Padilla Rejects Hahn’s Commission Picks

Taking advantage of a procedural error by Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn, City Council President Alex Padilla rejected six Hahn nominees to city commissions on Friday, naming his own appointees instead.

In all, Padilla nominated 25 people for city commission seats in cases where the terms had expired but Hahn, the normal appointing official, had failed to make nominations by an Aug. 14 deadline.

Thirteen of Padilla’s nominees are the same as Hahn’s; six are different. In another six cases, Hahn didn’t have appointments pending.

Padilla and Hahn traditionally have been allies, supporting each other’s election campaigns, so the councilman’s decision not to honor the mayor’s appointments surprised some.

“I know he was allowed to do this by the city charter, but it still sounds like a challenge to the mayor,” said San Fernando Valley political consultant Arnold Steinberg.

In replacing Hahn appointees, Padilla appointed union leaders and other activists who have supported him and his council allies in the past. Several of Padilla’s appointees are from the San Fernando Valley, where he lives. Padilla’s nominees require confirmation by the full City Council.

In a short statement, Hahn said he was “pleased” to have been able to work with Padilla and the City Council on the appointments.

“I am confident they will serve in the best interest of the city,” he said.

Noting that most of Hahn’s nominees had also been nominated by Padilla, Julie Wong, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said Hahn did not to plan to exercise his charter power to remove any of the commissioners Padilla had named.

Some council members have complained that mayoral appointments haven’t always reflected the geographic and ethnic diversity of the city.

Padilla said, “In working with both the mayor and my colleagues on the council, I have developed a list of nominees that have the expertise necessary to perform their duties well, and I have made selections that reflect a cross-section of the entire city of Los Angeles.”

Hahn missed the Aug. 14 deadline to fill 25 city commission seats, but had nominated 21 people in the days after the deadline.

Because they were late, the nominations had no official standing, and Padilla was free to choose anyone he wanted.

Changes made by Padilla included:

* Replacing Hahn nominee Elizabeth Giffin with school union leader Janett Humphries as an appointee to the Central Area Planning Commission.

* Replacing Hahn nominee Greta Hutton with Sherman Oaks businessman Nathan Brogin on the South Valley Area Planning Commission.

* Replacing Hahn nominee Elizabeth Helms with office administrator Barbara J. Henton of North Hills for the Commission on Disabilities.

* Replacing Hahn nominee Tammy Membreno with union leader David Trujillo for the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners.

Padilla also replaced Hahn nominees to the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument Authority and the Commission on the Status of Women.

In addition, two Hahn nominees to the East Los Angeles Area Planning Commission had withdrawn their names, and Padilla made new appointments: library research director Alexis Moreno and Michael Fleming to those posts.