Emily Lintner

Los Angeles, CA — This afternoon, friends, colleagues, and loved ones of the late Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge gathered at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for a ceremony unveiling a plaque dedicated to LaBonge at the Coliseum’s Court of Honor.

“Tom was a cheerleader for Los Angeles,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn, who served alongside LaBonge on the LA City Council and nominated him to the Court of Honor. “He loved everything about this city. It is fitting that generations to come will walk around the legends of the Court of Honor, see this plaque, and learn about the one and only Mr. Los Angeles.”

Councilman Tom LaBonge, who passed away in January 2021, was a longtime supporter of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He attended Coliseum Commission meetings long after he retired from the City Council and raised funds for other Court of Honor honorees. He even worked as an NFL sideline photographer at several games at the Coliseum.

The ceremony featured Supervisor Janice Hahn, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission President George Pla, former Raiders players Mike Haynes and Shelby Jordan, and LaBonge’s wife Brigid LaBonge.

In her closing remarks, Brigid LaBonge told the crowd, “I ask you to go forward in joy and happiness and go do something Tom would do – whatever it is you think Tom would do.”

Los Angeles, CA – Today, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis that will provide assistance to small businesses for the implementation of the Single-Use Plastic Ordinance in the County’s unincorporated areas. The Ordinance, which was also approved today, will require that all disposable food service ware such as containers, cups, dishes, and utensils provided with ready-to-eat food or food trays be either compostable or recyclable.

The assistance motion, authored by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis, directs County offices and agencies to provide small businesses with education and outreach in multiple languages, information about suppliers of compliant food ware items, and to study the feasibility of providing financial support to small business during their transition. It aims to help put small businesses in unincorporated areas of the County on a seamless path toward compliance once the Single-Use Plastics Ordinance goes into full effect in May of 2023.

“I believe this move away from single-use plastics is important, but it will only be successful if our businesses, especially our small businesses, have the support they need to implement it,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn. “Our small businesses are economic and cultural assets to our communities. I want to ensure that they have all the tools they need to make this transition away from plastic pollution. This should not be a burden for them.”

Unincorporated communities are home to more than one million residents, making the Single-Use Plastic Ordinance a consequential step in the fight against environmental degradation. Plastics make up a significant amount of the 30 million pounds of waste generated in LA County, and, when broken down, can enter human food systems. Preventing plastic pollution will require collaboration across the public and private sectors, an effort that Supervisors Hahn and Solis’s motion facilitates.

“Our communities are counting on us, now more than ever, to realize the goals of the OurCounty Sustainability Plan,” shared Supervisor Solis. “It is a Plan centered around equity and environmental justice and to that end, is critical that we deliver on its multifaceted approach. The adoption of the Reduction of Waste from Single-Use Articles & Expanded Polystyrene Products ordinance is a tremendous opportunity to reduce plastic service wear and the negative impacts of fossil fuels throughout the unincorporated communities of Los Angeles County.”

“This motion shows that the Board heard and responded to the needs of small businesses. Together, we will make the transition away from plastics as easy as possible,” said Gary Gero, LA County’s Chief Sustainability Officer. Gero’s office is one of the primary County bodies tasked with carrying out the provisions of the motion.

“Small businesses are key to keeping our neighborhoods vibrant, and they’ll now be key to our more sustainable future. This motion helps set them up to continue playing a vital role for LA County,” added Supervisor Hahn.

Los Angeles, CA — Today, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, led by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis, voted unanimously to establish environmental justice and climate health as official Board Priorities for the County of Los Angeles. They also voted to create an Office of Environmental Justice and Climate Health within the Department of Public Health.

The move is part of Supervisor Hahn’s effort to change LA County’s approach to environmental justice and health hazards from a reactive one to a proactive one.

“This Board has demonstrated its dedication to environmental justice and climate health, but our approach has been reactive and too often after a situation reaches a crisis level,” said Supervisor Hahn, who authored the motion approved today. “We need to change our approach, bake environmental justice and climate health into our work Countywide, and be proactive about preventing the burdens of industry from impacting our most vulnerable communities.”

With today’s action, the Board will rename and revise the current Board Directed Priority of “Environmental Health Monitoring and Oversight” to “Environmental Justice and Climate Health.” The Board also directed the Department of Public Health to report back in 120 days with a plan to create an Office of Environmental Justice and Climate Health, a plan to consult with local environmental organizations, a comprehensive set of policy areas that could be pursued to reduce public health disparities in communities overburdened by pollution exposure and poor air quality, and identification of data that could be used to better understand environmental conditions.

“In wake of environmental threats the County has faced in the past decade and the evolving threat of climate change, I am elated to partner with Supervisor Hahn in setting the stage for a newly created Office of Environmental Justice within our Department of Public Health to safeguard public health,” shared Supervisor Solis, who co-authored the motion. “As the Board continues to prioritize environmental and climate health, it is critical that we take bold steps in our actions to proactively mitigate and respond decisively to acts of environmental injustice.”

Supervisor Hahn represents many communities in Los Angeles County which have been overburdened by pollution, including the communities surrounding the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the City of Paramount which has had to deal with the prevalence of excessive levels of hexavalent chromium resulting from metal forging, the City of Walnut Park where the EPA is investigating contamination from Central Metals, cities along the I-710 freeway impacted by the pollution generated by truck traffic, and many communities impacted by the contamination from the Exide battery plant.

Torrance, CA – Today, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn secured $450,000 in Measure H funds for the homeless shelter project under development in Torrance’s Civic Center. This is in addition to Supervisor Hahn’s previous commitment of $450,000 to cover start-up costs for the project.

“This shelter in Torrance is important and is going to allow us to more easily help unhoused residents get off the street and into housing,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn. “I am hopeful that this new funding will help the City of Torrance get this shelter up and running more quickly and I stand ready to help in any other way I can.”

Supervisor Hahn’s motion was unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors today. Read the full motion here.

Los Angeles, CA — Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn has named Valentina D’Alessandro to serve on the LA County Commission on Older Adults, charged with helping address the needs of and issues facing the County’s older adult (60+) population.

“With the opening of our County’s first-ever Department of Aging and Disabilities on the horizon, now more than ever we need leaders like Valentina who know the unique needs facing our County’s growing older adult population,” said Supervisor Hahn. “Valentina has years of experience working within the community serving both children and older adults, and she knows what it’s going to take to make LA County a place where our older residents can thrive.”

Valentina currently serves as the Older Adult Services Manager at the LGBTQ Center in Long Beach. Prior to that, she worked at the Los Angeles LGBT Center and other agencies providing services to LGBTQ community members. She is also a current member of the Long Beach Aging Services Collaborative. Valentina studied Education at the University of Bologna in Italy and later continued her studies in Neuropsychology at the University of Trento.

Comprised of 25 members, the LA County Commission on Older Adults works with the Board of Supervisors and other County departments to advocate for inclusive and effective services, programs, and policies that are designed to meet the needs of a diverse aging population. To that end, it reviews existing programs currently offered by the Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services department and the Area Agency on Aging and collaborates with LA County entities to help enhance a comprehensive, coordinated and culturally responsive community-based delivery system of services.

Los Angeles, CA — Today, the LA County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a $10,000 reward offered by Supervisor Janice Hahn for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect in a Long Beach hit-and-run crash into an apartment building that killed a 42-year-old man and his three-year-old daughter.

“The Palacios family has been devastated by this hit-and-run crash that took the lives of a man and his young daughter,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn. “If you have any information about the whereabouts of the suspect in this crime, I urge you to come forward. This family needs and deserves justice.”

On March 1st Jose Palacios Gonzalez and his 3-year-old daughter Samantha Palacios were in their apartment on Rose Avenue near East Artesia Boulevard when a driver in a 2014 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup struck the building at around 10 p.m. Jose was pronounced dead at the scene. Samantha was taken to a hospital, where she later died.

The driver has been identified as 24-year-old Octavio Montano, who allegedly ran away from the scene following the collision. Montano was described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and unspecified tattoos on his right forearm. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call LBPD Detective Kevin Johansen at 562-570-7355. Anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or submitted online at lacrimestoppers.org.