March 31, 2016
Staff and Wire Report
The Los Angeles Sentinel/L.A. Watts Times this week announced they are endorsing Congresswoman Janice Hahn, who is now running for Los Angeles County Supervisor over the 4th district. The endorsement has been added to more than 700 that she has received so far. Those include Labor Union, AFL –CIO, Long Beach Firefighters Local 372 and United Firefighters of Los Angeles City.
“It is such an honor to have the confidence and the support of the working people of Los Angeles County,” she said during a past interview in response to those endorsements.
“Throughout my career, I’ve always strived to advance common sense policies that lift up workers, from supporting an increase in the minimum wage to advocating for equal pay for equal work, and from ensuring protections for workers’ rights to increasing access to high quality healthcare, and more…”
Of the Sentinel endorsement, "I'm deeply grateful to have the support of the widely respected Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper,” Hahn said.
“Considered a cherished institution for both news and opinion coverage, their support speaks volumes about my record of delivering for the African American and all diverse communities. It means so much to me to have this enormous endorsement from a newspaper that I have read throughout my life."
Currently, Hahn is the U.S. Representative of the 44th district of California. She was elected to Congress in a special election held in July of 2011, and re-elected in November 2012.
She sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee as well as the House Small Business Committee. She serves as Ranking Member on the Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology and was on the 2013 Select Panel on 21st Century Freight Transportation. She is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Marine Transportation, Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, Subcommittee on Water Resources and Development, and the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
Her desire to serve was instilled by her father, Los Angeles County Supervisor, Kenny Hahn, she said. Before public office however, she served as a teacher and a businesswoman, in addition to the never ending position of single mother.
A graduate of Abilene Christian University, Janice also holds an Honorary Doctorate from Pepperdine University, according to her campaign website. In recognition of her distinguished leadership, Janice has received several awards, including the Rosa Parks Award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Lillian Mobley Grassroots Catalyst Award from the National Women’s Political Caucus—South Bay, the Public Service Award from the African American Chamber of Commerce, the Bold Vision Award from the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, the Recognition Award from the Harbor Area Gang Alternative Program, and enshrinement on the Promenade of Prominence in Watts.
Janice is a lifelong resident of Los Angeles and lives in San Pedro. She is the daughter of the late Ramona Hahn and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn and the sister of James Hahn, the former Mayor of Los Angeles. Janice has two sons, Danny and Mark, a daughter, Katy, and five beautiful grandchildren: McKenna, Brooklyn, Isabela, Josiah, and Luke.
March 24, 2016
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press
Officials in an affluent suburban New York village acquiesced to race-based opposition to a housing project and changed zoning codes to discriminate against minorities, a federal appeals court said this week as it also opened the door to one of America's most affluent counties facing claims it steered affordable housing to its lowest-income communities.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld a judge's finding that the village of Garden City on Long Island discriminated against minorities in a zoning decision made after Nassau County decided to sell some land. The court noted village residents used racially biased code words to convince public officials to exclude minorities by changing the land's zoning to mostly exclude multi-family dwellings.
The appeals court said that Garden City residents at public hearings, for instance, claimed multi-family housing would change the "flavor" and "character" of the village and that any construction should involve "upscale" units. It also highlighted residents' claims that their community might become like Brooklyn and Queens, New York City boroughs where minorities are the majority.
"Garden City's argument appears to boil down to the following — because no one ever said anything overtly race-based, this was all just business as usual," the 2nd Circuit said in a decision written by Circuit Judge Rosemary Pooler. "But the district court was entitled to conclude ... that something was amiss here, and that Garden City's abrupt shift in zoning in the face of vocal citizen opposition to changing the character of Garden City represented acquiescence to race-based animus."
The ruling came two years after U.S. District Court Judge Arthur Spatt ordered officials in the predominantly white village to take concrete steps to open the community to minorities. Census figures show the village, 30 miles east of Manhattan, has a minority population of 2.6 percent when dormitory students are excluded, though it is surrounded by several communities where minorities are the majority.
In its opinion, the 2nd Circuit reinstated Nassau County as a defendant, saying Spatt must consider whether the county of more than 1.3 million people adjacent to New York City intentionally steers affordable housing to low-income, mostly-minority communities.
The appeals court recounted at length a series of public hearings attended mostly by whites, saying Garden City residents used "recognized code words about low-income, minority housing" in making subtle references to immigrant families by complaining that full families might live in one-bedroom townhouses or that the wrong kind of housing complex might cause 10 people to live in an apartment and lead to overcrowded schools.
"Citizen opposition, though not overtly race-based, was directed at a potential influx of poor, minority residents," the appeals court said, adding that a description of a Garden City public hearing was "eerily reminiscent" of a scene in an earlier court case involving housing discrimination in Yonkers.
Village and county lawyers did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Attorney Frederick Brewington, representing fair housing activists, called the ruling a "monumental decision that sheds serious light on a major problem" in one of America's most segregated suburban communities.
March 24, 2016
City News Service
Security remained high this week at Los Angeles International Airport and train stations across the region in response to the terror attacks at the international airport and a subway station in Brussels that killed more than 30 people and injured more than a hundred.
LAX Airport Police spokeswoman Alicia Hernandez said the department increased its visual presence at the airport and readying rapid deployment strategies.
“We take attacks on aviation very seriously,” Hernandez said, promising they will “make adjustments to security as necessary.”
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said that while there are no credible threats against any domestic targets, the Transportation Security Administration will be adding personnel at airports across the country.
“As a precautionary measure, TSA is deploying additional security to major city airports in the United States and at various rail and transit stations around the country,” Johnson said. “TSA is also working closely with state and local law enforcement, airport authorities and the aviation industry in order to augment that security.”
There were no impacts to flight operations at LAX Tuesday, although traffic was at one point reported to be heavy on the upper level of the airport loop, in part due to the large number of media trucks parked along the roadway.
Armed guards were noticeably increased at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and at other Metro stations, including the Metro Blue Line’s Rosa Parks station in Willowbrook and the Seventh Street/Metro Center station at Seventh and Figueroa on Tuesday.
“Metro and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Transit Policing Division are aware of the terrorist strikes in Belgium and are monitoring the situation closely,” according to Metro. “While we maintain a high state of readiness at all times, we will be increasing security.”
There is no tangible threat to any transit system in Los Angeles, sheriff’s department Transit Services Bureau spokesman Ramon Montenegro told City News Service.
“Right now, we are monitoring the situation in Brussels and maintaining close contact and communications with our county Emergency Operations Center, Homeland Security and LA Metro,” Montenegro said.
“I’m certain that we will increase security in the aftermath of these attacks on all transit lines,” Montenegro said. “We also have special security teams that we will likely deploy later today.”
Montenegro said the security patrols include bomb-sniffing dogs that are regularly deployed along the Red Line subway route and other Metro lines.
“Our hearts go out to the people of Brussels and to the first responders,” he said. “We just pray that no one else gets hurt there.”
Metro officials asked the public to be aware of their surroundings at transportation centers and stressed the importance of calling attention to something or someone that may seem unusual.
“We are asking the public to be our eyes and ears on the system,” according to a Metro statement, “If you see something, say something.”
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials said that in addition to the increased security at transportation hubs, the agency’s Special Operations Division resources “are on standby and are prepared to respond anywhere in the region should the need arise.”
“There is no credible information that attacks are likely here, but as always, we ask the public if they ‘See Something, Say Something,’” according to the department.
LAPD officers were deployed to a variety of high-profile sites that tend to be gathering points for large crowds — such as the Grove shopping center, synagogues, the Beverly Center and Hollywood & Highland.
Amtrak spokeswoman Verna Graham said the rail line also has added safety personnel.
“Amtrak police are working with state, local and federal law enforcement partners to gather and share intelligence,” Graham said. “Extra officers have been deployed. We have reminded Amtrak employees to look for and report any suspicious activity and unattended items and reissued guidance pertaining to facility inspections and active shooter incidents.”
Metrolink also enhanced its security and is coordinating with a variety of law enforcement agencies, Public Affairs Officer Scott Johnson said. The same goes at the Port of Los Angeles, where spokesman Phillip Sanfield acknowledged “a proactive presence with L.A. Port Police at our containment terminals, cruise terminals and throughout the port complex.”
March 17, 2016
By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER
Associated Press
The Ferguson City Council has unanimously agreed to accept a U.S. Justice Department plan to overhaul its embattled police force and municipal court system after a brief attempt to revise the deal led to a federal lawsuit.
Brown’s father, who attended the meeting but didn’t speak publicly, shook hands with Ferguson's mayor and several council members after the vote.
The agency and Ferguson reached a tentative agreement in late January after months of negotiations, but the council rejected the plan in February over cost concerns, prompting the Justice Department to sue the next day.
The lawsuit remains pending as a federal judge must still approve the preliminary agreement.
Vanita Gupta, head of the department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement that Ferguson “took an important step towards guaranteeing all of its citizens the protections of our Constitution.”
Assurances from Gupta that the city won't be required to provide its police officers with pay raises — a provision they feared could bankrupt Ferguson — led to the consent decree’s tentative approval at a meeting one week ago.
A city analysis had indicated implementation costs could approach $4 million in the first year alone. That led the Ferguson council to propose amending the agreement in February with seven provisions aimed mostly at keeping costs in check.
City Manager De’Carlon Seewood said Tuesday that the new measures will cost Ferguson “a little over $1 million” in the first year, about $700,000 in the second year and $600,000 in year three.
Those estimates don’t include technical assistance and grant money Ferguson could receive for its efforts, he added.
By contrast, the costs of fighting the federal government in court could have been substantially higher.
“Thank you,” retired teacher Gerry Jasper told the council. “I’m glad our city isn’t going to go down the tubes.”
The 131-page consent decree is intended to correct problems identified in a scathing Justice Department report last year that found sweeping patterns of racial bias throughout the city’s criminal justice system.
The agreement calls for the hiring of a monitor to ensure Ferguson follows the requirements. New diversity training will be instituted for police, software will be purchased and staff hired to analyze records on arrests, use of force and other police matters. And within 180 days, all patrol officers, supervisors and jail workers will be outfitted with body cameras.
The city had been under federal scrutiny since the August 2014 shooting of Brown, who was black and unarmed, by white police officer Darren Wilson, who was cleared of wrongdoing by the Justice Department in the shooting and whom a St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict.
Wesley Bell, one of three new council members either elected or appointed to office since Brown's death, suggested that the sweeping DOJ agreement could transform Ferguson into an exemplar of police reform. Each of the new council members is black in a city where so are more than two-thirds of its residents.
“The world is watching us,” said Bell. “We’ve got an opportunity to show what change looks like. ... Shame on us if we can’t meet this challenge.”