Free Republic

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Battling for re-election, Mayor Jim Hahn will appear for the second time with his four major rivals Tuesday in a debate that will focus on air quality and other environmental issues facing the city. The first face-off on Dec. 2 turned into a roundtable on allegations of corruption in the Hahn administration, while the mayor promoted his record on public safety and declared, "I've always been about honesty." Tuesday's taped debate, sponsored by the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters, could provide a respite for Hahn from questions about suspect fund-raising and other accusations of ethical...

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has begun a review of tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions funneled to Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn and two allies by developers allegedly at the center of a massive mortgage fraud scheme. Prosecutors are trying to determine the source of approximately $30,000 in donations made by associates of Mark Alan Abrams and Charles Elliott Fitzgerald, partners in a Beverly Hills real estate network that collapsed last year in financial scandal. The inquiry follows Times reports about more than $300,000 in cash directed to various Hahn causes by Abrams and...

It is high opera, a classic tale of ambition, betrayal, revenge and perhaps even a little lust and greed. It has to be. Otherwise, who would care about the campaign for mayor of Los Angeles? Especially now, in December, when voters here are just recovering from the presidential elections and the mayoral race has yet to shift into high gear. The election is March 8, when 19 challengers — four of whom reporters have labeled "serious" because we know them and they have a lot of money — will try to unseat Mayor James Hahn. They are state Senator Richard...

The public corruption scandal that surrounds Mayor James Hahn and taints City Hall gets uglier by the day. In the latest development, it appears that disgraced P.R. giant Fleishman-Hillard tried to bill the city's Department of Water and Power for the cost of a political fund-raiser for then-City Councilman Nick Pacheco, who was fighting for his political life against Mayor James Hahn's archenemy Antonio Villaraigosa. We write "appears" because, like the rest of this saga, the details are murky. And that's why the citizens of Los Angeles need a full accounting and explanation -- in advance of the March mayoral...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The four major candidates seeking to oust Mayor James Hahn depicted his administration Thursday as paralyzed by ethical conflicts and lapses, and alleged he stood by while campaign contributions and favoritism opened the doors to City Hall. Hahn largely avoided addressing ongoing investigations that have placed a cloud over his administration, but argued in an hour-long debate that he was leading the city toward a brighter, safer future. Voters "know who Jim Hahn is. I've always been about honesty," Hahn responded. In making the case against giving Hahn another four-year term, his rivals argued that new...

In addition to DWP's contract with Fleishman-Hillard, Mayor James Hahn used the harbor and airport department contracts with the P.R. firm to strategize and publicize himself and his administration, records show. A review of invoices City Controller Laura Chick turned over to the City Attorney's Office show Fleishman-Hillard billed Los Angeles World Airports and the Port of Los Angeles thousands of dollars for publicizing events that showcased the mayor. Chick has accused the firm of overbilling the Department of Water and Power $4.2 million over a six-year period. She has not specifically looked at billings at the other agencies. Both...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A top city official sharply criticized Mayor James K. Hahn following reports that a public relations company billed the city's Department of Water and Power thousands of dollars for work done on his behalf. City Controller Laura Chick said it was a "very sad day for the city" after the Los Angeles Times reported that Fleishman-Hillard charged the utility more than $400,000 to arrange news conferences and press releases featuring Hahn and to provide other publicity services to the mayor. "The ratepayers of Los Angeles were used to fund a public relations team for the mayor,"...

The scandal that has felled Deal Hudson, and the controversy over Scott Hahn’s theological novelties, are two examples of why the neo-Catholic establishment is a house built on sand. by Christopher A. Ferrara REMNANT COLUMNIST, New Jersey Regarding Hahn's treatment of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we see the same mistakes being made. Mind you, these are serious errors, because they undermine the traditional understanding of who, precisely, was responsible for the first sin, as well as the theological ramifications of that initial sin. In brief, Hahn claims Adam sinned first, not Eve. He writes: "Thus, Adam's...

RE: Hahn’s treatment of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we see the same mistakes being made. Mind you, these are serious errors,because they undermine the traditional understanding of who, precisely, was responsible for the first sin, as well as the theological ramifications of that initial sin. In brief, Hahn claims Adam sinned first, not Eve. He writes: "Thus, Adam's failure was virtually complete by the time Eve took her first bite" (A Father Who Keeps His Promises (FKP), p. 72). Suffice it to say, Hahn's conclusion is utterly false. But in observing how he deals with biblical...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The executive director of the nation's busiest port resigned Friday amid a probe by prosecutors into the awarding of contracts at the port and other city departments. Officials did not disclose the reason for the resignation of Larry Keller, who ran the Port of Los Angeles for seven years. A search to replace the director will begin immediately, the mayor's office said. "Larry's tenure saw the Port of Los Angeles grow into America's largest maritime gateway and the prime economic generator in the Southland," Mayor Jim Hahn said. "I wish him well in all his future...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has joined Mayor James Hahn's re-election campaign as its honorary chair, the campaign announced Monday. Feinstein, a Democrat, has represented California in the U.S. Senate since 1992 and before that was mayor of San Francisco. "I am very proud and honored that Sen. Feinstein has agreed to serve as honorary chair of my campaign," Hahn said in a statement. "She has been a great friend and partner in our efforts to make Los Angeles a great place to live." Hahn faces competition from former state Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, state Sen. Richard...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Candidates for mayor have raised thousands of dollars from contractors, developers and others doing business with city departments even though Mayor James K. Hahn has proposed banning such political donations. Hahn and former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg together accepted at least $50,000 from city contractors and their employees, according to a Los Angeles Times review of campaign finance statements from the first half of the year. The two also pulled in more than $250,000 from real estate and development interests, at least $45,000 of which came from donors with business at City Hall. "It's business as...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The state Fair Political Practices Commission on Tuesday accused a prominent lawyer of laundering contributions to the election campaign of Mayor James Hahn. Pierce O'Donnell allegedly arranged maximum donations from law firm employees and others, and then reimbursed them. He made 26 illegal contributions totaling $25,500, according to the accusation filed in Sacramento. The panel charged with enforcing California's campaign laws requested that O'Donnell be fined at least $94,000. If the case is not settled, an administrative hearing will be scheduled in coming months, said Steven Russo, head of enforcement for the commission. O'Donnell, 57, said...

I don't believe the strong public reaction to Sunday's halftime show at the Super Bowl is about a bared breast. It's about people being scared. On some visceral level, we all suspect that we're just a bunch of clever savages who have somehow stumbled onto this marvelous system for living together in enormous communities in relative peace. We're not sure how it works, but we know it has something to do with self-restraint. Many of the things we "don't do" in our society (like baring breasts in public) are quite arbitrary. But they help us get across to children the...

If we want to be Christians, we have no choice but to pray "Our Father." When the first disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He taught them using those very words. To pray as a Christian means to pray "Our Father." The Power of One Yet, as I learned in my first days of ministry, the word father has become a stumbling block for some people. Divorce is common, as is birth outside wedlock. I live in a country that one popular book described as Fatherless America. So, for a growing number of people, father has never meant...