Charles Norris Poulson (July 23, 1895 – September 25, 1982) was an American politician who represented Southern California in public office at the local, state, and federal levels.

Poulson, for his part, challenged Bowron's support for public housing, in particular a project in the area known as Chavez Ravine in Elysian Park Heights (the site on which Dodger Stadium would later be built).

He helped integrate the city's fire and police departments and initiated a garbage recycling program that proved to be a factor in his defeat in 1961.

[6] Perhaps the most memorable image of his mayoral career came on September 21, 1959, when he addressed Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev during a public ceremony.

[7] He lost a reelection campaign in 1961 to Sam Yorty, partly due to having to explain the expenses incurred by the Dodgers' franchise shift.

Efforts to blunt such criticism were limited due to a severe case of laryngitis, which prevented him from responding to the invitation from local television personality George Putnam to debate Yorty on his show.