[2] He was a veteran of either the Navy[3] or the United States Coast Guard, where he served in the South Pacific as a chief petty officer.

[citation needed] Warburton was a public relations man when he "decisively defeated" Delamere F. McCloskey in a race for the 1st District seat to represent the San Fernando Valley on the Los Angeles City Council in 1943.

In reaction to public displeasure with the way tickets had been distributed for the 1946 Rose Bowl game, Warburton introduced a resolution that would have the City Council sponsor an "intersectional contest" in the Coliseum with all tickets, with the exception of a limited number assigned to competing colleges, 'sold to citizens on a first-come, first served basis.

Warburton called on the Planning Commission to make a "scientific study" of whether the then-current fad for raising chinchillas required five acres of space like other fur-bearing animals.

[10] He told the council: When I got home from the football game last night there were about 50 persons, mostly women, picketing my place about this Communist ordinance.

Warburton was a strong supporter of a bitterly disputed $100 million citywide public housing program that was eventually rejected by the City Council.