County Assessor Hahn to Leave Post in January

Assessor Kenneth P. Hahn, who may be best known for sharing a name with a famous public official, announced his retirement Tuesday, citing his chronic sleep disorder and his elderly mother’s ailments as reasons for stepping down from his $185,000-a-year post.

Hahn’s retirement is effective Jan. 24. In a prepared statement, citing his need to leave the county when he visits his mother in a nursing home, Hahn said: “It is time to give back to the most important and influential person in my life, my mother.”

In an interview, Hahn, 60, said he had been weighing his retirement since before his last election, in 1998. “I’ve been hoping to do more, but I’ve got this severe sleep apnea problem and I’m just worn out,” he said. “For many years I’ve been thinking about the department and now I have to think about myself.”

Hahn broke the news of his retirement to county supervisors as they met in executive session, and urged them in writing to appoint his deputy, Rick Auerbach, to succeed him until voters choose a permanent successor in the November 2000 election.

But supervisors asked county lawyers to draw up a report on their options before making any appointments.

Supervisor Gloria Molina said Hahn’s decision caught her off guard.

“I just sat there gawking at him,” Molina said. “He’s an awfully good guy. It’s a shame to see him go.”

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky praised the departing assessor. “He’s really made it a service-oriented office,” Yaroslavsky said.

Hahn was the underdog in a bitter 1990 election against his then-boss, John Lynch.

Although he is unrelated to legendary former county Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, their shared name gave him a strong boost and catapulted him into a runoff with Lynch, who drew headlines for once physically forcing county auditors from his office.

Hahn squeaked past Lynch in the runoff in 1990, then held off 15 challengers--many from inside his office--in the 1994 election and won handily in 1998.

But the 1990 election still haunted him. Lynch sued Hahn years later, and Hahn acknowledged that he sent half a dozen notes and bogus job applications to Lynch’s home after the election. He apologized for the act.