HAHN SAYS NO TO RESCHEDULED TV DEBATE.Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer Mayor James Hahn For the Iowa politician, see . James Kenneth "Jim" Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American politician from the Democratic Party. He was the Deputy City Attorney (1975-1979), City Controller (1981-1985), City Attorney (1985-2001) and Mayor of Los Angeles, California announced Thursday that he will not participate in a Dec. 2 televised debate against his four major challengers, sponsored by the League of Women Voters League of Women Voters, voluntary public service organization of U.S. citizens. Organized in 1920 in Chicago as an outgrowth of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, it had as its original nucleus the leaders of the latter organization. . Hahn's decision - attributed to a scheduling conflict - stunned League of Women Voter officials, who had originally hoped to hold the event in October but pushed it off until December at Hahn's request. ``It doesn't make any sense to us,'' said Scott Regberg, who is organizing the event. ``This is the most credible organization you could have, his four major challengers have agreed to appear and it would be ... televised in prime time. We are very disappointed.'' Hahn campaign spokeswoman Julie Wong said they had hoped that the debate would be held at another time. ``We had asked them to reschedule re·sched·ule tr.v. re·sched·uled, re·sched·ul·ing, re·sched·ules To schedule again or anew: rescheduled the meeting for the following week; rescheduled the debts of many developing nations. it and they wouldn't,'' Wong said. ``The mayor isn't available on that date. We had never fully committed (Law) committed to prison for trial, in distinction from being detained for examination. See also: Fully to this, but just had agreed to let them say the mayor was invited.'' Wong said Hahn will appear in a Dec. 21 debate at the Los Angeles County Museum Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, Calif. The original museum opened in 1913. Among its important patrons was William Randolph Hearst, whose enormous collection brought the museum major status among the country's art houses. , sponsored by the League of Conservation Voters The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is an independent, nonpartisan political advocacy organization that was founded in 1969 by the noted American environmentalist David Brower. , and will participate in other debates closer to the March 8 primary election. Hahn said this week that he planned to limit the number of debates in which he would appear, compared with four years ago when there were more than two dozen such events. The mayor has found himself the subject of criticism by his major opponents on a variety of issues, from crime in the city to the credibility of his administration. The major candidates who have announced their challenges include Councilmen Bernard Parks and Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. , state Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, and former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg of Sherman Oaks. Hertzberg has made the most of Hahn's refusal to debate, using his Internet Web site at www.changela.com, to launch a petition drive in which the mayor is asked to participate in candidate debates. ``In the space of 24 hours, we had more than 150 people sign a petition urging the mayor to participate,'' spokesman Matt Szabo said. ``We've been asking for debates for months. We don't understand why this mayor won't defend his record.'' Rick Orlov, (213) 978-0390 rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com |
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