Thursday, January 3, 2002
Page 3
Hahn Names Three Local Attorneys to City’s Board of Transportation Commissioners
By KIMBERLY EDDS, Staff Writer
Mayor James Hahn yesterday appointed three Los Angeles lawyers, including former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration deputy administrator Philip Recht, to the Board of Transportation Commissioners.
Attorneys Angela Reddock and Alan Skobin, along with community members Al Avila, John Frierson and Sherry Yi were also named to the city panel, which oversees the city’s Department of Transportation.
The appointments require confirmation by the City Council.
Recht, of Brentwood, is a partner with the Los Angeles law firm Mayer, Brown & Platt, where he is a founding partner and chair of the firm’s Government Practice group.
His practice focuses on legislative, regulatory and enforcement matters before federal, state and local governments.
Recht served as chief counsel of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for seven months before being appointed deputy administrator of the agency in April 1995. During his tenure, highway safety issues gained unprecedented national visibility, the overall fatality rate and the alcohol-related fatality rate reached all time lows and seat belt use reached an all-time high. Recht also played a critical role in major issues and initiatives, including the issuance of new federal safety standards mandating safer vehicle air bags and uniform attachment systems for child safety seats.
Before joining NHTSA, Recht was a partner in the Los Angeles law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, where he headed the office’s Election Law Group and was a partner in the litigation and administrative law departments.
He received his law degree cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his undergraduate degree cum laude from Yale University.
Skobin is the director, vice president and general counsel of Galpin Motors, Inc., a San Fernando Valley car dealership owned by Police Commissioner Bert Boeckmann, also a Hahn appointee.
A Chatsworth resident, Skobin is a reserve deputy sheriff and is the founding director of the Sheriff’s Youth Foundation of Los Angeles County, which funds education and intervention programs for at-risk youth.
He received his law degree from the University of LaVerne Law School and his undergraduate degree from California State University at Northridge.
Reddock, of Westchester, is an attorney with Pryce Parker Hill and serves as general counsel for the National Association of African-Americans in Human Resources’ Los Angeles Chapter.
She is also the West Coast chair of the Democratic National Committee’s African-American Leadership Council.
Reddock received her law degree from UCLA Law School and her undergraduate degree from Amherst College.
Al Avila is currently with Catalyst Communications after serving 15 years in Los Angeles city government. He is a USC graduate and lives in Sylmar.
Avila is registered with the city as a lobbyist.
Sherry Yi is a founding partner of Millenium Enterprises. She was appointed to the State Housing Finance Advisory Committee by then-state Treasurer Matt Fong. Yi is a resident of downtown Los Angeles and a current member of the board of directors for the Heart of Los Angeles Youth and the Korean Chamber of Commerce.
John Frierson, a Playa Del Rey resident, is a former senior field deputy for Councilman Nate Holden. He was recently the deputy director of community relations for the Democratic National Convention 2000.
Prior to joining Holden’s staff, Frierson served as a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant in charge of the West Los Angeles Traffic Division and as a deputy sheriff.
He is a graduate of UCLA.
Copyright 2002, Metropolitan News Company