Flores Hopes Hahn’s Support Will Pay Dividends in Watts : Politics: City Council incumbent already appears to be profiting from endorsement of her former adversary.

In her race against businessman Rudy Svorinich, 15th District City Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores has been running against not just Svorinich, but the massive web of family connections he has in his hometown of San Pedro.

But Thursday, Flores went to the opposite end of the district and got some heavyweight family backing of her own when former political opponent Janice Hahn bestowed the luster of the political dynasty she is part of on the councilwoman’s reelection campaign.

About 30 people were at the Cultural Crescent College Prep house--a community center founded by activist “Sweet Alice” Harris in Watts--to see Hahn endorse Flores. As Harris wrapped her arms around them both, Hahn told the crowd she was willing to both telephone voters and go door-to-door for Flores.

While Flores gladly accepted the offer, she focused as much on what linking the Hahn name to her campaign could mean in the June 8 runoff. Hahn’s father, former county Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, served a record 40 years on the board, and in Watts is touted as the personification of responsive government. Her brother, James Hahn, has served as Los Angeles city attorney since 1985 and recently won another term by a lopsided margin.

Janice Hahn had hoped to become part of the her family’s successful political tradition when she joined a handful of other candidates challenging Flores earlier this year. But Hahn fell short, finishing third in the April 20 primary.

Still, in a demonstration of the clout of the Hahn name, she ran ahead of both Flores and Svorinich in Watts and Wilmington, despite having virtually no track record of official political involvement in either community.

During her primary campaign, Hahn repeatedly accused Flores of neglecting her district while unsuccessfully pursuing the secretary of state’s office in 1990 and then the 36th Congressional District seat last fall. In particular, Watts and Wilmington suffered from the neglect, Hahn had said.

The primary results, however, led Hahn to have a change of heart.

The people who voted for her, she said Thursday, were not so much opposing Flores as they were “banking on the Hahn tradition of service.”

For her part, Flores said Hahn’s criticism of her job performance led to soul-searching, not bitterness.

“When somebody is critical of you, do you get upset or do you do some self-examination and see if there is any validity to this?” she said. “I looked inside.”

Watts community activist Perry Crouch was an ardent Hahn supporter who now is firmly for Flores. Initially, he blamed Flores entirely for the dearth of services and programs in Watts. But after talking with her, Crouch said he thinks that if Watts residents are more aggressive in seeking Flores’ help, they will get the projects they want.

“We thought she wasn’t sensitive to our needs, but there are things we didn’t put to her when we needed them” Crouch said. “So from now on, she’s going to let us know when she needs us and we’re going to pack the City Council.”

Harris delivered a similar message to her listeners.

“We have to learn in this community that we have to tell Joan what we need,” Harris said. “We need to go to those council meetings and tell them that Joan is standing strong with 4,000 people behind her.”

Svorinich, who is opening a campaign headquarters in Watts on Sunday, puts a different spin on Flores’ familiarity with the community.

Referring to the primary results, he said: “They know her so well that 75% of residents of Watts voted against her.”

The past two weeks has seen a surprising flurry of endorsements in the 15th District race, as Councilwoman Gloria Molina and County Supervisor Yvonne Braithwaite Burke have backed Flores, while U.S. Reps. Jane Harman (D-Marina del Rey) and Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) have endorsed Svorinich.