City Hall East Named in Honor of Former Mayor Jim Hahn

Credit: City Hall East image from Martin at You-Are-Here.com.

City Hall East will be named in honor of former Mayor Jim Hahn under a resolution unanimously approved today by the Los Angeles City Council.

“Jim Hahn is a model in public service,” said Councilman Richard Alarcon.

Hahn was elected mayor in 2001. He also spent four years as city controller and 16 years as city attorney; both of those offices are located in City Hall East. He is now a superior court judge.

Councilman Paul Koretz said that Hahn’s low-key demeanor is the reason he often doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

“Without a doubt, he is the most important mayor ever in the history of the great city of Los Angeles because if he were not mayor at the time he were mayor, we would not be the great city of Los Angeles, we would be the little city of Los Angeles,” Koretz said in reference to Hahn’s opposition to Valley secession.

Secession and the firing of then-police Chief Bernard Parks are frequently cited as reasons Hahn lost reelection to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 2005. Because it is being done by resolution, the naming does not require the signature of Villaraigosa.

The James K. Hahn City Hall East resolution was supported by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, Central City Association and SEIU.

The new name will be unveiled in a ceremony this spring. Hahn’s former chief of staff, Tim McOsker, is raising private funds to pay for any costs related to the naming.