Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo lose the representation of Los Angeles District Leader Janice Hahn

by Mark McDermott

Supervisor Jance Hahn no longer represents the Beach Cities after Los Angeles County completes its citizen-led redistribution process. Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach were removed from Hahn’s District 4 and replaced by heavily Latino areas further inland to give the board a second district with a Latino majority.

The one-year process in which redistributions were carried out for the first time was not carried out by the overseers themselves, but by a 14-person citizen redistribution commission.

The final decision was made on December 15th and took effect immediately. The Beach Cities will now be part of District 2 and will be represented by Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who comes from Leimert Park. The political background was largely in the boroughs of South Los Angeles.

“It’s hard to say goodbye to communities that I’ve worked so hard for for so long, but the reallocation means that the Beach Cities along with many other communities in the county have a supervisor they didn’t vote for,” said Faucet. “I will be working closely with Supervisor Mitchell’s office during this transition to ensure the work we have done in the Beach Cities continues.”

Local guides are not pleased. Hahn was connected to the Beach Cities in a unique way. She is from South Bay, first learned to swim in Manhattan Beach and previously represented the area as a member of the US Congress. She is also the daughter of the legendary late boss Kenneth Hahn and a very experienced politician who has a uniquely deep knowledge of federal, state and local levers.

Manhattan City Councilor Richard Montgomery said the loss of their representation will be felt deeply in the Beach Cities.

“What we’re losing is someone who was born in South Bay, knows our cities, knows our people, knows our problems – regardless of their stance on Bruce’s Beach and what they did there,” said Montgomery.

Hahn has been best known lately for leading the political indictment that resulted in LA County returning land a century ago that was taken from the Bruce family in a racially motivated use of a significant domain, a historically rare act attention to the reparation that brought her and the Manhattan Beach citizen. She was inspired by her father, who was the only elected official who met Martin Luther King when he visited Los Angeles in 1961 before he achieved his revered status and was considered a radical. When she launched that effort last April, she said that she learned from her father that sometimes it means being on the right side of history, which means adopting an attitude that others may find radical.

“Someone interviewed me and said, ‘Are you afraid of setting a precedent?’ And I said: ‘I hope it does,’ ”Hahn said in an interview in April.

The Mayor of Redondo Beach, Bill Brand, thanked Hahn for what Hahn had done for the Beach Cities.

“Supervisor Hahn was a good friend of South Bay and a personal friend of mine. I am so grateful for their friendship and their tireless service to our community. I miss her already, but I look forward to meeting and working with Supervisor Mitchell. “

Montgomery, on the opposite side of Hahn’s political aisle and vehemently contradicting her stance on Bruce’s Beach, worked closely with Hahn on several issues. He said that the main government work has much more to do with lackluster infrastructure and funding problems, and less to do with political issues like Bruce’s Beach. He cited the Sepulveda Bridge expansion project, which will make the 90-year-old bridge earthquake-proof, add a lane, and reduce congestion and the flow of nearby traffic. Hahn poured “several million dollars” into the project, Montgomery said, and if completed it could very well result in a road death prevention and certainly gradual improvement in the quality of life on site – but few will ever find out that Hahn can has made .

“It’s the unsexy things,” said Montgomery. “The justice grants, money for our streets … Janice gave us money for small businesses during COVID – grants, not loans. Some people don’t like their choice of Bruce’s Beach, I understand that. But she did a lot for our schools, for our cities, for our streets, for our shops, things that no one ever talks about. That’s the sad thing about it, because if you lose someone who knows your area, your groups, your people, knows our needs – whoever we get, that person doesn’t know anything about us. ”

Newly drawn boundaries for the Los Angeles County Regulatory District have moved the beach towns from District 4 to District 2. Los Angeles county map

Hahn was omnipresent in the Beach Cities. She routinely attended Veteran’s Day gatherings, council meetings, July 4th picnics, and dozens of other types of events. Montgomery recalled that as a congressman, Hahn was still responding to his request and made it to MBPD chief Eve Irvine’s swearing-in ceremony, historic since Irvine was the first female chief. And while legislative work is the bread and butter of politics at all levels, the only way to know what to legislate for is when you are there and literally know hundreds, if not thousands, of people by name. Montgomery recalled a few years ago when the closure of lanes on Vista Del Mar for bike lanes caused local commute times to increase dramatically, and he brought an indictment against LA councilor Mike Bonin that was loud (Hahn called him “the brick thrower”) but may not be effective in negotiating a compromise. Hahn knew all the players, put them all in a room and told them not to leave until a compromise was found. It worked. Bonin received a reduction in parking fees in Dockweiller, and residents got the lanes on Vista del Mar back.

“She brokered this deal herself,” he said. “She’s the one who gets everyone’s credit for it. Yes, I beat up Bonin, but she finally solved the matter. ”

Hahn’s fingerprints will remain on many local projects, including funding for LA Found after Nancy Paulika’s Disappearance, the Homeless Court and Pallet Housing in Redondo Beach, support for the Manhattan Beach Homeless Plan, the state’s first mobile stroke unit in Torrance, Pride Tower of Hermosa Beach permanent and the installation of a wheelchair-accessible beach access mat in Manhattan Beach. She was also instrumental in expediting government refunds to El Segundo residents and businesses in the wake of the Hyperion accident earlier this year, and while serving as a local supervisor, she raised nearly $ 1 million in funding to more than five dozen local organizations, including educational foundations to the Jimmy Miller Foundation to the Cancer Support Center at Grades of Green.

“Janice Hahn is sorely missed in all of the Beach Cities,” said Montgomery. “You may not even know who she is, but she probably helped make your life better.” HE