Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn is supporting a new push to return a cross to the Los Angeles County seal. Last year, the county removed the cross from the seal to avoid a lawsuit by the ACLU. Hahn said in a press release, "Let's let the public decide. I think to deny the significance of religion in the founding of not only Los Angeles but our country is really to ignore history." Hahn's father, Kenneth Hahn, helped to design the seal in 1957.
Jill Stewart explains that the Hahn motivations maybe policital,
Now, with Mr. Hahn facing a stiff primary challenge on May 17 from rival City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, the cross beckons again. Lagging in polls, the liberal-to-moderate mayor must win black voters, who tend toward the religious and who helped elect him in large part due to his father's legacy. Black voters are angry that Mr. Hahn ousted black Police Chief Bernard Parks amid a morale crisis in Mr. Parks's department, so they are migrating to Mr. Villaraigosa. To win, Mr. Hahn must also invigorate Republicans and moderate San Fernando Valley voters, neither of whom are natural allies of Mr. Villaraigosa, a former union organizer and past leader of the local ACLU.
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