Panelist Resigns, Taking a Swipe at Hahn

Faced with removal by Mayor James K. Hahn, Los Angeles businessman Nathan Brogin resigned Tuesday from the South Valley Area Planning Commission with a letter that blasted Hahn for having “violated a trust and confidence.”

Brogin, former vice chairman of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., was told he is being replaced by school Principal Patricia Patano.

“Mr. Mayor, was I not the right gender, or other priority consideration, in support of your political goals?” Brogin wrote. “When on Dec. 2, 2004, I met personally with Tim McOsker, your chief of staff, no explanation of my removal was offered. In the week since, I have received three phone calls soliciting my financial support of your reelection campaign.”

Brogin, who had been appointed to the panel last year, told Hahn that he would not consider any other position in the Hahn administration because he feels the mayor failed to recognize his service to the city.

“I could not expect to be able to conduct the business of this city if I would need to constantly look over my shoulder,” Brogin wrote.

Councilman Dennis Zine, who has endorsed Hahn for reelection, said he asked the mayor to appoint Patano, who is from his southeast San Fernando Valley council district.

“I can’t believe you are making such a big deal about the commission position,” Zine wrote in an e-mail to Brogin on Tuesday. “The mayor is just moving people around to other commissions.”

Hahn was recently criticized by City Controller Laura Chick for not appointing enough women to city commissions.

Shannon Murphy, a spokeswoman for Hahn, declined to address Brogin’s accusations. “Mayor Hahn wants to provide Los Angeles residents an opportunity to serve in the government,” she said. “He wants to make sure the commissions reflect the diversity of the city.”