{"id":3021,"date":"2002-11-13T09:58:00","date_gmt":"2002-11-13T09:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.armedliberal.com\/?p=420"},"modified":"2002-11-13T09:58:00","modified_gmt":"2002-11-13T09:58:00","slug":"mo-tora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/?p=3021","title":{"rendered":"MO’ TORA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Councilmember Janice Hahn is now working to find a venue for the veterans\u0092 showing of \u0091Tora, Tora, Tora\u0092 mentioned here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>.
\nFor those who don\u0092t live in Los Angeles, or who haven\u0092t had much to do with city government here, let me take a moment for an aside.
\nWe have a \u0091weak mayor\u0092 system, somewhat strengthened by the charter revisions we\u0092ve recently passed, and a 15-member City Council. Each Council member is, in effect, the mayor of a city of roughly 250,000 people. City departments respond adroitly to council requests; and no development project will be approved in any council district without the consent of the district Councilmember. So Councilmember Hahn\u0092s (that’s hahn-at-council-dot-lacity-dot-org<\/u>) role here is fairly crucial.
\nHere\u0092s today\u0092s story from the Daily Breeze<\/a>:<\/p>\n

An uproar over a quashed plan to show \u0093Tora! Tora! Tora!\u0094 at a San Pedro theater has prompted Los Angeles city officials to try to line up an alternative venue.
\nVeterans were stunned when they were told it would be insensitive to the Japanese-American community to go forward with a planned Dec. 7 showing of the 1970 Academy Award-winning film on the 61st anniversary of Japan\u0092s attack on Pearl Harbor.
\nWhile organizers said they appreciated the effort to find a new location, they are still steaming over the charges of insensitivity.
\nLos Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn outlined her feelings in an e-mail sent in early November to the volunteer board of the Fort MacArthur Military Museum in San Pedro, which was organizing the commemoration as a museum benefit.
\n\u0093The manager of the theater informed us that he had made his decision in part because of concerns whether the screening of the movie on that particular day would be seen by some as insensitive,\u0094 Hahn wrote. \u0093. . . Every person I have spoken with has recommended that I concur with the department\u0092s decision.\u0094
\nAsked about the decision last week, theater manager Lee Sweet said his determination was based on there being a prior theater booking for Dec. 7.
\nAnd although Hahn\u0092s e-mail did not mention a prior booking at the theater, in remarks Tuesday the councilwoman also stressed that was the overriding reason that the Pearl Harbor show could not be scheduled.
\n\u0093In no way do I have anything to do with booking events or canceling events\u0094 at the city-managed 1930s-era movie theater, Hahn said.
\nThe event was never canceled, she said, because it was never scheduled.
\n\u0093It was never an event,\u0094 the councilwoman said. \u0093It hadn\u0092t even gotten that far.
\n\u0093The only thing I was asked to do is see if I could overturn a booking which is not in my purview.\u0094
\nWhen Hahn received a request from the veterans to intervene, she consulted with Assemblyman George Nakano, D-Torrance, and other Japanese-Americans before issuing her decision by e-mail.
\n\u0093(Nakano), like the others I spoke with, expressed serious reservations regarding showing the film on that date,\u0094 Hahn said in her e-mail. Nakano could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
\nHahn went on in her e-mail to mention that her father, the late county Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, was a World War II veteran and that she supported veterans.
\n\u0093My support of the department\u0092s determination was not in any way meant to offend anyone, most especially you or any veteran,\u0094 Hahn wrote. \u0093I sincerely regret that it was received in this way.\u0094
\nVeterans said they asked for Hahn\u0092s help, believing she had the political clout to do so.
\n\u0093It\u0092s definitely not her job to book events, but by the same token, it is her job to stand up for what\u0092s right,\u0094 said Joe Janesic, vice president of the museum\u0092s volunteer board. \u0093She could have called (the theater manager) and asked him to reconsider. . . . We knew that Councilwoman Hahn could have either some influence or would be able to outright reverse the decision.\u0094
\nVeterans contend that they got the runaround from theater personnel, who first told them the night was booked but later said it wasn\u0092t.
\nWhen the event originally was conceived last May, Janesic said they were told by Sweet that there was a prior booking to show the movie \u0093Boys Town\u0094 on Dec. 7.
\nBut later this summer, veterans learned that plans for the movie had fallen through. \u0093Boys Town\u0094 now is scheduled to be shown later this month.
\nWith nothing else listed for that night on the theater\u0092s Web page schedule, organizers resumed efforts to schedule the event but were met with a series of city objections about finding a print and securing insurance for it.
\nThe volunteers managed to do both.
\nLast week, Sweet said there was now a new booking for that night: Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, the councilwoman\u0092s brother, has reserved the Warner Grand on Dec. 7 for his holiday party. Councilwoman Hahn said she did not know about the party.
\n\u0093I don\u0092t want anyone to think we\u0092re unreasonable,\u0094 Janesic said. \u0093(The city) has every right to say what gets shown on their property, but when they start throwing in all these objections, it screams cover-up.\u0094
\nSince it was published Sunday in the Daily Breeze , the story has been debated on talk radio stations and referred to by Internet sites.
\nHahn said Tuesday that she has asked the city\u0092s Department of Cultural Affairs, which manages the Warner Grand, to find another venue for the museum\u0092s Pearl Harbor event.
\n\u0093Now that I realize that the showing of \u0091Tora! Tora! Tora!\u0092 is apparently very important to the World War veterans in commemorating Pearl Harbor Day, I\u0092ve asked the department to work with this group to find another venue,\u0094 Hahn said. Janesic said he appreciates the gesture, but added that finding a theater won\u0092t be easy. The volunteers already have looked for other venues without success, he said.\u0085<\/b><\/I><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Comments to follow later today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Councilmember Janice Hahn is now working to find a venue for the veterans\u0092 showing of \u0091Tora, Tora, Tora\u0092 mentioned here, here, here, and here. For those who don\u0092t live in Los Angeles, or who haven\u0092t had much to do with city government here, let me take a moment for an aside. We have a \u0091weak […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3021"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3021\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}