as the only Pasadena mayor to visit Cuba during his term. Paparian has been known throughout his political career as an outspoken advocate of controversial causes, including ending the trade embargo against Cuba. He attracted national media attention for dispatching a Pasadena police helicopter to issue a citation to state aircraft spraying pesticides over the city, and for his urging Rose Parade observers in 2008 to turn their backs on the Chinese float, which he called the "Beijing Float of Shame."
Early years
Paparian was raised in the Sherman Oaks section of the San Fernando Valley in the 1960s. He is the son of an Armenian immigrant mother and second generation Armenian-Irish-American father from Rhode Island. Paparian received his B.A. degree from California State University Northridge and later received his J.D. degree from Southwestern University School of Law. While attending California State University Northridge, he was a theater student who also protested the Vietnam War. Yet, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1971 and was stationed at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County during the final years of the war. Years later, as Mayor of Pasadena, he was awarded the Outstanding Military Volunteer Service Medal by the Secretary of the Navy for his efforts as an elected public official on behalf of the military and veterans.
After being discharged from the Marine Corps, Paparian attended Southwestern University School of Law on the G.I. Bill and became an attorney. As a young attorney, he helped gain a medical furlough for Gourgen Yanikian, an Armenian immigrant convicted in the 1973 assassination of two Turkish diplomats, and defended Harry M. Sassounian, a Pasadena man found guilty in the fatal 1982 shooting of a Turkish consul.
He first achieved notoriety in 1987, when he unexpectedly unseated former Mayor Jo Heckman for her seat on the Board of City Directors, when her reelection was considered to be a safe bet.
Reputation for independence
Paparian has been known throughout his political career for a "go-it-alone" streak. In 1997, the Los Angeles Times published a profile of Paparian, focusing on his independence and penchant for attracting controversy. The Times noted
To detractors, his antics have undercut some otherwise good works and tarred Pasadena's stately image. The controversies also have underlined the sometimes puzzling complexities of a former Republican (now an independent) who admires both leftist revolutionary Che Guevara and the U.S. Marine Corps, who speaks out on Cuba and for the rights of American gun owners like himself. Paparian's views may seem an incongruous marriage of right and left, but his friends say they mark an independent-minded populist who favors the underdog and answers no clarion but his own.
Paparian suggested that his advocacy for unpopular causes was the product of "an intolerance for intolerance" and his upbringing in a family of Armenian immigrants.
Cuban relations
Paparian known for his efforts to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba. As Mayor of Pasadena, he convened a conference on U.S.-Cuba relations at Occidental College that was co-sponsored by the United Nations Association and the Department of Diplomacy and World Affairs. Paparian has traveled frequently to Cuba to coordinate the delivery of medical supplies and equipment and has worked with the Cuban Council of Churches and Havana's pediatric hospitals.
In July 1996, Paparian visited Cuba with his family in a trip paid for by the Cuban government. Paparian "received accolades and applause" in Cuba for his urging the U.S. government to end the trade embargo against Cuba. However, his visit led to criticism back in Pasadena. Upon his return from Cuba, more than 300 people crowded into a City Council meeting, some supporting and others opposing Paparian's trip.