Local politics are Supervisor candidate Hahn’s ‘bread and butter’
When Janice Hahn returned to her family’s home in South Central Los Angeles to tell them about her 1993 run at L.A.’s City Council, she thought back to her brother James’ campaign for City Controller.
County Supervisor candidate Janice Hahn. Photo .
Her father, legendary County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, put the “full Hahn machine” behind James, immediately making calls to put staffing and funding behind his son’s campaign.
“When I went to that same home to let my parents know I was following in the footsteps…my father didn’t think I should do it,” she recalled. “He said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t ruin your marriage, don’t lose your home and don’t lose your kids.’”
But she pushed on anyway — and finished third in the 15th District primary race, behind eventual winner Rudy Svorinich.
With that in the mirror, Congresswoman Hahn can do little more than scoff when opponents accuse her of trading on her father’s name.
“Riding his coattails hasn’t worked all that well,” she laughed.
In the 23 years since her first run at office, Hahn has earned her bona fides, moving from LA city commissions in ’97 to City Council in 2001 to Capitol Hill, winning California’s 36th Congressional District in 2011. Redistricting and reelection made her the 44th District’s representative a year later.
But after five years, Hahn has decided to return to local government by running for the L.A. County’s Board of Supervisors Fourth District seat, currently held by Don Knabe in his final term.
Hahn’s reasons for stepping away from Congress, she says, begin with a disdain for partisan politics — an issue she met in her first vote in 2011.
“I went to Congress with the agenda of being bipartisan and working across the aisle, and I’ve been able to do that in a few places,” Hahn said. “But I’ve found it distasteful to be part of a body that’s willing to shut down governments for a partisan ideology, as in whether or not to fund Planned Parenthood.”
DC is broken, Hahn said. So she’s jumping at a chance to return to local government, where she feels she’ll be able to solve the problems of more people.
That’s the second part. Granular-level constituent work simply can’t be done when flying between L.A. and Washington, D.C. twice a week.
“I like bread and butter issues, and seeing constituents in the coffee shop,” she said, using as an example L.A.’s neighborhood council system in 1999, which was created during her tenure on L.A.’s Charter Reform Commission. “I think my nature is to decentralize government and to make it work, community by community.”
Political observers note that the Supervisor position comes with perks, as well: A $15,000 annual raise over her $174,000 Congressional salary, as well as decreased media attention and increased job security — an incumbent supervisor hasn’t been voted out of office since 1980.
The rub is that, should Hahn win this seat, her constituency would nearly triple. The 44th Congressional District has a population of nearly 703,000; L.A. County’s Fourth District has nearly 2 million.
The key to supervising such a broad district — one which stretches from Marina del Rey, around the Peninsula and northeast to the San Gabriel Valley, covering 37 communities — is making sure that each community is getting its fair share, especially with transit projects, Hahn said.
“Downey wants to make sure funding will be there for their Rapid Line. Whittier wants [the Gold Line] to make a stop at their hospital…I think it’ll be my job to make sure that the projects will be evenly divided,” she said.
Hahn is also cognizant of the rising cost and funding issues faced by community colleges and technical schools, including the Southern California Regional Occupational Center.
“I think SoCal ROC should be a priority for the county, in terms of funding,” Hahn said. “Not every kid is going to college — there are so many that will graduate with no intention of going to a four-year school. They need to be prepared, and we still need skilled trades.”
Homelessness and housing affordability issues are near the top of her list as well — problems she feels she can handle better with the Board of Supervisors than in Congress.
“Remember, at the end of the day, L.A. County is the safety net for people who have reached the end of their rope financially, physically,” she said. “L.A. County is there to make sure people don’t drop through the cracks.”
If fundraising numbers are any indication, Hahn is currently the odds-on favorite in the Fourth District race. She took in $646,832 last year, more than double what Manhattan Beach Republican Steve Napolitano raised. Hahn will also compete against Whittier Democrat Ralph Pacheco. Former Redondo Mayor Mike Gin dropped out of the race in March, citing a need to “unify” Republican voters.