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James Kenneth Hahn (born July 3 , 1950 ) is an American politician from the Democratic Party . He was the Deputy City Attorney (1975-1979), City Controller (1981-1985), City Attorney (1985-2001) and Mayor of Los Angeles, California (2001-2005). He did not win a second term in the 2005 Mayoral Election . He is the son of the late Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn , who was known as an ardent supporter of Civil Rights . Biography James Hahn was born on July 3, 1950 in Los Angeles, and raised in the Morningside Park district of South Los Angeles . Hahn attended Manchester Avenue Elementary School, Daniel Freeman Elementary School, Horace Mann Junior High School, and Lutheran High School. He graduated from the Seaver College of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California magna cum laude with a Bachelor's Degree in English and a minor in journalism in 1972. He received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1975. A Pepperdine University news release stated that in 1994 , he was selected as the School of Law's Distinguished Alumnus. Also written was that while at Seaver College, he assisted in the development of a paralegal program for the Family Law Center of the Legal Aid Society and that during law school, he clerked for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. Upon graduation in 1975 until 1979 , Hahn worked as a prosecutor and deputy city attorney in the office of the City Attorney. From 1979-1981, he was in private practice with long time friend Robert Horner. In 1981 he was elected the fifth and youngest City Controller of Los Angeles and served until 1985. Hahn then went on to serve a record 16 years, 1985-2001, as Los Angeles City Attorney. Also written in a Pepperdine University news release was that with 358 attorneys, and a support staff of 346, the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office is one of the largest municipal law offices in the nation and has branch offices in 21 locations citywide. James Hahn was elected in 2001 to serve as the 40th mayor of Los Angeles but was not re-elected in 2005 . While Mayor, Hahn led two successful trade trips, one to Asia and one to Mexico . In Mexico, Hahn received an airport security briefing at Mexico City's Benito Juarez International Airport and held meetings with Mexican business and airlines executives and Mexican President Vicente Fox . As a result of his Mexico trip, AeroMexico airlines decided to fly out of Ontario International Airport , providing a more regional approach to air service in the Los Angeles area. In addition, he secured a deal with Grupo Gigante to open five of their stores in Los Angeles to improve the economy. He also set up a Mexico Trade Desk within the Mayor’s Office of International Trade to increase opportunities. In his trip to Asia, Mayor Hahn met with South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung , Beijing Mayor Liu Qi and Shanghai Mayor Chen Liang Yu. Mayor Hahn received the medal of honorary citizenship from Mayor of Seoul Lee Myung-bak at Seoul City Hall. In Beijing, Hahn established an agreement concerning the 2008 Olympics , created trade offices in both cities, designating Los Angeles as gateway to Beijing and allowing Los Angeles firms to be hired to oversee the renovation of the Beijing airport. Mayor Hahn, working with the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, launched a program in Japan called "See My LA" with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles Dodger Kazuhisa Ishii . In Korea, he partnered with Korean soccer star Hong Myung-bo to encourage Koreans to come to Los Angeles to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the arrival of Koreans in Los Angeles. Both campaigns were aimed to increase tourism from Japan and Korea. In addition, Hahn established an agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association to exchange rare and exotic animals to be displayed at the Los Angeles Zoo . To improve regional air service in LA, Hahn convinced EVA airlines to fly out of Ontario International Airport. The most prominent agreement was with the Port of LA and the Ports of Beijing and Shanghai, expanding service to the Port of LA, ensuring Asian cargo ships are plugged into natural power, and sharing technology and resources between the ports. In addition to his duties as mayor, Hahn was a member of the Board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and advocated for better public transportation for the county. During the aftermath of the events of September 11 , the US Conference of Mayors appointed Hahn to chair a task force of US Mayors on Aviation Security. On June 28, 2005, shortly before the inauguration of his successor, Hahn was honored in the John Ferraro Council Chambers of City Hall by the City Council and Fire Department for 24 years of elected public service. Hahn is from a family of Public Servant s. His father, Kenny Hahn, served as an LA City Councilman and as an LA County Supervisor for a record 40 years. Hahn's uncle, Gordon Hahn , was a state assemblyman and an LA City Councilman and another uncle, John Hahn, was assistant county clerk. His cousin, Dale Hahn, is a Superior Court judge in San Mateo County. His sister, Janice Hahn , was reelected in 2005 as an LA City Councilwoman for the 15th district. Hahn is a member of the Redondo Beach Church of Christ. Hahn lives in the Los Angeles community of San Pedro with his two children Karina and Jackson; he was formerly married to Monica Hahn and Joni Hawley. Political career Hahn served as a deputy city attorney in the City Attorney's office from 1975-1979 and was in private practice from 1979-1981. From 1981-1985, he served as the City Controller of Los Angeles and later served as City Attorney from 1985 - 2001 before defeating former State Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa , a fellow Democrat, by 9% in the 2001 Mayoral Election to become the 40th Mayor of the city of Los Angeles. Hahn sought a second term as mayor, with the runoff election being held on May 17 , 2005 , but he was defeated by Villaragoisa. Mayoral Achievements Hahn claims these achievements: Environment Mayor Hahn set an ambitious goal for the city, instructing the Department of Water and Power to make 17% of all energy, natural energy by 2017. In addition, he prevented the Department of Water and Power from investing in a coal plant in Utah and instead diverted the funds to implement clean air energy solutions. One of the main solutions which he made strides in was converting much of the city's fleet of vehicles into clean natural gas vehicles. In addition, Hahn was instrumental in the creation of the Alternative Maritime Program at the Port of Los Angeles, which has enormous ships plug into clean energy. Economy Mayor Hahn worked to improve the economic status of the City of Los Angeles. With the tragic events of September 11 combined with the fact that Sacramento politicians were constantly raiding local tax dollars to balance their budgets, Hahn faced difficult economic situations. Even so, in regard to September 11, he introduced a number of creative programs, including Dine LA, partnering with such organizations as American Express to boost the local economy. In regard to Sacramento, he was a lead proponent in passing a ballot initiative to prevent Sacramento from raiding local funds, an intiative he helped negotiate. In addition, Hahn implemented major business tax reform and streamlined the business tax process. Through his term in office, Hahn was able to create 40,000 jobs. Housing and Homelessness Hahn was a major advocate for housing, especially afforadable housing. He recognized that in order for the business climate to improve, employers needed the reassurance that their employees could find affordable housing. This led Hahn to create a 100 million dollar housing trust fund, the largest in the nation. The city's committment of 100 million dollars was able to leverage millions more and resulted in the construction of thousands of new units of housing. In addition, Hahn expanded and fervently supported the Adaptive Reuse Ordiance, which allows developers to convert old, vacant, and sometimes dilapidated buildings into residential units. This ordiance was a major reason for the rejuvenation of Downtown Los Angeles. To tackle the issue of homelessness, Hahn worked with City Councilmembers Jan Perry and Eric Garcetti to secure funding to ensure that homeless shelters scheduled to close after winter ended, would remain open year round. More significantly even, Hahn, along with other civic leaders, convened "Bring Los Angeles Home", a blue ribbon commission dedicated to eradicating homelessness in Los Angeles County by 2013. In April 2006, after Hahn was out of office, the commission released its results, a 1300 page report. Education Hahn was a major advocate for expanding after school programs. He believed it to be an essential element of not only improving education, but improving public safety as well. As a result, he expanded LA's Best, a nationally respected after school program for elementary school students to serve more than 5,500 students at 45 additional schools. The program now serves more than 20,000 students at approximately 120 schools. He also continuously supported LA's Bridges, an after school program for middle school students, aimed more towards gang prevention and intervention. In addition, he supported the expansion of Arnold's All Stars after school programs. Hahn was also committed to building new school facilities. As a result, he supported the expansion of charter schools and established a schools division within his office, partnering with the Los Angeles Unified School District. The purpose of the schools division was to identify locations for new schools and to speed up the construction process, to relieve overcrowding. Hahn also recognized that education is not strictly K-12, but instead, lifelong. He wanted to make sure that every student had the opportunity to a good primary and secondary education, a college education, and opportunities throughout their adulthood. Therefore, he implemented three key initiatives in that regard. The first was his free Cash for College Program, whose goal is to assist Los Angeles high school seniors in low income families identify, complete, and submit financial aid forms for college entrance. The second program was entitled Literacy @ Work and strived to improve the workforce by teaching illiterate people how to read and write, finding them jobs, and ensuring that future generations will not grow up illiterate. His third and final program was One Book One City LA which each year, partnered with the Los Angeles Public Library, selected a book to be read across the city at the same time, with a series of events planned to accompany the reading. Transportation Without question, Hahn's greatest contribution to the realm of transportation was his 11 billion dollar modernization plan for Los Angeles International Airport. The plan included the consolidation of rental car facilities, the expansion of the Green Line to actually serve the airport, the movement, expansion, elimination, and/or construction of certain runways and terminals, among other things. The plan was very controversial but reached a compromise with the help of Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, and passed. At a more local level, Hahn made street maintenance and improvement a priority, repaving hundreds of miles of streets and alleys. To tackle traffic, Hahn had two main programs, his Traffic Safety and Congestion Relief Plan, which improved 25 of the worst intersections each year, resulting in over 100, and his Street Smart Program, making improvements to 35 of the worst streets in Los Angeles. The improvements made as part of these programs included the expansion of left turn signals, the synchronization of street lights, and restriping, among others. To improve safety on the streets, Hahn launched the "Watch the Road" advertising campaign. He also helped to create the Safety Valet Program at the city's schools to ensure safety of students to and from schools. Lastly, to improve public transportation and mass transit, Hahn held leadership roles on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. In those positions, he was able to advocate successfully for the expansion of MTA Rapid buses and rail lines. In addition, he lobbied for federal and state funds for the Gold Line Eastside Extension and other MTA and Los Angeles Department of Transportation projects. Public Safety and Homeland Security Hahn's biggest goal as mayor was to make Los Angeles the safest big city in America. Therefore, he devoted much of his time to public safety. His greatest accomplishment was replacing Bernard Parks as Police Chief with William Bratton, the former Police Commissioner of both the Boston and New York Police Departments. He chose Bratton because they shared similar philosophies of restoring community policing and improving officer morale. Both of those goals were achieved and as a result, all areas of crime went down in the city. In addition to bringing in Bratton, Hahn was able to improve officer morale and increase recruitment and retention by implementing the flexible work week schedule. With all of these efforts, Hahn oversaw the first increase in the ranks in ten years. In terms of the Fire Deparment, Hahn increased the number of fire fighters and paramedics in the force. In addition, for the first time in city history, Hahn initiated a policy that there be at least one ambulance in every fire station, which improves response time and saves lives. Hahn recognized that the Police and Fire Departments, as well as the paramedics, were always the first line of defense. However, with the changing world after the tragic events of September 11, Hahn also devoted much of his time to homeland security and emergency preparedness. He instructed the Police and Fire departments to hold emergency drills in anticipation of a major terrorist attack, known as Operation Archangel which is now a national model. He convened an annual homeland security summit bringing together the foremost leaders in homeland security and lobbied successfully for millions of dollars in federal and state grants. Finally, Hahn was appointed to chair the US Conference of Mayors Aviation Security Task Force after 9-11. With that position, Hahn played a major role in shaping aviation security. Through the task force, he was able to implement mayors' from across the country input in the federal aviation security act. Neighborhoods, Human and Immigrant Services, and the Decentralization of Government Mayor Hahn entered office at a time when neighborhoods throughout the city felt disconnected with city government and contemplated seceding from the city. Hahn would not let that happen, providing arguments that the secession would not be beneficial to the new cities or the remaining Los Angeles, and was passionate about the cause. Through his campaign Unite LA, he defeated secession in the San Fernando Valley, Hollywood, and San Pedro. Many would argue that Hahn's greatest legacy was keeping Los Angeles intact as one city. After defeating secession, he knew that the problems felt by the neighborhoods originally were not solved. Therefore, he implemented a number of initiatives to reconnect city government to the neighborhoods it serves. Mayor Hahn created the Teamwork LA Program which identified seven regions of the city and named them Neighborhood Service Areas. Mayor Hahn built a mini city hall in each service area which was run by a Neighborhood Service Cabinet, consisting of top officials from customer service oriented departments and ultimately a Neighborhood Director. Each Neighborhood Service Cabinet worked efficiently with the Neighborhood Councils, providing them with office space and other resources. The LA Stat program was created to measure all of the progress in this program and all data was supplied to Council members and the Mayor. In addition, he created the 311 telephone system, a one call to city hall, operable 24/7. Hahn also created E-Government, an innovative program, enabling citizens to do city business including getting permits and paying parking tickets, among other things, on line. When Hahn entered office, a new city charter had recently been approved, creating a system of neighborhood councils. When Hahn became mayor, there were 0 councils; when he left four years later, there were over 80. Hahn provided each neighborhood council with $50,000 for any purpose of their choice and an additional $100,000 for the repavement and repair of street services in their neighborhood. To please the neighborhood councils and the rest of the city, as well as to insure healthy fiscal management, Hahn introduced Priority Based Budgeting, which allowed neighborhood councils to identify the top issues in their neighborhoods needing funding and therefore, influence the budget process. In addition, this type of budget allowed for the most necessary services getting the funding over less necessary services, increasing governmental efficiency. Lastly, Hahn, with the help of Councilman Eric Garcetti, created the Office of Immigrant Affairs within the Office of the Mayor to ensure a good life for the many immigrants of the City of Los Angeles. Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs As Mayor, Hahn embarked on two successful trade trips, one to Mexico and one to Asia. The details of the trips and their results can be found in Mayor Hahn's biography at the top of the article. In addition to the two trips, Hahn realized how vitally important international trade is to the economy of Los Angeles, and subsequently established the Office of International Trade within the Office of the Mayor. On a more local level, Hahn made many trips to Sacramento and Washington DC, and personally lobbied successfully for state and federal grants. He also employed a small staff in Sacramento and Washington DC of lobbyists who could constantly further his agenda in the state's and nation's respective capitals. Mayoral Staff Mayor Hahn's staff consisted of a Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff. It also included a Director of Communications as head of the Press Office and several Deputy Mayors, each covering different areas of policy and community development. Re-Election Campaign and Legacy In the 2005 election, there were several reasons that people believe indicate why Hahn was defeated by Antonio Villaraigosa. First, Hahn failed on one of his biggest promises of the 2001 campaign to increase the Los Angeles Police Department by 1000 officers. With difficult economic times and at one point, the city council voting against his expansion proposal in the budget, this was viewed as impossible. In 2005, he tried to increase the force by placing an initiative on the ballot which would have raised the sales tax by a half a penny. A few members of the council voted against this plan and as a result, it could not be placed on the ballot. Antonio Villaraigosa was one of the councilmembers who voted against it, and is now seen as hypocritical, because he is trying to achieve the same thing by raising the residential trash pickup fee. Hahn's plan would have given the voters a chance to say yes or no; Villaraigosa's plan will be imposed without a vote. In addition, Hahn was not an overly personable man and was blamed constantly for what some called a personality deficiency. This reputation was reached because Hahn's delivery of speeches was not overly exciting and as a single parent, he was not able to attend cocktail parties and other events of the Los Angeles social scene. Also, by nature, Hahn has admitted that he is a more laid back person and does not always prefer the social scene. Even so, the two most publicized reasons were the fact that Hahn defeated secession and replaced Bernard Parks as police chief. Even though both were for the better of the city and were seen as his two largest accomplishments, they angered his constituents in the conservative San Fernando Valley and the African American community. Those two blocks of people were the groups that brought him to victory in his first race for Mayor in 2001. He had appealed to the Valley because although he was a democrat, he was the most moderate of the contenders, and was seen as tough on crime because of his 16 years as City Attorney. He appealed to the African American community because his father Kenneth Hahn, was a beloved and legendary County Supervisor who represented them for over 40 years. Losing these two groups caused Villaraigosa to soundly defeat him, with Hahn only recieving enough support in large numbers to win the 15th council district, which includes his home of San Pedro, and the Asian community. Even so, Hahn was not defeated hugely, but as the first incumbent mayor of Los Angeles to be defeated in reelection since the Great Depression, it was embarassing. With time, political scientists have suggested that his four year administration will be viewed upon more brightly. Post Mayoral Career After leaving office, Hahn accepted the position of a managing director and partner at the firm Chadwick Saylor & Company, which has offices in Los Angeles and Atlanta. On October 19, 2005, Hahn took part in a discussion entitled "The State of Los Angeles", sponsored by a non-profit organization called "Days of Dialogue". The other panelists were former Mayor Richard Riordan and current Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the only other living mayors of the city of Los Angeles. "Days of Dialogue" was founded after the notorious OJ Simpson trial in order to encourage discussions on key issues in the Los Angeles region. It is currently chaired by California State Assemblyman and former Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. On Monday, December 12, 2005, Hahn delivered a eulogy at the funeral of long time city councilman Marvin Braude . On January 7, 2006, Hahn attended and spoke at a memorial service at Los Angeles City Hall and at a private residence for former County Federation of Labor leader Bill Robertson. Since leaving office, he has also attended a number of other events of significance. On March 1, 2006, it was announced that through Chadwick Saylor & Company, Hahn will become CEO of Los Angeles Development Partners, L.P.(LADP). The partnership consists of an 800 million dollar fund managed by Chadwick Saylor & Company with numerous investors. Its goal is to develop afforadable housing and other economic development projects around transit lines, including the Metrolink and Metro Rail. The projects will be completed by unionists. Hahn will be in charge of all of the operations of the entire 800 million dollar fund. Hahn is known to have frequent reunions with his staffers. In addition, due to the request of Chief of Police, William Bratton , Hahn still maintains a security detail. Life Highlights
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