Few Raves for Hahn’s 1st 100 Days

One hundred days into Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn’s administration, he has kept several of his campaign promises: He expanded after-school programs, helped lighten the tax burden for small businesses and moved to ease congestion at dangerous intersections.

And as Hahn enters the next phase of his leadership, the mayor and his administration are moving on one of his most debated promises. Hahn is expected to release a significantly scaled-back Los Angeles International Airport expansion plan today, fulfilling a pledge to back away from a far more extensive proposal supported by his predecessor, Richard Riordan.

But at the same time, there is considerable concern and disappointment among many Los Angeles leaders--including many of his supporters--that the mayor has been slow to set a broader agenda for the city and to appoint key city commissioners. They also bemoan what they see as Hahn’s failure to emerge as a visible public figure, particularly at a time when nervous residents are seeking strong leadership.

In the weeks since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a combination of former adversaries and backers is urging Hahn to step out more prominently as the city’s chief executive--a role that his advisors and others acknowledge does not come naturally to the longtime city attorney.

“I think he needs to be a more visible leader of the city,” said USC law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, who has served on various city commissions. “One of the most obvious roles the mayor has is the bully pulpit, and it’s not something he’s used much.”

Others fret about the pace and tone of the administration. Three months into his new job, Hahn has appointed about a third of his commissioners, leaving in place more than 200 appointees selected by previous mayors. On many days, he makes no public appearances. Despite his diligent efforts to fulfill his campaign pledges, observers note that Hahn’s continuing emphasis on issues such as a flexible work schedule for police officers seems strangely out of touch with current jitters about security and the economy.

Even city leaders who were some of Hahn’s biggest backers are privately voicing concern that the mayor has not taken advantage of the early goodwill toward him or communicated a long-term vision for Los Angeles.

Early Successes Hard to Cite

One of the most telling comments is what’s not being said. Bill Wardlaw, Hahn’s campaign chairman, declined to comment on Hahn’s performance.

And Hahn supporters who do speak out find it difficult to identify the administration’s early successes.

“Is it going at 100 miles an hour? As strong of a defender of Jim as I am, it’s hard to say it’s going at 100 miles an hour,” said Democratic media consultant Kam Kuwata, who worked on Hahn’s mayoral campaign. “What I hear is not 100% good.

“Jim went through some growing pains at the beginning . . . but I still am very optimistic about what can take place.”

In an interview Friday, Hahn said he is happy with his progress and appeared unruffled by the criticism, insisting mildly that his first three months have been very busy and that he has made frequent public appearances. The mayor emphasized that he is more concerned with making City Hall run more smoothly than in spending time articulating a broader vision for Los Angeles.

“I care very deeply about keeping this city together,” Hahn said. “So that means showing that city government is working and that services are being delivered. How you knit that into a theme is not as important to me as getting the job done.”

The mayor cited several examples in which he has worked to make city government more effective and responsive. He noted that he has met with all the city’s general managers and asked them to improve city services, and that he streamlined the neighborhood council application process, appointing a longtime advocate of the program to lead the city’s Department of Neighborhood Empowerment.

“Obviously, things come at you that you weren’t expecting, but I’m very pleased,” Hahn said of his first 100 days, a benchmark he reaches Tuesday. “We want to improve the city government and improve our image. And to improve that image means you actually have to improve what you’re doing.”

Even some of those who defend the mayor’s start acknowledge that he may have a perception problem; that the low-key administrator who was behind the scenes for 20 years in City Hall has not figured out how to fully step into the powerful symbolic role that accompanies his new office.

Image May Be the Problem

George Kieffer, an attorney and longtime friend, praised Hahn’s work on his agenda and said the mayor has fostered a more cooperative tone at City Hall.

“What may have been missing in the first month or two was matching the imagery that is so necessary in politics with what’s actually occurring,” Kieffer said. “But I think that’s beginning to happen now.”

Other supporters of the mayor say he has not laid out a far-reaching agenda to serve as a framework for his nuts-and-bolts proposals. They also worry that some top aides in the new administration appear not to know where to focus their energies. Several said they are concerned that much of the staff who came with Hahn from the city attorney’s office and his campaign lack the experience to take command of city government.

Hahn defended his staff, calling them “the most talented group of individuals who have ever worked in the mayor’s office.”

Some city leaders have specific complaints. City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter said she is disappointed the mayor hasn’t appointed a new head of the Department of Water and Power, a position that has been occupied by an interim general manager since S. David Freeman left in May to work for Gov. Gray Davis.

“I would have ranked it as one of the most important issues to address early on,” she said.

Galanter, who endorsed Hahn late in the campaign, added that she is puzzled by the new mayor’s pace.

“My view of Jim Hahn is that here’s a very bright guy who is widely underestimated,” she said. “So I thought he would hit the ground running with more experience than seems to be the case.”

From his first days in office, Hahn set a low-key tone, moving through his agenda methodically and largely without fanfare. After a first month some criticized as slow, the new mayor went on a two-week vacation. When he returned, he skipped Labor Day festivities that were attended by Davis and a host of other public officials.

Hahn’s most conspicuous absence from the limelight was not his doing.

On Sept. 11, he was visiting Washington, D.C., on a lobbying trip when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. For three days, he was stranded, like so many Americans, unable to return home because air traffic was suspended. While Hahn was gone, City Council President Alex Padilla dominated the airwaves as L.A.’s acting mayor--his visibility only emphasizing Hahn’s absence.

“In light of Sept. 11, I think the leadership of mayors has become more obvious,” said Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, regional director of the American Jewish Committee and a former Police Commission president. “I think Mayor Hahn needs to be a little more commanding in that way.”

On his first day back, Hahn attended a city Human Rights Commission meeting to emphasize the need for tolerance. He went to a prayer vigil, visited an Islamic mosque and stopped at a school to talk to students. But then he took most of the weekend off before attending a candlelight vigil in front of City Hall on Sunday evening.

The next week, he rolled out plans to fund a gang intervention program, create a business tax amnesty and change the work schedules of police officers--initiatives that, to some, seemed out of step with what most of the public was focused on.

Hahn’s Profile May Soon Change

Some of that may change in coming weeks, as Hahn has secured some high-profile assignments related to the recent attacks and the national response to them.

He was appointed chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ task force on airport security, and said he will use his position to lobby Congress and President Bush on safety and economic measures. He also delivered the Democratic response to President Bush’s weekly radio address on Sept. 29.

Despite that, the mayor is not likely to use those platforms to grab the limelight, supporters noted.

“One thing Jim isn’t is opportunistic,” said lawyer-lobbyist Lisa Specht, who co-chaired his mayoral campaign. “I think he’s done many things in his first 100 days that will bear fruit for the city . . . that go unreported.”

Despite the criticism and frustration with Hahn’s early record, some political observers said Hahn and his staff should be given credit for not getting distracted from their priorities at a time when the country was caught up in the news surrounding the terrorists attacks. The lack of dramatics in the mayor’s approach, they argue, exemplifies the steady nature of his leadership.

“They are going about the business of running the city,” said political consultant Rich Lichtenstein. “They haven’t gotten paralyzed, and at the same time, they’re trying to assess and weigh in [on the crisis]. Maybe it’s not as public as some would like . . . but he’s out there, doing it Jim Hahn’s way.”