Hahn's Record Draws Yawns From Voters

Mayor James K. Hahn projected confidence when talking about his reelection bid on a local radio talk show last April. "I'm going to run on my record," he told listeners.

That record has proved a tough sell.

Two things Hahn touted as his primary achievements-- his successful fight against San Fernando Valley secession and his replacement of Police Chief Bernard C. Parks with William J. Bratton -- alienated many of the Valley and African American voters who had been crucial to his 2001 election.

More broadly, Hahn -- who, based on early returns, appeared likely to become the first incumbent mayor in 32 years not to win reelection without a runoff -- never established the sort of record Angelenos seemed to be looking for.

Likely voters polled by The Times last month said what they wanted most in a mayor was honesty and strong leadership.

While Hahn has insisted on his own integrity, his popularity has suffered as a result of criminal investigations into alleged influence peddling in city contracting.

And while he has tirelessly talked up his successful efforts to fight crime, build more housing and ease traffic, the unassuming mayor has not been able to shake the impression that he has been missing in action.

"It didn't really seem like he was doing that much," said Jack Norris, 77, a retired businessman from Porter Ranch in the northern San Fernando Valley. "I just wasn't seeing someone who was leading."

Norris, who said he voted for Hahn in 2001, said he was looking for a mayor who could fix the city's crumbling streets, improve its schools and ease the region's clogged freeways.

That is the mayor Hahn tried to convince Angelenos he has been.

Last month, he began filling the airwaves with television commercials in which he struck an energetic pose striding down the street and ticking off his accomplishments.

The mayor reminded voters that he held the city together. He highlighted a dramatic drop in crime after Bratton took charge of the police department. He touted new after-school programs, more affordable housing and a deal with Sacramento to keep more tax revenue in Los Angeles.

Here was a mayor, Hahn and his supporters said, who made up for his evident lack of star power with the determination and know-how to "get things done."

"He's not flamboyant. He's not charismatic in a Hollywood kind of way," said union leader Julie Butcher, the head of the Service Employees International Union Local 347, who has been among Hahn's most loyal supporters. "But he's solid and he's real, and the way he is is the way he is."