April 15, 2005

Grand Chair Gala
Theater FÍte is More Like Love Fest for Hahns
By James Preston Allen, Publisher

     Grand Gala Chair Affair dinner on Saturday, April 2 was unexpectedly the social event of the season as some 350 patrons paid $100 each to dine ‡ la Art Deco inside of the classic Warner Grand Theatre in downtown San Pedro. Hosted by the Grand Vision Foundation and headed up by Liz Schindler-Johnson, the formal affair offered an insight as to what cultural life might be like as a result of investment in the arts in the Harbor Area. The veritable who’s-who of San Pedro included the many artists who donated their abilities to construct the 40 art chairs that were auctioned off in the month preceding the gala. Grand kudos go to Schindler-Johnson and her staff and the board of the Grand Vision Foundation for such a successful affair.
     What became exceedingly clear as the evening progressed was the underlying coalition of diverse political supporters that stood up to applaud both Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn, as well as his sister Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who gave an oddly idiosyncratic invocation. There was a deep outpouring of support for the Mayor who is embattled in a runoff that could determine the fate of nearly every public project in the Harbor Area. The audience reflected a new San Pedro alliance of San Pedro Chamber of Commerce conservatives, Republican businessmen and lobbyists, as well as the majority liberal Democrats who dominate local politics, and officials from the Port of LA.
     Clearly much of this “new alliance” might devolve or fold if the Mayor is not re-elected on May 17 and it is not clear how much impact the San Pedro/Harbor Area will have on the citywide election. However, earlier that same week Janice Hahn hosted her birthday party as a fundraiser for the Mayor at the Top of the Market banquet hall at the San Pedro Fish Market where the Mayor’s campaign supposedly raised somewhere in the neighborhood of $79,000. This sum still placed the Mayor second in fundraising against Villaraigosa’s campaign as of April 7 when the city ethics commission released its latest report.
     The Hahn campaign did not benefit from the Grand Gala Chair Affair, but if he could bottle this kind of enthusiasm and spike the LA water system with it he might well get elected. In the meantime Schindler-Johnson was imagining her next fundraising project for the grand lady of Art Deco antiquity—the Warner Grand. Before the night was over I heard her say something about “lights” for next year’s event.

Above, Liz Schindler-Johnson presents the Community Leadership Award to Councilwoman Janice Hahn at the Grand Chair Gala for her contributions to the Grand Vision Foundation.  Below, John Z. Blazevich, President of Contessa Foods, received the Founder’s Circle Award from Schindler-Johnson.  Photos: Taso Papadakis.