Councilmember Janice Hahn is now working to find a venue for the veterans’ showing of ‘Tora, Tora, Tora’ mentioned here, here, here, and here.
For those who don’t live in Los Angeles, or who haven’t had much to do with city government here, let me take a moment for an aside.
We have a ‘weak mayor’ system, somewhat strengthened by the charter revisions we’ve 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’s (that’s hahn-at-council-dot-lacity-dot-org) role here is fairly crucial.
Here’s today’s story from the Daily Breeze:

An uproar over a quashed plan to show “Tora! Tora! Tora!” at a San Pedro theater has prompted Los Angeles city officials to try to line up an alternative venue.
Veterans 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’s attack on Pearl Harbor.
While organizers said they appreciated the effort to find a new location, they are still steaming over the charges of insensitivity.
Los 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.
“The 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,” Hahn wrote. “. . . Every person I have spoken with has recommended that I concur with the department’s decision.”
Asked about the decision last week, theater manager Lee Sweet said his determination was based on there being a prior theater booking for Dec. 7.
And although Hahn’s 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.
“In no way do I have anything to do with booking events or canceling events” at the city-managed 1930s-era movie theater, Hahn said.
The event was never canceled, she said, because it was never scheduled.
“It was never an event,” the councilwoman said. “It hadn’t even gotten that far.
“The only thing I was asked to do is see if I could overturn a booking which is not in my purview.”
When 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.
“(Nakano), like the others I spoke with, expressed serious reservations regarding showing the film on that date,” Hahn said in her e-mail. Nakano could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Hahn 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.
“My support of the department’s determination was not in any way meant to offend anyone, most especially you or any veteran,” Hahn wrote. “I sincerely regret that it was received in this way.”
Veterans said they asked for Hahn’s help, believing she had the political clout to do so.
“It’s definitely not her job to book events, but by the same token, it is her job to stand up for what’s right,” said Joe Janesic, vice president of the museum’s volunteer board. “She 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.”
Veterans contend that they got the runaround from theater personnel, who first told them the night was booked but later said it wasn’t.
When the event originally was conceived last May, Janesic said they were told by Sweet that there was a prior booking to show the movie “Boys Town” on Dec. 7.
But later this summer, veterans learned that plans for the movie had fallen through. “Boys Town” now is scheduled to be shown later this month.
With nothing else listed for that night on the theater’s 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.
The volunteers managed to do both.
Last week, Sweet said there was now a new booking for that night: Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, the councilwoman’s brother, has reserved the Warner Grand on Dec. 7 for his holiday party. Councilwoman Hahn said she did not know about the party.
“I don’t want anyone to think we’re unreasonable,” Janesic said. “(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.”
Since it was published Sunday in the Daily Breeze , the story has been debated on talk radio stations and referred to by Internet sites.
Hahn said Tuesday that she has asked the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, which manages the Warner Grand, to find another venue for the museum’s Pearl Harbor event.
“Now that I realize that the showing of ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’ is apparently very important to the World War veterans in commemorating Pearl Harbor Day, I’ve asked the department to work with this group to find another venue,” Hahn said. Janesic said he appreciates the gesture, but added that finding a theater won’t be easy. The volunteers already have looked for other venues without success, he said.…

Comments to follow later today.