Talk:James Hahn

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California local political offices, such as Mayor of Los Angeles, are non-partisan. It is illegal for a candidate for such an office to say, "vote for me because I'm a Libertarian," or anything similar, and it is likewise illegal for a party to endorse a candidate for a local office, thus it is technically incorrect to state that Hahn is a Democrat, even if he's registered as one, as he has never held a partisan position. Gentgeen 08:29, 19 Jan 2004 (UTC)

you are entirely wrong in your analysis. a nonpartisan race means merely the all the candidates, regardless of party appear on the same primary election ballot and voters, without regard to their party affiliation, can vote for anyone on the ballot. instead of a general election pitting the candidates who won their partisan primaries against each other, there is a run-off election for the top two vote getters in the primary-regardless of party affiliation. finally, as a nonpartisan election, the political party of the candidates does not appear on the ballot... it is not illegal to say "vote for me, i'm a libertarian" and it is not illegal for a political party to endorse a candidate... saying that hahn is a democrat is a reference to his party affiliation and is correct...207.200.116.199 22:33, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

________________

There should be some mention of Hahn's campaign in 2001 against Antonio Villaraigosa (then-Assemblyman and now Councilman) in which Hahn resorted to blatant ethnic-baiting on a scale not seen in an LA mayoral election since Sam Yorty's day, with the result of Hahn being elected by one of the odder coalitions in California history: African-Americans and white conservatives.

Contents

[edit] Achievements

Considering that Hahn is currently in a close political race, this new material seems to be slanted rather strongly in a pro-Hahn direction. Let's NPOV it here and then put it back. Thanks -Willmcw 23:25, Mar 28, 2005 (UTC)

As mayor, Hahn has expanded LA's Best, an after school program for elementary school students to serve more than 20,000 kids. He also works with the superintendent of the LAUSD and finds locations for schools so that they can be built faster and there is not overcrowding in the classrooms. He opposed Bernard Parks a second term as chief of police and brought in William Bratton. As a result, crime in all areas, except homicides, are dramatically lower. By implementing the flexible work week schedule for police officers, morale in the department is up and there is an increase in officers. He led California's mayors to stop Sacramento politicians from stealing our cities' local tax dollars. For the first time in Los Angeles history, he made it a law for there to be at least one ambulance in every fire station. He also has instructed the Police and Fire departments to hold emergency drills in anticipation of a major terrorist attack. He was the first mayor to actually get approved the LAX modernization plan. One of his main achievements was defeating San Fernando Valley and Hollywood secession. He kept the city together. He has also reformed business tax and streamlined the business tax process. All businesses that make 100,000 dollars or less are exempt from paying business tax for their first two years in business. He created a 100 million dollar housing trust fund. He also expanded the adaptive reuse ordinance, which converts old vacant buildings into residential units. Because of these two things, housing production has doubled in Los Angeles under his leadership. Working with Jan Perry, an LA City Council Woman, he expanded the homeless shelters to be open year round instead of just during the winter months. Through his transportation efforts, he has fixed the 25 worst intersections every year. He has also made improvements to the 35 worst streets through his street smart program. He serves as 1st Vice Chairman of the LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and has expanded rapid bus lines and rail lines. Through the neighborhood council program, he provides each council with 150,000 dollars. 50,000 for their use and 100,000 for improving streets and sidewalks in their neighborhoods. He is currently up for reelection and is once again opposing Antonio Villariagosa, his opponent four years ago.
Some of these accomplishments are taken from his campaign website www.jimhahn.org and his website on the City Of LA homepage, at www.cityofla.org/mayor

Here's a draft of a more NPOV version, at least cutting out some of the boasting and achievements that are not directly linked to Hahn. We should still work to find some independent sources to verify this info. -Willmcw 23:54, Mar 28, 2005 (UTC)

Hahn boasts of these achievements:

  • Successfully fought San Fernando Valley and Hollywood secession.
  • Opposed Bernard Parks a second term as chief of police and brought in William Bratton. Supported implementation of a flexible work week schedule for police officers.
  • Pushed the LAX modernization plan through the approval process.
  • Made street maintenance and improvement a priority.
  • Signed a reform of the city business tax and streamlined the business tax process.
  • Expanded LA's Best, an after school program for elementary school students to serve more than 20,000 kids.
  • Signed a law calling for there to be at least one ambulance in every fire station.
  • Instructed the Police and Fire departments to hold emergency drills in anticipation of a major terrorist attack.
  • Helped create a 100 million dollar housing trust fund and expanded the adaptive reuse ordinance, which converts old vacant buildings into residential units.
  • Worked with Jan Perry, a Los Angeles City Council member, to expand the homeless shelters to be open year round instead of just during the winter months.

[edit] Biography

Although city offices are nonpartisan, it is not "illegal" for a candidate to state his affiliation. Hahn has sought the endorsement of the Democrat party, so it is fair to list him as one.

Hahn does not live with his wife. He is currently (5-10-05) separated or divorced. A local columnist (Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times) has been trying to set him up on dates during his campaign.

[edit] Is a list of staff really necessary?

Is a list of James Hahn's staff really necessary or encyclopedic? Hall Monitor 21:23, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

It does seem odd. I'm not sure that it isn't encyclopedic though. At least the editor didn't link them all. (If you think they should go I won't complain.) -Willmcw 22:01, July 19, 2005 (UTC)

that the staff is included indicates that hahn staffers are actively editing this site, and is rather masturbatory" 207.200.116.199 22:33, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

Hearing no defense of the staff list, I'll go ahead and delete it. -Willmcw 07:47, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Mayoral achievements

I'm all for highlighting Hahn's particular success, but we need to condense this 42-point list down to a paragraph or two. This reads like a press release, and presumes that every initiative was successul. -Willmcw 07:56, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

Why not have the list read like a press release? It is important to praise Hahn's legacy. If you feel it is important to write about some of his flaws, by all means, do so. After all, he is a politician. However, please do so in a separate section.

Well, for starters, we don't have sources for any of these supposed achievements. The implication is that every program was successful. I suggest we go back to his biographies and news stories and make sure we are compiling sourced, verifiable info, rather than a list of things that he tried to achieve. Laet's take a week or two and proponents of this list can find sources. Eventually though unsourced claims should be removed. -Willmcw 01:16, 4 November 2005 (UTC)
It's been three weeks and I still don't see any sources for Hahn's accomplishments. -Willmcw 22:29, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

it is inappropriate to add a laundry list of hahn's accomplishments from hahn's own web site... 207.200.116.199 22:33, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Funeral

  • 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.

Why is this significant? As a big-city politician, Hahn has undoubtedly attended dozens of funerals andmade hundrededs of speeches. There's no indication that Robertson was a personal friend. What does the source say? What is our source? -Will Beback 19:55, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Since leaving office, Hahn has had a relatively low profile career. Whenever a mention of him hits a newspaper, I will add it to this section. Until the list grows ridiculously long, I do not see a problem in highlighting the kinds of things he has been doing. The source is from www.laobserved.com, which covers Los Angeles "media, news, and a sense of place." —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.230.226.117 (talk • contribs) .

If non-notable events are added then they'll be removed. This is an encyclopedia article, not a Hahn-adoration site. The list of unsourced "achievements" is already far too long. Please sign your talk page posts. Thanks, -Will Beback 01:31, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

How do you sign your name?

Four tildes. ~~~~ -Will Beback 06:19, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Unsourced achievements and election analysis

We can't make detailed assertions just from our own memories, or based on our own analyses. All information in Wikipedia must be verifiable by other editors. Please do not restore the "Mayoral achievements" section or the analysis in the "2005 Re-election Campaign" section without reliable sources. -Will Beback 22:54, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

I entirely agree that everything written in the articles should be backed up with sources. Therefore, I understand why you would want to erase the Mayoral Achievments section. However, if you were to do that, you should also delete most of the content from Antonio Villaraigosa's page as well. Some is backed up, but most is not. Anyways, do you think press releases could be sufficient evidence? Thanks. -jfree8
I've asked for sources for the Villaraigosa article too, but the requests have been outstanding longer for this article. Regarding press releases, they are very, very poor sources except as primary sources for Hahn's words. If Hahn's office released a statement that Hahn had comment, then I think we could assume he'd really said that. But if it were an assertion about a third party or event, such as the success of a program, then they are worthless as sources, unless we want to attribute each assertion. ("According to a press release from his office, Hahn's crime initiative..." Fortunately, the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers cover the mayor's office, so significant achievements should have sources available. -Will Beback 11:06, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your input and I will over time, begin to gather press releases (with quotations) and articles as sources. I have two questions. One, if I have press releases saved on my computer, how would I use those as sources (would I somehow have to make it an internet page)? Second, where can I find articles on the internet that were published during his administration? Thanks. -jfree8

For articles the L.A. Times is a natural source. They have a complete archive that can be searched by computer. Some libraries in the L.A. area have microfiche versions available for free, or you can pay the fee to use the online version. The NY Times and some other national and regional papers routinely cover major L.A. stories. As for the press releases, normally materials posted on a one-person site aren't considered reliable, but in this case I'd think that it'd be acceptable and still meeting the verifiability WP:V requirement because they are previously issued releases. I know a lot of this material was once posted on the mayor's website, but politics being what they are, a change in administration means a change in web content. -Will Beback 10:06, 14 November 2006 (UTC)