Hahn Unveils Plans for Economy

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn outlined Friday an economic vision for the city that calls for improving education, bolstering the stock of affordable housing and easing taxes for new businesses.

“Los Angeles is already an economic powerhouse,” Hahn told members of the Los Angeles Rotary Club. “But Los Angeles is also a city of unlimited potential.... Our challenge is to foster this potential, strengthen our economic foundation and provide opportunities for economic growth.”

Making his first major economic policy speech since taking office last year, Hahn stressed that education was central for financial stability and future growth. He said he plans to form a task force later this summer dedicated to finding ways to increase educational opportunities for city residents.

Hahn noted that Los Angeles has the “least-educated work force” of any major U.S. city. One in 10 people in Los Angeles lacks a sixth-grade education and one in four is without a high school diploma.

“We’ve looked at the numbers and it’s very disconcerting,” Hahn said. “We must focus on developing our work force.”

He offered no immediate suggestions on how educational opportunities should be improved.

While his comments were generally well-received, some experts stressed that it would be difficult for the mayor, who has no direct control over the Los Angeles Unified School District, to fix problems such as overcrowded campuses and low reading scores.

The mayor, who is battling secession efforts in the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood, also outlined a number of other initiatives, many of them already underway, to help improve the city’s economic future and make Los Angeles “a more friendly place to do business.”

They include:

* Setting up a $100-million housing trust fund to help develop affordable housing in the city, an initiative that was announced earlier this year. More money would also be spent to help first-time home buyers finance their purchases. “I directed the Los Angeles Housing Department to put more money than ever before into homeownership programs--over $11 million, benefiting over 200 new homeowners, more than in the last previous three years combined,” Hahn said.

* Streamlining the city’s tax structure on the basis of recommendations by the Business Tax Advisory Committee, which is expected to submit its plan in the next 30 days. “We have already taken a number of steps to improve and simplify our tax procedures,” Hahn said. “This includes a two-year waiver of business taxes to new firms earning less than $500,000 in revenues annually.”

* Reforming the city’s real estate development process by streamlining building permits and overhauling plan checks and inspection efforts to reduce duplications.

* Helping businesses expand by encouraging them to take advantage of federal Small Business Administration loans and other governmental programs. “People often ask about bringing more Fortune 500 companies to Los Angeles,” Hahn said. “While such opportunities may arise, my primary focus is on developing and growing businesses already here in Los Angeles.”

On the education front, Hahn said, he plans to form a task force of leaders from education, business, unions, religion, nonprofits, and government to collaborate on increasing learning and literacy in Los Angeles. He declined to comment directly on the performance of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“We first must see who is and is not literate in L.A., and to come up with solutions to plug the gaps,” he said. “We need to expose our youth to career opportunities and help those short on resources find a way to go to college.”

Hahn said he had been especially dismayed to learn recently that, even by the third generation, more than three-quarters of Latinos in Los Angeles are not earning college decrees. “Nearly three-quarters of kids in LAUSD are Latino,” Hahn noted.

“Education and economic expansion have never been closer allies. The future belongs to the educated, and central to my growth strategy for Los Angeles is the creation of a tech-savvy, education-minded work force,” Hahn said.

While Hahn’s comments--some of his strongest to date--received high marks from community leaders, one political pundit questioned whether the mayor could make a difference in improving the quality of education in the city.

“This isn’t New York,” said Steven Erie, a UC San Diego political science professor, who is writing a book on Los Angeles politics. “The mayor doesn’t have control over education in the city. Basically, all you have is a bully pulpit, and that’s what he’s using.”

But Los Angeles Police Department Assistant Chief David Gascon, who attended the speech, said he believed the mayor’s efforts could serve as a catalysis for change. “Education is the basic foundation of everything,” Gascon said. “It’s the foundation of our free society. It’s what drives industry. It’s what make a community prosperous.”

Caprice Young, president of the school district’s Board of Education, also praised Hahn’s efforts.

“I’m really excited about it,” she said. “An educated work force is the heart of economic development.... I really think Los Angeles needs to come together to support education. This is the start of that.”