City Hall East Renamed For Ex-Mayor Hahn
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — An expansion of the original Los Angeles City Hall was officially renamed Thursday for a former mayor with a well-known political heritage.
KNX 1070's Claudia Peschiutta reports the building located directly across Main Street, will now be known as James K. Hahn City Hall East.
City Hall East To Be Renamed After Former Mayor James Hahn
Hahn, who is now a Superior Court Judge, served one term as City Controller and four terms as City Attorney before serving as the 40th Mayor of Los Angeles.
In his one term as mayor, Hahn prevented several secession efforts and worked to created the nation's largest affordable housing trust fund. launched sweeping clean air and energy efforts and DWP and the Port of Los Angeles.
But he also faced criticism during a 2005 reelection campaign - which he eventually lost to Antonio Villaraigosa - over ongoing investigations at City Hall that centered on allegations that members of his administration traded city contracts for campaign donations, according to CBS News.
His departure marked the first time a Los Angeles mayor was voted out of office in more than 30 years, CBS News reported.
In September 2011, then Councilmember Janice Hahn - Mayor Hahn's sister - submitted a resolution to rename City Hall East after Mayor Hahn, an effort which officials say is being funded privately.
But Hahn said having City Hall East - which houses the City Attorney's Office, City Controller's Office, Fire Department Headquarters, the city's traffic center and other critical city operations - named after him may take getting some getting used to.
"I think it'll be hard for me to get used to calling it anything other than City Hall East, but I guess I have to learn how to say it," he said. "I like the idea of saying, 'Hey, I'm going to my building'."
Around the corner from City Hall East is the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, which is the headquarters for the Los Angeles County government. Kenneth Hahn, Mayor Hahn's father, served as a County Supervisor for 40 years.
The former mayor hopes residents - and mail carriers - can make a smooth transition to the name change.
"I hope it's not too confusing to the Post Office that there's gonna be two buildings with the name Hahn on it," said Hahn.
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