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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed former Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn to the post of Superior Court judge. Details from the governor's statement: Hahn, 58, of San Pedro, has served as a mediator for the Alternative Resolution Center since January 2008. Prior to that, he worked as managing director for Chadwick, Saylor & Company from 2005 to 2007. Hahn served the city of Los Angeles as mayor from 2001 to 2005, city attorney from 1985 to 2001 and controller from 1981 to 1985. From 1979 to 1981, he was a partner with Horner and Hahn and, from 1975 to 1979, a...

Capping the highest-profile case to come out of City Hall "pay-to-play" corruption investigations in the administration of former Mayor James Hahn, former commissioner Leland Wong was convicted Thursday of more than a dozen felony charges, including bribery, in connection with taking $100,000 from a company doing business with the city. Wong, 51, was found guilty of 14 felony charges, including one count of bribery, two counts of conflict of interest, one count of perjury, seven counts of theft by embezzlement and three counts of filing false tax returns. But the jury also acquitted Wong on six other counts of theft...

In a second case growing out of the City Hall "pay-to-play" corruption scandal, a former Hahn administration commissioner faced charges Wednesday of bribery, conflict of interest, perjury and embezzlement. The most significant of 20 counts against Leland Wong, 49, of San Marino centers on charges that he got $100,000 in 2002 from an executive of the Taiwanese firm Evergreen Shipping. Wong served on the Airport Commission at the time and voted on a contract for the firm. "The indictment ... is a significant step in rooting out corrupt public officials and exposing corruption within public institutions," District Attorney Steve Cooley...

LOS ANGELES - Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa unseated Mayor James Hahn on Tuesday to become the city's first Hispanic mayor in more than a century, confirming the rising political power of Latinos in the nation's second-largest city.After a lackluster term tainted by corruption allegations at City Hall, Hahn was turned out of office in favor of a high school dropout and son of the barrio who turned his life around to become speaker of the California Assembly and then a member of the Los Angeles City Council.With 70 percent of precincts reporting, Villaraigosa had 202,861 votes, or 59 percent, to 140,416...

Hahn, Villaraigosa to fight rematch in LA mayoral runoff - By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, March 9, 2005 (03-09) 10:47 PST Los Angeles (AP) -- Incumbent Mayor James Hahn and Antonio Villaraigosa will fight for leadership of the nation's second-largest city in a May runoff after mayoral candidate Bob Hertzberg conceded defeat Wednesday, "I called Mayor Hahn this morning and congratulated him on his victory," Hertzberg said during a morning news conference. Nearly 24,000 absentee and other ballots remained to be counted, but Hertzberg trailed by Hahn by 5,800 votes, a margin his campaign concluded was too...

I'm outta here!Mayor James Hahn melts down in the waning hours of his 2nd election bid. I feel for ya Mayor Hahn, the Mexican Flag will be flying over Los Angeles City Hall once again by morning!

Stalled in the polls and running out of time, Mayor James Hahn on Thursday launched the first TV attack ad of the mayoral campaign, tarring his main rivals as "Sacramento politicians" who pocketed cash from Enron Corp. while steering California toward an energy crisis. The 30-second spot marked the start of a scalding advertising fight that is expected to intensify until Tuesday's election. City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, one of the targets of Hahn's ad, responded within hours with a TV commercial that zeroed in on an ongoing corruption investigation at City Hall and asked, "Can we really trust Jim Hahn?"...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - In a city more accustomed to scandals in Hollywood than City Hall, claims of public corruption and fraud are dogging the re-election campaign of decidedly low-profile Mayor James Hahn. County prosecutors have been probing allegations that Hahn supporters shook down firms which wanted to do business with the city by tying public contracts to political contributions. Federal prosecutors have opened their own inquiry. Although Hahn has not been implicated and denies knowledge of any potential wrongdoing, the investigations touch whole segments of city government - from members of Hahn's inner circle to Los Angeles International Airport...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Outrage over allegations of police brutality is shaking up the wide-open contest for City Hall in which an influential, if relatively small, black vote could determine whether Mayor James Hahn wins a second term. The death of 13-year-old Devin Brown, who was shot by police after driving a stolen car into a police car, galled black residents who saw the killing as the latest example of Police Department abuse. And that Feb. 6 shooting came just three days after prosecutors declined to file charges against an officer who was videotaped hammering a black car-theft suspect with...

LOS ANGELES - Outrage over alleged police brutality is shaking up a wide-open contest for City Hall in which an influential, if relatively small, black vote could determine whether Mayor James Hahn keeps his job. The death of 13-year-old Devin Brown, who was shot by police after driving a stolen car into an LAPD cruiser, galled black residents who see the killing as the latest example of Police Department abuse. The Feb. 6 shooting came three days after prosecutors declined to file charges against an officer who was videotaped hammering black car-theft suspect Stanley Miller with a metal flashlight -...

Questions about corruption swirling around Mayor James Hahn have their origins in the decisions he made at the start of his administration to put key fund-raisers in critical roles that would aid his future efforts to raise campaign cash. What analysts are calling the "perfect political storm" was virtually assured years ago by a cascade of decisions that put the demands of his campaigns and the interests of insiders at the top of the Hahn agenda. Among the decisions that observers point to is naming his relatively inexperienced 2001 campaign fund-raiser, Troy Edwards, to oversee the three proprietary departments --...

In the first charges growing out of City Hall corruption investigations, a former top executive with the Fleishman-Hillard public relations firm was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on 11 felony counts of fraud. The indictment of John Stodder, 49, a senior vice president who left the firm last week, centers on charges that he participated in a scheme over a two-year period to defraud the Department of Water and Power out of $250,000. He also is accused of overbilling the Port of Los Angeles, architect Frank Gehry's firm and the World Wide Church of God. Stodder, who faces...

Other consular IDs welcome City officials like Mexican plan results, want to add other countries Two years after accepting Mexican consulate identification cards as valid forms of identification in Los Angeles, city officials on Friday announced plans to accept ID cards from scores of other countries. Amid concerns about security and encouraging illegal immigration, Los Angeles joined other Southwestern cities in 2002 in recognizing the Mexican photo identification card known as matricula consular . Mayor James Hahn and Councilman Eric Garcetti said Friday that there have been no problems associated with the consular cards and that the city should extend...

With more than 40 percent of Los Angeles residents having come from foreign countries, the city on Tuesday created an Office of Immigrant Affairs to help newcomers adjust to their new home. The City Council voted unanimously to create the office under Mayor James Hahn's jurisdiction. The office will be staffed with two employees who will help put immigrants in contact with existing community service and support organizations. The $125,000 cost to operate the office will be covered by federal grants during the first year and included as part of the mayor's operating budget in future years. "This is not...

White smoke finally appeared over Los Angeles City Hall on Wednesday. At long last, habemus chiefam. Mayor James Hahn has chosen William Bratton to be the next chief of the LAPD, picking the former NYPD commissioner over the two other remaining candidates for the post, former Philadelphia police commissioner John Timoney and Oxnard, California police chief Art Lopez. The selection will be formally announced at a Thursday press conference, but, foreshadowing the reception Bratton can expect from some quarters, the carping has already begun. "[T]he Latino community overall is very disappointed," said city councilman Nick Pacheco, who had been lobbying...

Published: Sunday, June 23, 2002 Hundreds rally for united L.A. By Susan Abram Staff Writer VALLEY GLEN -- Kicking off one of the largest movements yet to keep Los Angeles whole, Mayor James Hahn, former Mayor Richard Riordan, and religious and community leaders rallied more than 1,000 labor union workers and others Saturday against San Fernando Valley secession. There was a large turn out at a rally at Valley College in opposition to secession. (Gene Blevins / Daily News) With banners proclaiming "United We Stand," janitors, restaurant employees and other union members joined forces with those already committed to the...