Hahn Prioritizes Safety, Rider Experience as new Metro Chair

LOS ANGELES  — Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn July 10 assumed the chair of the Metro Board of Directors and delivered a speech outlining her priorities for her year-long term with a focus on safety. 

“We know that new lines and stations will ultimately fail if riders’ top concern isn’t whether the Metro system goes where they need it to — but whether they will reach their destination safely,” said chair Hahn, to an audience of elected leaders and Metro employees.

Hahn spoke about the importance of law enforcement visibility on buses, trains and at Metro stations and praised the recent surge of police and Sheriff’s deputy presence on the system in response to violent crimes. 

On top of safety, Hahn laid out additional priorities: helping unhoused people find shelter and assistance off the Metro system, focusing on the rider experience, and supporting Metro’s workforce. 

She also spoke about her plan to ride Metro more often as chair.

“When my father was a Supervisor, he would take a different route to the office through his district every day. And every time he came across a pothole, he would report it to his staff and tell them that, the next time he drove that road, he expected it to be fixed,” said Hahn. “So, I am going to take a page out of my dad’s book. I haven’t ridden Metro as much as I should have in the past, but I am going to make it a point to ride more while I am Chair. And at our Board meetings, I am going to talk about what I experience as a Metro rider. That will mean calling out problems I see —  as well as praising the things that go right.”

At the event, the former chair Mayor Karen Bass formally passed the gavel to Hahn. The chair of Metro rotates annually between the Mayor of Los Angeles, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and one of the City Selection Committee Members.

Hahn has served on the Metro board of directors since her election to the Board of Supervisors in 2016 and has championed building the Southeast Gateway Line from Artesia to Downtown, the preservation of the Dodger Stadium Express, and providing better mental health outreach to people in need on the Metro system. 

Watch full speech: https://fb.watch/teJylJr1Db/ (Starts at 57:15)

Read full transcript of Hahn’s speech here.

Justice, Care and Opportunities Department Launches Incubation Academy Cohort 6

LOS ANGELES — The Justice, Care and Opportunities Department or JCOD July 9 launched the sixth cohort of its Incubation Academy.

The Incubation Academy focuses on organizational growth, management contracting, capacity mapping and mentorship for community-based organizations or CBO that serve justice-involved individuals and communities.

JCOD partners with The Center for Nonprofit Management to provide one year of training for CBOs led by underrepresented groups, such as formerly incarcerated, LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities, targeting the highest-need areas of LA County.

Cohort 6 of the Incubation Academy features 25 new organizations from each Supervisorial district. Most CBOs in Cohort 6 have fewer than five full-time employees and have never received funding from LA County.

To date, a total of 113 CBOs have completed JCOD’s Incubation Academy through the first five cohorts. These 113 organizations have collectively received more than $4 million in capacity-building grants and more than $28 million in Care First Community Investment Care Grants.

JCOD accepts applications for future Cohorts of its Incubation Academy on a rolling basis.

Details: jcod.lacounty.gov/incubationacademy.

McOsker Policy Update

LOS ANGELES — Last year, Councilman Tim McOsker co-authored a motion to reform the discipline system and increase accountability for police misconduct. On July 2, the city council approved this initiative, which will appear on the November 2024 ballot. One of the primary goals of Measure C, a ballot initiative that allowed officers the option to choose an all-civilian disciplinary Board of Rights, was to enhance officer accountability. However, in practice, it did not achieve this objective. Building on these lessons, the new initiative seeks to reform and repeal Measure C. Most importantly, by passing this measure, voters will empower the Chief of Police with the authority to immediately terminate officers in the most egregious cases.