On February 22^nd, WTS Los Angeles Chapter welcomed LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel to speak to an audience of both their members and guests.  Four USC transportation students - MSCE student Sona Sehat and MPL students Rui Zhang, Yilin Zhang, and Biying Zhao - were sponsored by Emilie Gino, James Moore, Alexandra Spencer, and METRANS to attend. “I know in congress we deal with huge issues that really matter to our country and the world, but for me, I really enjoy when people come to me in Vons or Starbucks asking me to fix small things like pot holes… I really like that, and there is no better place for me to be than in the LA County government...What matters to most people is not their community or their city, it’s their neighborhood, the street they live on, that the trees are trimmed and that it doesn’t flood when it rains… that’s the quality of life… and I love to do this.” Supervisor Hanh shared.

The Los Angeles Board of Supervisor (LAC BOS) is the LA County’s five-member governing body. These five members are nonpartisan and are elected for a four-year service by a vote of Los Angeles County citizens who reside in the supervisorial district. The election for LA County district 4 which supervisor Hanh serves coincided with the latest United States Presidential Election on November 8, 2016, and her term began the first Monday of December 2016. Supervisor Hahn also serves on the LA Metro Board of Directors.

Every month WTS hosts a breakfast or lunch program, and invites a guest speaker to talk about their career, a related issue, or an ongoing project or proposal. WTS events provide members and non-members opportunity to network with leaders in the industry. It also provides an excellent opportunity for students to learn more about WTS and transportation industry, build their professional network, learn about important news and projects happening in LA county or around the nation.  The students all expressed their sincere appreciation to the chapter for hosting these types of opportunities, and for the generous sponsors who made their attendance possible.

Before Supervisor Hanh’s lecture, other speakers of the day acknowledged and appreciated the presence of students at the luncheon as well, and the important role that WTS networking events play to connect students with professionals. They mentioned that students are our future and asked everyone to take some time and get to know them.

About the author: Sona Sehat

Sona Sehat is a second-year graduate student majoring Transportation Engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. She is interning at Port of Los Angeles as a Transportation Engineering Intern. She can be reached at [email protected].