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New Uniforms for Banning High
School: Go Pilots!
Councilwoman Hahn
presents Coach Ferragamo (left) and his coaching team
with a $10,000 check for new
uniforms
I was so pleased to be able to
help the Banning High School football coaches raise
about $60,000 for new football uniforms and
equipment. I decided to help when I heard that the
Pilot football team had not purchased new uniforms in
decades.
The new uniforms will
help with the confidence and pride of our Pilot football
players. We are all looking forward to seeing the new
red, black and white uniforms when the football team takes the
field in September for their opening game against Los Angeles
Wilson
High.
ONE STEP CLOSER TO
SAN PEDRO
WELCOME PARK
We are finally one step closer to
making our long awaited Welcome Park in San Pedro a
reality. Community members in San Pedro, led by Jim
Hussey, have been working for years to turn the blighted
property on Gaffey Street, at the end of the 110 freeway, into
a park that better reflects the community of San Pedro.
This past week, buildings located on the property were finally
demolished, clearing the way for the next step-landscaping.
We have waited a long time
for this. Seeing these buildings come down is a real
sign that the Welcome Park is moving forward. Building
the park has been a priority to me and it's about time that we
cleaned up the main entryway into San Pedro. First
impressions are lasting impressions. The new park will
finally give the right impression of San
Pedro.
Working with the Los Angeles Neighborhood
Initiative (LANI) and community members, the design for the
welcome park will soon be completed and the park will be
built. Funding for the park will come from a variety of
sources, including several million dollars secured by my
office, as well as a $150,000 federal grant from Congresswoman
Jane Harman.
BUILDING A HABITAT FOR HUMANITY HOME IN
WATTS
Councilwoman Hahn with Habitat LA President Erin
Rank
I was honored to join Habitat for
Humanity of Greater Los Angeles recently in kicking off the
major rehabilation of a home in Watts.
The
house, located across from the Watts Towers and donated by the
City, will soon be home to Silvia Hernandez and
her family. The family, which includes her 95
year-old mother, currently live in an apartment that is in
extreme disrepair. The family is helping to rehab the
home.
It was a very sucessful event, which
was sponsored by Lowe's Home Store and HOY
newspaper. Volunteers from the following organizations
picked up hammers and helped rehab the home:
California La Raza Lawyers Association, Hispanic National Bar
Association, Laborer's Local 300, Latina Lawyers Bar
Association, Latino City Attorneys Association of Los Angeles,
Mexican American Bar Association and the National Latina
Alliance.
I am a big supporter of Habitat for
Humanity and am really looking forward to November 2007
when President Jimmy Carter will be coming to San Pedro
for the annual Habitat for Humanity Jimmy Carter Work
Project. We expect hundreds of volunteers to turn
out for this exciting event. Let us know if you want
to help.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR
NEIGHBORHOOD?
DIAL 311
One
call to City Hall, does it all! Call 311 from any phone
located in the City of L.A. and report potholes, graffiti or
for any other City
service...
Contact my
office:
City
Hall 213/473-7015
Harbor Office 310/732-4515
Watts
Office 213/473-5128
Harbor
City/ 310/327-4482 Harbor
Gateway Office
Remember to check out my
blog: www.janicehahn.org
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July
2006
Port
Security: How will we recover after an
attack?
 It is no secret that our Port complex (Los Angeles
& Long Beach) is a top terrorist targets.
We have 14 million containers entering or leaving every year,
and each on represents a risk. Believe it or not, we are
still only inspecting about 4% of them.
I have been
saying for years that we need more federal funding so that we
can inspect each and every container, but until that happens
we will remain vulnerable. It may only be a matter of
time before we are attacked. And a shutdown at our port,
whether it is from a terrorist attack, or even a natural
disaster, would be devastating to our local economy and could
cripple the national economy.
Earlier this
month, there was an incident at the port that was an
eye opener for a lot of us. A gasoline leak on a
docked tanker caused oxygen in several sections of the
ship to reach potentially explosive levels. I was down
at the command post with the Coast Guard and Port Police
and we were talking seriously about evacuation plans.
Luckily, a technician was able to get the situation
under control, but it was clear that a shut down at our
port is very possible and we must be
ready.
A recent report from the Public Policy
Institute of California reported that a significant
disruption at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach could
cost the national economy $45 billion-with 64% of the effects
felt within the Los Angeles region. If terrorists truly
wanted to impact the national economy, shutting down our ports
would be the best way to do it.
While it is essential that we
continue to work to prevent an attack and prepare for
evacuation for our dockworkers and nearby residents in case of
an emergency; we must also be prepared with a recovery plan in
the event that an attack does take place. I have
requested that the port put together a recovery plan that will
allow us to get the port up and running quickly in the event
of an attack or disaster. I believe that having such a
plan in place will not only help to prevent the complete
crippling of our national economy, it could also deter
terrorists from attacking if they know we are prepared to
bounce back
quickly.
Reducing Traffic all over Los
Angeles:
1 year anniversary of off-peak goods
movement
 Would you believe that as recently as a year ago the
Port of Los Angeles was operating Monday through Friday from 8
to 5? And we wondered why traffic on the 710 and the 110
was so bad.
A couple of years ago, I asked the Harbor
Department to tell me how to move cargo operations,
particularly the movement of the containers in and out of the
port, to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
To help
the Port of Los Angeles in coming up with a plan, I held a
meeting where I had every port stakeholder in the room.
We had labor, shippers, truckers, warehouse operators, both
ports, distributors, etc. all in one room. And while
everyone agreed that the current system was not working, they
all said "Janice, people have been talking about doing this
for 20 years, and it has never happened."
I wasn't
discouraged because I believed that we had public opinion on
our side.and I was right. We formed a working group, the
Goods Movement Efficiency Task Force, made up of all of
the stakeholders. After several months of meetings, my
working group came up with the idea of charging a fee to move
goods during the day, while offering the incentive of no fee
at night. All of our work spurred the industry into action;
and the terminal operators themselves put a program into place
to open our gates on nights and weekends.
Last July,
the Pierpass program began. Basically, cargo owners
(usually shippers) are charged $50 for every container
that is moved during peak hours. No fees are charged
during off-peak hours. The gates are open on Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 6 p.m. - 3 a.m. and on
Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
I recently
received an update and the results are better than we
imagined. Currently, 10,000 trucks are being moved every
night. To put that into perspective, 10,000 trucks would
stretch from San Diego to Long Beach if lined up. The
program has already met its 2 year goal and is moving about
35% of cargo during the off-peak hours. They expect that
in 2006, Pierpass will take at least 2.8 million trucks of the
roads during peak hours.
We have
seen less congestion at the ports and less congestion on our
freeways. This reduced gridlock and idling has helped to
improve air quality. In a recent survey, 58% of truckers
say they have seen an improvement in traffic on the 110 and
the 710 and 66% have a positive opinion of the new
program. We have also created more jobs for our
longshore workers.
Of course, Pierpass is a temporary solution.
Cargo at the Ports of LA and Long Beach is expected to triple
by 2025. But, at least we are doing what we can now
to improve traffic and air quality. Next, we have to improve
our infrastructure and if the voters approve it in
November, I expect the infrastructure bond to
significantly help.
National Night Out: Support our LAPD
Officers
 Come out for the 23rd
Annual National Night Out. National Night Out is a great
event held in just about every community to give residents a
chance to support their local police officers. It is a
great way for neighbors to get to know each other and their
local officers, encouraging a real partnership between
our officers and our communities. Residents, police
officers and business owners gather on National Night Out
to send a message to criminals that our neighborhoods are
organized and paying attention.
This year's National
Night Out events will be held on Tuesday August 1.
I
will be starting in Watts at 4 pm to join
Watts community members that have planned a rally and
march for peace. The march will start at Ted Watkins
Park and end at the Southeast Police Station, located at 145
West 108th Street. A program is scheduled for 4 pm and
the station will be holding an open house and
barbeque for the community.
At 5:30, I will be in
Harbor City for the National Night Out event hosted by the
Harbor City Business Coalition. The event, which will
include a barbeque, will be held at Ping Auto Service, 1608
Pacific Coast Highway. The event will be from 5:30 -
7:30.
I plan to end the evening at the Wilmington
National Night Out event being held at the Harbor Christian
Center, 1551 Wilmington Blvd. There is always a great turnout
at this event and there is always good food and entertainment
from 6 - 8 pm.
Other events in the district
include:
186th Street School
(1581 W. 186th Street, Gardena)
7-8 pm
BBQ, food and
presentations
Beacon House (1003 S Beacon St., San
Pedro)
7-8 pm
BBQ, food and entertainment
Park
Western Estates (1327 W. Park Western, San Pedro)
6-9
pm
BBQ, food and children's activities
I
encourage everyone to get out and show our police
officers that we support their hard work and dedication.
I attend every year and always have a great
time.
Don't forget to visit our website for
regular updates, announcements and information:
http://www.janicehahn.com |
