As a City Councilwoman for the last decade, Janice Hahn has dealt directly with two of the largest economic engines surrounding the 36th Congressional District—the Port of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles International Airport.
Dealing with these two vast employment bases has given Hahn the experience of working on a variety of job creation issues as well as environmental and public safety issues.
Port of Los Angeles
As the representative for the 15th District on the Los Angeles City Council, which includes the Port of Los Angeles, and as Chair of the Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee, Janice Hahn has developed a broad experience of working on numerous issues involving the Port. Over the course of her time on the Council, Hahn has been a staunch advocate for cleaning the Port and bringing more good-paying local green jobs to the Port.
Most notably, Hahn fought for the Clean Trucks Program which reduced dirty diesel pollution from trucks by 80 percent, and led to the creation of several hundred local good-paying green jobs in the Harbor Area. Due to Hahn’s dedication of restricting dirty trucks at the Port, and the Port’s purchase of new, zero-emission, heavy duty electric trucks, a new industry was created for the manufacturing of green, electric trucks in the Harbor area. Hahn’s work on this issue not only led to a cleaner Port by reducing emission from dirty trucks, but it has led to the creation of new green jobs.
As part of the Clean Air Action Plan at the Port, Hahn worked for the first Alternative Maritime Power berth at the Port of Los Angeles, which allows ships to shut off their diesel engines and plug in to use electric power while docked at the Port. This plan was originally supposed to retrofit all of the Port’s docks so that they were plug-in ready over 10 years, however, Hahn fought to ensure this retrofit plan was finished within five years. This program has led to a significant decrease in the amount of dirty emissions that ships produce while docked at the Port.
In an effort to reduce truck traffic and the density of truck emissions, Hahn led the effort to increase efficiency at the Port by extending the gate hours into the evenings and weekends. This action led to more jobs at the Port, fewer trucks on the highways during the day, and reduced truck traffic impacts during rush hour and high travel times.
Hahn negotiated the historic agreement between the Port and environmental and community advocates, to create a $50 million fund called the Port Community Benefits Trust Fund. This agreement allowed the Port to move forward on its planned $247 million terminal expansion, while providing a $50 million trust fund for the Wilmington and San Pedro communities in an effort to offset the effects of pollution from the Port. This $50 million trust fund has already begun creating “green growth” in the Port communities. Recently, it was announced that funding from this negotiated $50 million fund will be used for Wilmington-area schools to get air filters to protect students from air pollution from the Port. This effort aims to cuts asthma rates and reduce the effects of air pollution on children at nearly 40 campuses.
After seeing the devastation done to Indonesia from the 2004 Tsunami, Hahn worked with local public safety agencies to create the City’s “Tsunami Task Force,” which led to the creation of the “Tsunami Readiness” Program. Hahn also worked with the Los Angeles Fire Department to create an overall Emergency, Evacuation and Recovery Plan at the Port in the event of any natural disaster.
Hahn has worked on several homeland security and public safety issues surrounding the Port. She has worked with local law enforcement groups to increase security from terrorist threats and enhance the screening of cargo at the Port. In addition, Hahn led a delegation of local officials to Washington DC to ensure Port security dollars were allocated based on risk, and that the Port of Los Angeles received its fair share. Hahn has also worked to bring a new state-of-the-art Port Police Station to the Port of Los Angeles.
As a strong support of labor and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Hahn has supported the ILWU in contract negotiations –keeping good jobs in the Harbor.
Hahn has always been, and will continue to be a staunchly committed supporter of the Port’s Main Channel Deepening Project. This project is already well under way and is designed to allow the Port to accommodate larger vessels in the years to come, while also ensuring the competitiveness of the Port of Los Angeles over the Panama Canal and several other Southern and Eastern US Ports.
LAX Airport
As Chair of the Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee, Hahn also has worked on several important issues surrounding LAX Airport. Over the years, Hahn has partnered with her colleague, Councilman Bill Rosendahl, and LAX area communities in an effort to stop the expansion of LAX and instead modernize the airport. Hahn fought to re-institute the modernization of LAX by proposing that the Tom Bradley Terminal Projects move ahead with their multi-million dollar approved projects. By modernizing the Tom Bradley Terminal, there will be overall terminal and runway improvements which will enhance the passenger experience, reduce overcrowding, and provide airport access to the latest class of very large passenger aircraft. In addition, the improvements include, a new crossfield taxiway, new large aircraft gates at the terminal, new Midfield Satellite Concourse, a replacement of the Central Utility Plant, and a new Central Terminal Processor.
Hahn has also led efforts to prepare LAX so that it can accommodate the next generation of large aircrafts, including the A380 planes. By 2012, LAX will have enough retrofitted gates to fulfill the incoming A380 plans.
As a staunch advocate for workers and universal healthcare, Hahn fought to ensure that the 5,000 service workers at the airport received healthcare for themselves and their families.
As a Councilwoman, Hahn has worked closely with Congresswoman Jane Harman and the Los Angeles Airport Police on several homeland security and public safety issues. When she goes to Congress, she will continue to be a strong advocate for increasing public safety and homeland security at LAX airport and the surrounding communities.