Janice Hahn (D-CA-36)

Janice Hahn Candidate California District 26

Janice Hahn Biography from City of Los Angeles

Biography of Councilwoman Janice Hahn

Janice Hahn was elected as Councilwoman of the 15th District of the City of Los Angeles in June of 2001, and is currently serving her third and final term in City Council. The 15th District encompasses the communities of Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, San Pedro, Watts and Wilmington.

Councilwoman Hahn serves as the Chair of the Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee, which oversees the Port of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles International Airport and the Convention & Visitors Bureau. She also serves as Vice Chair of the Rules & Elections Committee, and as a member of the Education & Neighborhoods Committee, where she works closely with the citywide network of neighborhood councils to ensure that community stakeholders have a say in local issues. Additionally, she serves on the Ad Hoc Committee on Economic Recovery & Reinvestment, and on the Board of Referred Powers.

From 1997-99, Councilwoman Hahn served the 15th District as its elected representative on the Charter Reform Commission. Included in the new Charter are many elements championed by Councilwoman Hahn, including neighborhood councils, Area Planning Commissions, regular mandatory financial audits of all City departments and permanent local representation on the Harbor and Airport Commissions.

In response to concerns about port-related truck traffic on Los Angeles streets and highways, as well as concerns about air quality and port related emissions in the communities she serves, Councilwoman Hahn led recent efforts to open gates at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to trucks on nights and weekends. The program, which has been in place since July of 2004, is already moving 35% of cargo during off-peak hours, significantly reducing road congestion throughout the region.

Councilwoman Hahn has also been instrumental in the success of the city’s network of neighborhood councils, working to empower members on a daily basis. Today, the city’s 80-plus neighborhood councils wield influence and power in decisions that affect their neighborhoods.

The Councilwoman is also a longtime advocate of keeping children out of gangs. She believes that the way to do this is through early prevention. She has worked diligently to get the Gang Alternatives Program, which works to keep children as young as the 4th grade out of gangs, implemented throughout the 15th District, most recently in Watts. She is currently leading the way to fund gang prevention, intervention, job training and after-school programs throughout the City.

Councilwoman Hahn is committed to improving the quality of life for the working men and women of Los Angeles. She has fought dilligently to see that hotel workers and airport workers receive a living wage.  She has also been a strong voice of support for grocery workers, court interpreters, dockworkers and clerks and the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, nurses, and others, over the years. The Councilwoman strongly believes that there should never be a class of people termed the “working poor.”  People who work hard should not be poor in Los Angeles.

Since taking office, the Councilwoman has also worked to improve City services in our neighborhoods and to ensure public safety and quality of life for all that live, work and play in the 15th District.

She has received numerous awards, including the Rosa Parks Award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; the Bold Vision Award from the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce; the Public Service Award from the African American Chamber of Commerce, the Recognition Award from the Harbor Area Gang Alternative Program and enshrinement on the Promenade of Prominence in Watts.

Councilwoman Janice Hahn is the daughter of the late Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn and the sister of former Los Angeles Mayor, James Hahn. She is a lifelong resident of Los Angeles and currently lives in San Pedro.  The Councilwoman has three children and is the proud grandmother of four.

Biography from Janice Hahn for Congress

Since being elected in 2001, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn has been a champion for the people. Following in the footsteps of her father, beloved County Supervisor Kenny Hahn, she is a courageous leader who provides a voice for those that most need to be heard.

Elected to the Charter Reform Commission in 1997, Janice helped move the city in a new direction. Because of her, Los Angeles now boasts a widely successful neighborhood council system–ensuring that community stakeholders have a say in local issues.

Janice has fought for change at the Port of Los Angeles. Working to protect and create good paying jobs on the docks, she has also been an advocate for clean air. Because of Janice, the impacts of port operations, from traffic to noise to pollution, have been significantly reduced. She spearheaded the program to move goods during off-peak hours. When everyone said it could not be done, she persisted. Because of Janice’s leadership, more than 35% of goods are now moved during nights and weekends. More recently, she has been a vocal proponent of the Clean Trucks Program, which will cut pollution from trucks at the port by 80%.

Along with Mayor Jim Hahn, Janice was instrumental in the early development of the waterfront promenade in the Harbor Area. She has always believed that a grand promenade that stretches from the Vincent Thomas Bridge to the outer breakwater is essential to creating a world-class waterfront. Once completed, Los Angeles’ waterfront will be a source of good jobs and a tourist destination for visitors from all over the state, nation and world.

Janice has been the loudest voice in support of modernizing Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). At her urging, LAX is currently undergoing an $800 million renovation which includes the addition of new contact gates for the next generation of larger planes. Modernizing LAX is essential to keeping Los Angeles competitive and attracting both airlines and passengers—giving the tourism industry a much needed jolt.

Janice has established herself as a leader in the fight against gangs in Los Angeles. She has been a longtime advocate of keeping kids from joining gangs through early prevention. Working closely with Chief Bratton and rank and file LAPD officers, she has worked diligently to reach every child in Los Angeles before they join gangs–through gang prevention, intervention, job training and after-school programs.

Janice has been a loyal champion in the fight to improve the quality of life for the working men and women of Los Angeles. She is proud to have walked the picket lines with the ILWU when they were locked out of the docks in 2002. She successfully fought to see that hotel workers along the Century Corridor near LAX received a fair living wage; implemented a system to provide quality family health care for workers at Los Angeles World Airports and has worked to transform truck drivers at the Port of Angeles from struggling, independent drivers into well-paid employee drivers. She has stood with airport workers, grocery workers, court interpreters, nurses, and others, in the struggle for good jobs. Janice strongly believes that there should never be a class of people termed the “working poor.” People who work hard should not be poor in Los Angeles.

A true champion for the people, Janice has accomplished so much since she was elected. There is no doubt that she will show unrelenting courage as she continues to be a champion for the people when elected into Congress.

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