Fact Checking the Mayor

Thanks to KCAL 9's video feeds coupled with LA Voice's incredible transcript (I apologize now for the blatant copy and paste), there are plenty of opportunities for everyone to now go back and fact check some of the items that were said last evening. You've already got our take on the event. Here are a few itmes to get the party rolling:

1) Pat Harvey asks Hahn, in terms of that half-cent sales taxes, you've not really nailed down any other way to expand the number of police officers. How do you plan to expand the department? Hahn replies: Here's what I have done since I've been mayor. We'd lost over 800 officers when I became mayor. We've gained 350 officers since then, by eliminating positions from other departments. We went to Washington DC, we got (the money) to fund 250 additional police officers, but the City Council has failed to fund the matching grant to do that. Unfortunately, again, Sacramento took our money ...

First off, his reply makes no sense. If I heard him correctly he went to DC and got the money, the council failed to deliver the other half of the money, and then Sacramento took it? What did he do with the half he got? Do we need to call Chick?

Secondly, he hasn't gained 350 officers. July 1, 2001 - 9,015 officers. December 12, 2004 - 9,084 officers. (Some quick math 9084-9015=69) Not quite 350. Besides, he actually pledged 1000 back in 2001
(Sources: Hahn campaign ad “This House”, 2001. City Administrative Officer. LAPD Public Information Officer.)

2) Hahn: You know, of the 4,600 traffic signals in this city, 2900 are synchronized. In fact, our traffic synchronization program is looked at by every other major city in the country as a model. Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago was out here last month to look at our system ... The problem is that no one seems to live where they work in Los Angeles. We're fixing the 25 worst intersections in the city, that affects a million drivers year- round. We're gonna have streets made more efficient by towing vehicles in no-parking areas ... We can do all those little things and that'll make a big difference.

He's right, but here's a humorous timeline for you:

October 26, 2001: The Daily News reports that light synchronization efforts in the Valley are being delayed so Jim Hahn can claim political credit for the project.

October 31, 2001: A Daily News Op-Ed attacks Jim Hahn for delaying light synchronization.

November 3, 2001: The Daily News reports that Jim Hahn is announcing a plan to relieve traffic and synchronize traffic lights.

March 24, 2004: City News Service reports that Jim Hahn is announcing a plan to relieve traffic and synchronize traffic lights.

October 4, 2004: Jim Hahn issues a press release, announcing a plan to synchronize traffic lights.

At 25 a year, we should be done by (More quick math 4600-2900=1700. 1700/25=68) 2073!

3) Hahn: The top priority is to bring more jobs in. We've added 40,000 jobs in Los Angeles since I've been mayor.

Again, he's correct, but here's the part he left out...

According to state estimates, the City of Los Angeles’ job base grew by 2.2 percent – 40,910 jobs, but the rest of the Southern California region grew by 6.3 percent. If Los Angeles had grown at that rate of the rest of the region, we’d have another 71,000 jobs.
(Source: California Employment Development Department)