They had twin daughters, Karen and Karol, and three sons, Wiliam Karl, John Stewart and James Edward.

The children established the Dr. Rubye and Judge Billy G. Mills Scholarship at UCLA to offer graduates of LA public schools studying political science seeking financial aid.

"[6] He and Tom Bradley were the next two blacks to serve on the Los Angeles City Council, after Gilbert Lindsay, who had been appointed in the 9th District in 1962.

In 1968 Mills ran unsuccessfully for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, challenging the incumbent, Kenneth Hahn.

"[9] In April 1964 Mills maintained that he had been stopped by the police seventeen times since the preceding July because he was "spotted driving a city car at night."

"[10] On Wednesday evening, August 11, 1965, a large-scale civil disturbance broke out in the Watts district of Los Angeles and spread within a few days to other parts of the city.

"[11] Staff writer Paul Beck of the Los Angeles Times, reported: Mills' decision to hold the meeting came in the face of warnings from other councilmen that it could cause serious problems and do no good in calming those involved.

"[11]Mills demanded an investigation of the role of the Los Angeles Police Department in the riots and asked Mayor Yorty to issue an executive order that would prevent Chief William H. Parker and other department heads from making public statements without clearing them first with the mayor or appropriate governing boards.

[12] On September 8, 1965, Mills "directed" Chief Parker to appear before him "in person" to explain a raid on a Black Muslim mosque the preceding August 18, in which nineteen people were arrested and all were freed by a judge, citing lack of evidence.

[13] The councilman said he had information that the mosque raid was "deliberately provoked" by false phone calls that Negroes were carrying guns into the building.

"[14] Mills later submitted a report suggesting that a fire set inside the mosque could have been done by police as an act of "hostility.

[16] By a three-vote margin, Mills in 1966 was elected the first black chairman of the Democratic County Central Committee over fellow Councilman Tom Bradley, also an African American.

After the vote, Mills called for the defeat of former movie star and television actor Ronald Reagan, who was running for governor as a Republican.