Politics
Column: L.A. County's Hall of Administration should stand, Janice Hahn says. And not because of her dad
I drove around downtown Los Angeles on a recent Friday morning looking for one of the Civic Center’s ugly ducklings.
The Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration … um, which building was it again?
It had been years since my only other visit, so unmemorable that I had forgotten how the ten-story structure looked. Google Maps gave me an address, but I was lost in a sea of architectural grandeur when I finally parked in a small lot near Temple and Grand. To my left was the majestic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Behind me were the Music Center’s elegant triplets of the arts: the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatre.
In front of me was a building with cream-colored tiles that connected to a taller building that looked the same, except with windows.
Oh, yeah. That’s the Hall of Administration.
Seat of the county of Los Angeles since it opened in 1960, it looks like a Lego block with slits. No wonder it’s never gotten as much love from Angelenos as its flashier neighbors, especially L.A. City Hall, which looms to the south like the haughty older civic cousin it is.
That’s why there hasn’t been any uproar since the county Board of Supervisors voted in November to buy the 52-story Gas Co. Tower for $200 million — a bargain worthy of the late, great 99 Cents Only chain, since its appraised value is $632 million — with plans to relocate county workers there, from the Hall of Administration and elsewhere, as early as this summer.
Nearly a third of the purchase price came from funds originally set aside to seismically retrofit the Hall of Administration and update its electrical system, effectively sentencing the place to the literal and historical scrap heap. The county’s preliminary plan calls for razing it, except for the portion where the supervisors hold their public meetings.
The sole “no” vote came from Janice Hahn, daughter of the Hall of Administration’s legendary namesake, the longest-serving supervisor in L.A. County history. She was waiting for me in the parking lot to give me a tour of the unloved building and argue for its virtue — and survival.
“This is Nate’s Lot,” she told me, explaining that it was named after a parking attendant who told her father he didn’t like working in the Hall of Administration’s underground garage. So the supervisor created the lot just for him.
“There’s history like that all around in a building like this,” said Hahn, Starbucks chai latte in hand, as we walked through the doors. Three staffers accompanied us, including Mark Baucum, who is both her son and her chief of staff.
“It has a warm feel, not like …” Her face scrunched as if she had stepped on a snail, and she waited a beat before referencing the county’s recent purchase. “That soulless skyscraper.”
Gloria Molina Grand Park is nestled alongside the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, left, in Los Angeles. City Hall towers in the background.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
The halls gleamed with vintage charm. Marble walls and terrazzo floors. Frosted windows on doors with the old-school gold sans serif font long used by county departments. Phone booths that still work. Wood-paneled elevators that Janice and her brother, former L.A. mayor and current Superior Court Judge Jim Hahn, rode as kids like they were at an amusement park.
We walked through the spacious main lobby, where people waited in line to pay their property taxes, and out of the building toward Hill Street.
“That soulless skyscraper doesn’t have a lobby like this,” Hahn said. Across the street was the Hall of Records, built in 1962. To our left were the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, opened in 1959, and Gloria Molina Grand Park.
“They’re not on the chopping block,” she said, referring to the buildings. “People once thought City Hall was too expensive to retrofit. Were it not for civic-minded people, it would’ve been torn down. What a tragedy that would’ve been.”
As we rounded the Hall of Administration’s western side to look at large, gold-colored statues of Moses and Thomas Jefferson, the wear-and-tear of the 75-year-old building quickly became evident. Chunks missing from window ledges. Chipped granite base. Cracks on the walls here and there.
“Yes, it needs work,” Hahn acknowledged, as Baucum helped a woman who couldn’t tell the difference between the Hall of Administration and the Stanley Mosk Courthouse. “We had some of that money, but it was used to buy … that soulless skyscraper. And we have a budget of $50 billion. We can do this.”
Hahn estimated the cost to be $700 million. A spokesperson for L.A. County Chief Executive Officer Fesia Davenport said the seismic retrofit is expected to cost about $700 million, with renovations and other needed repairs bringing the estimated total to $1.8 billion.
But should it be done? I wondered as we went back inside the Hall of Administration. What possible role could an empty building play, when the other four supervisors want to get the hell out of there, and all of the money set aside to take care of it has already been spent?
One person I figured might have some pity for the Hall of Administration was Supervisor Kathryn Barger. She’s worked there since 1989 — first as an aide, then as chief of staff to then-Supervisor Mike Antonovich, and for the last eight years in her current role.
“From an aesthetic point of view, not much there,” said Barger, who voted to buy the Gas Co. Tower, in a phone interview. “You go to City Hall, you’re like, ‘Wow.’”
She gets Hahn’s point that it’s a historic structure, but Barger is more focused on the price tag for renovation, which she put at $1.2 billion. “I cannot discount Janice, but we have to do right by the taxpayers,” she said.
Barger mentioned that the supervisors are going to need much more office space after voters in November approved an eventual expansion of the board from five members to nine. She also brought up the late Gloria Molina, who served alongside Kenneth Hahn and whom Barger got to know well while working for Antonovich.
“Her vision and dream was to create more open space, and it was always shot down,” Barger said. She suggested that the Board of Supervisors could knock down the Hall of Administration, which spans the length of two city blocks, and expand Gloria Molina Grand Park.
“This issue is emotional for [Hahn],” Barger said, “but you have to separate the emotional from the reality.”
Supervisor Janice Hahn points out the word “beloved,” referring to her late father, on a plaque at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in Los Angeles.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Hahn brought up that charge herself, then disputed it.
“Every story written implies it’s because of my father,” Hahn told me as we stood in front of a plaque near the lobby praising Kenneth Hahn’s “unsurpassed legacy of good works” in 40 years as a county supervisor. He died in 1997.
“It’s not,” she continued. “People have said, ‘We’ll put his name on the skyscraper.’ Oh, hell no. He would’ve questioned the rationale of using certain budget stats to prove” the necessity of leaving the Hall of Administration, she said. “He would find holes in their argument and find $700 million to save this hall.”
The tour went on for about an hour, with Hahn greeting every single person she passed. We visited the Board of Supervisors’ meeting room, which will remain standing (“That’ll make a disjointed county government”), and finally went up to her office. A painting hangs near the entrance, depicting her on a couch with a portrait of her dad hovering above.
“This is my life,” Hahn cracked. “My dad always looking over my shoulder.”
We briefly sat down, then went outside to a terrace ringing the length of the Hall of Administration. The floor was peeling, but the view before us of the Civic Center and downtown was stunning.
I understood, and even appreciated, Hahn’s argument that moving the county offices from here, where other parts of L.A. government reside, would create “a gaping hole in the idea of civic togetherness,” as her son put it. But the fiscal reasoning against it was strong, I said, before asking if her crusade stood any chance of succeeding.
“I think so,” she said. “I think we’ll get the momentum. And Dad always loved a good fight.”
Her son pointed out a sliver of a skyscraper poking out behind another skyscraper. That was the Gas Co. Tower.
“Ugh,” the supervisor said, shaking her head. “Soulless.”
After we said our goodbyes, I walked the four blocks to Hahn’s Moby Dick, which was built in 1991. She wasn’t wrong. The exterior is a bunch of charmless windows going up and up. The lobby, with its collection of elevators, scowling security guards and small glass turnstiles, is cold and anodyne. No amount of bureaucratic lipstick can pretty up this political pig.
Maybe Hahn was right, I thought as I headed back to Nate’s Lot. Then I ran into Miguel Santana, president of the California Community Foundation and a longtime Molina confidante.
I know few people who care about L.A. history and responsible leadership as much as he does. What does he think about the county abandoning the Hall of Administration?
“Great!” he said, barely breaking his stride. “I’m all for it. Gloria always wanted to knock it down and turn it into more park.”
Good luck with your fight, Supervisor Hahn: You’re going to need it.
Politics
EXCLUSIVE: ICE says El Paso detention facility will stay open under new contractor after $1.2B deal scrapped
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
EXCLUSIVE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas will remain open and is undergoing an operational upgrade, Fox News Digital has learned.
“Camp East Montana is NOT closing, quite the opposite,” an ICE spokesperson exclusively told Fox News Digital Tuesday.
“Rather, ICE has contracted with a new provider following Secretary Noem’s termination of the old contract inherited from the Department of War. ICE is always looking at ways to improve our detention facilities to ensure we are providing the best care to illegal aliens in our custody.”
Camp East Montana is photographed Friday, March 6, 2026, in El Paso, Texas. (Omar Ornelas/El Paso Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
BLUE-STATE GOVERNORS MOVE TO KEEP HEAT ON NOEM AS DHS FIRES BACK
The spokesperson said the new contract will allow the facility to maintain what the agency described as the “highest detention standards” while expanding oversight.
According to ICE, the new contractor will also provide increased on-site medical care, additional staffing and a “PRECISE quality assurance surveillance plan.”
The agency said the updated agreement also strengthens ICE’s direct oversight of operations at the El Paso-area facility.
“Far from closing, Camp East Montana is upgrading,” the spokesperson said.
El Paso immigration facility faces scrutiny but ICE says Camp East Montana is upgrading, not closing, after the $1.2 billion contract termination. (Omar Ornelas/El Paso Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
FOUR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LINKED TO MS-13 INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY MURDERING 14-YEAR-OLD BOY IN MARYLAND PARK
The news that the facility will remain open comes after The Washington Post reported that the facility could face closure amid scrutiny over operations.
A document was distributed to ICE staff, the Post reports, indicated that the agency was drafting a letter to terminate the facility’s $1.2 billion contract at an unspecified date.
ICE officials, however, characterized the contract termination as a deliberate effort by Noem to raise standards and improve services.
Download
Image
Headline:
Syndication: El Paso Times Caption:
Camp East Montana is photographed Friday, March 6, 2026, in El Paso, Texas, as a bus enters the detention center. (Omar Ornelas/El Paso Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The facility, located at Fort Bliss in Texas, has been used to house thousands of detainees as part of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.
ICE did not immediately provide details on the identity of the new contractor or the timeline for full implementation.
WASHINGTON — Russia is emerging as one of the few early economic beneficiaries of the war with Iran, as disruptions to energy infrastructure drive up demand for Russian exports and the world casts its gaze to the Middle East and away from Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The U.S. and its European counterparts slapped severe sanctions on Russia in March 2022, barely a month into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The effect was a stranglehold on Russia’s exports, depriving Putin’s war effort of at least $500 billion, experts say. But over the last week, as President Trump’s war in the Middle East choked energy markets worldwide, the White House began easing its restrictions on Moscow.
“It is traitorous conduct for you to help Russia,” California Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) said on X, demanding the Trump administration reverse course. “Russia is giving intelligence info to Iran that helps Iran target American forces.”
Crude droplets rained over Tehran after Israeli airstrikes decimated oil depots, draping the Iranian capital in a dense smog. Iranian counterattacks have also targeted refineries and oil fields in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Crude oil prices have surged, and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has all but ceased, sending energy importers in search of alternate sources.
Those spikes are giving Russia, one of the world’s largest oil and gas exporters, a rare advantage. After spending a decade as the world’s most sanctioned nation over his aggression in Ukraine, Putin is finally starting to regain some leverage in global markets.
“In the current economic situation, if we refocus now on those markets that need increased supplies, we can gain a foothold there,” Putin said at a meeting at the Kremlin on Monday, according to Russian state media. “It’s important for Russian energy companies to take advantage of the current situation.”
On March 4, the Treasury Department issued a temporary 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil. The appeal by the Trump administration was described as a way to ease demand for Mideast oil, but was criticized as a reversal of sanctions placed against Putin meant to deny him the capital needed to fund his occupation of eastern Ukraine.
Now, Moscow is poised to press that advantage further, after Trump said Monday he will further lift sanctions on oil-producing countries to ease the trade friction and reintroduce additional oil and gas supplies. The only countries with U.S. oil sanctions are Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
“So, we have sanctions on some countries. We’re going to take those sanctions off until this straightens out,” Trump said at a news conference at his golf club in Doral, Fla. “Then, who knows, maybe we won’t have to put them on — they’ll be so much peace.”
The surprise concession to Moscow comes as reports suggest Russia is assisting Iran in targeting U.S. personnel.
Trump’s announcement followed an unscheduled hourlong call with Putin about the situation in the Middle East.
The war has also set the stage for Russia to make gains in Ukraine, as hostilities draw the global spotlight away from Kyiv and its struggle to hold back the bigger Russian army. U.S.-brokered talks between the two adversaries have been sidelined as Washington shifts focus to its war in Iran.
“At the moment, the partners’ priority and all attention are focused on the situation around Iran,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X. “We see that the Russians are now trying to manipulate the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region to the benefit of their aggression.”
Putin is unlikely to intervene militarily on Iran’s behalf, according to Robert English, an international foreign policy expert at USC. Instead, Putin is expected to play his position carefully, reap the economic rewards, and keep focused firmly on Ukraine at a time when key air defense systems are diverted from Ukraine to the Persian Gulf.
“Russia is winning the Iran-U.S.-Israel war, at least so far. Oil and natural gas prices have soared, filling Putin’s Ukraine war chest,” he said. “Russia is gathering forces for a big spring offensive in Eastern Ukraine, and it’s not even front-page news.”
Ukraine has dispatched drone interceptors and ordered its anti-drone experts to pivot from their war with Russia to help Western allies help intercept Iranian attacks. Zelensky’s allegiance may not pay off, English said.
“When will Ukraine see the benefits of helping the U.S. with anti-drone technology? No time soon, apparently,” he said.
Even several weeks of interruption in Gulf energy supplies could bring the largest windfall to Russia, the Associated Press reported, citing energy analysts.
The economic turmoil caused by the war has exposed vulnerabilities in Europe’s energy system, particularly its lingering dependence on Russian fuel.
Despite sanctions, the European Union remains a major purchaser of Russian natural gas and crude oil. Russian gas accounted for approximately 19% of E.U. gas imports in 2025. Allied Europeans have agreed to completely stop importing Russian liquefied natural gas, oil and pipeline gas by late 2027.
Putin expressed no desire Monday to rescue the European market now that U.S.-Israeli escalations and Iranian retaliation have choked oil production and shipping. The Russian president instead proposed to divert volumes away from the European market “to more promising areas” like the Asia-Pacific region, Slovakia and Hungary, which he said were “reliable counterparties.”
European leaders have been criticized for being “stunned, sidelined, and disunited” since hostilities began in late February. Excluded from the initial military planning by the U.S. and Israel, Europe entered the conflict with gas storage at only 30% capacity, the lowest levels in years. Instead of bold action, English said, European leaders have quarreled over internal divisions and rivalries.
“Sky-high energy prices are the underlying cause of many of these frictions, as Europe struggles now more than ever to find affordable alternatives to the cheap Russian petroleum,” English said.
Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, told European leaders in Brussels on Tuesday that rising energy prices and the world’s shifting attention risk strengthening the Kremlin at a critical moment in the war in Ukraine.
“So far, there is only one winner in this war,” Costa said. “Russia.”
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
President Donald Trump is taking his feud with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., to the libertarian lawmaker’s home turf on Wednesday.
Trump is expected to hold an event in Hebron, Kentucky, on Wednesday, the Republican Party of Kentucky announced on social media Monday. It’s located in the northern part of the state’s 4th Congressional District, which Massie represents.
Massie’s primary rival, Ed Gallrein, will attend the Hebron event, his campaign confirmed to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, while deferring all other questions on the matter to the White House.
Massie himself will miss the event due to a previously scheduled official engagement, his spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
KHANNA AND MASSIE THREATEN TO FORCE A VOTE ON IRAN AS PROSPECT OF US ATTACK LOOMS
President Donald Trump will be visiting Rep. Thomas Massie’s congressional district on Wednesday. (Win McNamee/Getty Images; Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
When asked about the visit, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston told Fox News Digital, “President Trump will visit the great states of Ohio and Kentucky on Wednesday to tout his economic victories and detail his Administration’s aggressive, ongoing efforts to lower prices and make America more affordable.”
The president has thrown his considerable influence behind Gallrein to unseat Massie after the GOP lawmaker publicly defied Trump on multiple occasions.
MASSIE, KHANNA TO VISIT DOJ TO REVIEW UNREDACTED EPSTEIN FILES
Massie most recently was one of two House Republicans to vote to stop Trump’s joint operation in Iran with Israel, though the legislation was successfully blocked by the majority of GOP lawmakers and a handful of Democrats.
Ed Gallrein, left, seen with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House. (Ed Gallrein congressional campaign)
He was also one of two Republicans to vote against Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” last year.
Trump in turn has hurled a slew of personal attacks against Massie, including calling him “weak and pathetic” in a statement endorsing Gallrein in October.
“He only votes against the Republican Party, making life very easy for the Radical Left. Unlike ‘lightweight’ Massie, a totally ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly, CAPTAIN ED GALLREIN IS A WINNER WHO WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN,” Trump posted on Truth Social at the time, one of numerous criticisms targeting the Kentucky Republican through the years.
He called Massie the “worst Republican congressman” in July amid Massie’s bipartisan push to force the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein.
Then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, and Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But Massie has so far appeared to defy political gravity despite making political enemies out of both Trump and House GOP leaders.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
He handily defeated multiple primary challengers in 2024 and 2022, despite public feuds with Trump, and has served his district since 2012.
Gallrein is a retired Navy SEAL and farmer who launched his campaign days after Trump made his endorsement. Their primary election day is May 19.
Daily Briefing: All eyes on Rome, Georgia
Towering lava fountains of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano trigger park and highway closures
Ask the Meteorologist: How one storm produced a violent tornado, 6-inch hail in Illinois
At least 4 tornadoes suspected of leaving trail of damage in Illinois, Indiana, NWS says
‘¿Habla español?’ Iowa schools look overseas to find Spanish teachers
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
EXCLUSIVE: ICE says El Paso detention facility will stay open under new contractor after $1.2B deal scrapped
Von der Leyen ‘acting outside of competence,’ Araud tells Euronews
Wheelchair curler Steve Emt’s path from drunk driver to three-time Paralympian
Map: 2.3-Magnitude Earthquake Reported North of New York City
Trump stirs GOP primary drama with visit to Massie’s Kentucky home turf
-
Wisconsin1 week agoSetting sail on iceboats across a frozen lake in Wisconsin
-
Massachusetts1 week agoMassachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks
-
Pennsylvania6 days agoPa. man found guilty of raping teen girl who he took to Mexico
-
Detroit, MI5 days agoU.S. Postal Service could run out of money within a year
-
Miami, FL7 days agoCity of Miami celebrates reopening of Flagler Street as part of beautification project
-
Sports6 days agoKeith Olbermann under fire for calling Lou Holtz a ‘scumbag’ after legendary coach’s death
-
Virginia7 days agoGiants will hold 2026 training camp in West Virginia
-
Culture1 week agoTry This Quiz on the Real Locations in These Magical and Mysterious Novels