metro

Southeast LA leaders in Washington, DC. L to R: Maywood Councilmember Heber Marquez; Paramount Councilmember Isabel Aguayo; Lakewood Councilmember David Arellano; Downey Mayor Mario Trujillo; Supervisor Janice Hahn; Gateway Cities Council of Governments Executive Director Hector De La Torre; Artesia Mayor Pro Tem Ali Taj; South Gate Vice Mayor Maria Davila; Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins; Paramount Councilmember Vilma Cuellar Stallings.

Washington, DC—Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn is in Washington, DC leading a delegation of Southeast Los Angeles and Gateway Cities elected officials to champion the need for federal funding for the planned Southeast Gateway Metro Rail Line.

“Residents across Southeast LA and the Gateway Cities have been taking two, three buses to get to work, to school, and to doctor’s appointments,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn. “These communities need and deserve this high quality, reliable rail line, that will not only help people get to their jobs in other parts of the County but will be an investment in jobs and businesses along the route itself. This project has cleared every hurdle necessary and now it’s time to get it the funding it deserves from our federal partners and get it built.”

The Southeast Gateway Line is a new Metro light rail transit line that will stretch from Artesia through Cerritos, Bellflower, Paramount, Downey, South Gate, Cudahy, Bell, Huntington Park, Vernon, and unincorporated Florence-Firestone to Union Station which will provide fast, reliable transit service to communities that have long been underserved. Along the route, one-in-five residents are transit dependent and do not have their own car.

In recent weeks, the project has gotten its official certification completing the environmental process, making it officially eligible for federal funding. Now, Supervisor Janice Hahn and members of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments are in Washington meeting with the Biden Administration and members of Congress advocating for the federal funding the Southeast Gateway Line needs. The delegation includes Paramount Councilmember Vilma Cuellar Stallings who also serves as the Chair of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments, Paramount Councilmember Isabel Aguayo, Artesia Mayor Pro Tem Ali Taj, Maywood Councilmember Heber Marquez, South Gate Vice Mayor Maria Davila, Downey Mayor Mario Trujillo, and Lakewood Councilmember David Arellano.

“The dozen communities along the Southeast Gateway Line are unified in supporting accessibility to jobs, cultural, and educational opportunities through this project,” said Vilma Cuellar Stallings who serves as a council member for the City of Paramount as well as President of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments. “We are grateful to partner with Supervisor Janice Hahn in advocating with the Biden-Harris Administration and Congressional Leaders to improve our residents’ quality of life.”

The project was proposed over twenty years ago and was included in both voter-approved sales tax measures Measure R and Measure M with nearly $2 billion in local sales tax going toward its construction. Supervisor Hahn had partially blamed the project’s former name (the West Santa Ana Branch) for preventing it from getting the funding and attention it deserves. Earlier this year, Hahn held a renaming contest in which thousands of residents across LA County voted to name the project the “Southeast Gateway Line.”

Metro plans to begin the important utility relocation and pre-construction work later this Fall to prepare for major construction of the Southeast Gateway Line in the next few years.

Los Angeles, CA– Today, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn 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.