Joe Buscaino

Buscaino represents the 15th Council District which is made up of five communities Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, San Pedro, Watts, and Wilmington as well as the Port of Los Angeles. In 2013, the 15th Council District had a population of 275,486 people.[12]

In 2015, Buscaino successfully lobbied for the creation of Watts Serenity Park, a 1.13 acre parcel of land that was previously vacant and often crippled by drug use and violent crimes. The $5 million project provided a safe space for community recreation with play equipment for kids, a Fitness Zone® exercise area for adults, and a skate park.[13]

Buscaino also pushed for the renovation and re-opening of the 109th Street Pool and Rec Center in July 2016. A $4 million project that created 18 jobs, the area now offers residents the option of using a baseball diamond, indoor and outdoor basketball courts, a children's play area, tennis courts, a multipurpose sports field, and the 109th Street Pool, complete with a splash pad for younger children.[14]

In March 2015, Buscaino also announced the 103rd St. Streetscape Improvement Project, which utilizes $1.25 million in METRO funding to ensure an improved experience for pedestrians using the 103rd St. blue line stop. Improvements to the streetscape include: 5 irrigated landscaped median islands, a gateway monument, access ramps, trash receptacles, benches, bicycle racks, way-finding signage, high visibility crosswalks, and sidewalk improvements.[15]

Buscaino plans to use part of the $2 million in Green Streets funding given to the 15th District to make improvements to the historic Watts Towers area. These improvements aim to revitalize the area by planting hundreds of new trees, repaving sidewalks, repairing and replacing lights, and investing in the development of the Watts Towers Cultural Crescent.[16]

Buscaino has encouraged businesses to involve themselves in the revitalization of Watts. Locol, a project of renowned chefs Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson, is a fresh take on fast food that offers healthy, affordable options—everything on the menu is priced under $8. In 2017, Locol was recognized as the LA Times Restaurant of the Year.[17]

Buscaino has also promoted community events in Watts. The Winter Wonderland features food, crafts, a tree lighting ceremony, real snow, and sledding, and has had attendance in the thousands since its creation in 2014. The Cinco de Mayo and Dia de Los Muertos celebrations, meanwhile, were started as a way of celebrating the rich Mexican heritage found throughout Los Angeles; the events were popular in their first year (2016).

Councilman Buscaino's Office has collaborated with the LA Great Streets Team and the Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative to produce the Gaffey Street Conceptual Plan, which outlines an estimated $7.2 million in improvements along the iconic entrance to San Pedro. The funding will allow for changes like landscaped medians, high visibility crosswalks, traffic signal synchronization, coordinated street furniture, sidewalk repairs and street sweeping, a solar powered Soofa bench, landscape enhancements and public art. The Conceptual Plan will calm traffic, improve the Gaffey St. pedestrian experience, make the landscape more drought tolerant, and provide more public spaces for the San Pedro community.[18]

Councilman Buscaino helped create and support Clean San Pedro, a non-profit organization dedicated to cleaning and revitalizing the Pacific Corridor area of San Pedro. CSP was built by residents of San Pedro who were frustrated with the lack of beautification efforts in their city. These activists now perform a variety of functions—daily litter and debris removals, reporting of graffiti, weekly sidewalk cleaning, etc.--with the purpose of preserving their city's natural beauty. See cleansanpedro.net for more information. During further research it has been determined that the councilman did not have anything to do with the formation of Clean San Pedro, nor has he ever donated any monies to the 501c3 non-profit.

San Pedro Courthouse: Councilman Buscaino's Office helped oversee the search for a developer who could transform the space occupied by the now-closed San Pedro Courthouse. The courthouse closed in January 2013, and since then, the area has been the subject of frequent conversations, as its location in the heart of downtown San Pedro makes it lucrative property. In November 2016, the LA County Board of Supervisors announced plans to team up with real estate firm Holland Partner Group to build a multi-use development in the 1.8 acre space. Past projections by the Supervisors indicated that the area could accommodate up to 250 residential apartments.[19]

San Pedro Waterfront Redevelopment Project: For years, San Pedro's Ports O' Call fishing village has undergone a steady decline in revenues and community engagement. While busy on weekends, the market is often dull during the week, and as a result, roughly a fifth of the shops have been forced to close. That trend is about to change, however, thanks to the announcement of the San Pedro Waterfront Redevelopment Project. A $100 million dollar endeavor, the project will revitalize much of LA's waterfront. The Ports O' Call village will be torn down and replaced with the San Pedro Public Market, a 16 acre development that will feature restaurants, markets, bars, shops, offices, a waterfront promenade, and an amphitheater for live entertainment. Construction on the project is set to begin in late 2017.[20][21][22]

Push for faster rescue boats: Ever since a tragic April 2015 accident that claimed the lives of two children in the Port of LA, Councilman Buscaino has been vocal about the need for faster rescue boats. The Councilman continues to advocate for the purchase of new, faster response boats, a change that could potentially save lives. The current response boat for the Port of LA is Fireboat 2, which was acquired by the city Fire Department in 2003; Fireboat 2 is the largest boat of its kind west of the Mississippi, but with that size comes a tradeoff of speed. The addition of smaller, faster rescue boats could resolve that problem.[23]

Buscaino is a staunch opponent of cutting police budgets and defunding the police. A former full-time police officer, Buscaino still serves as a reserve officer.[24] His experience as a police officer is considered one of the reasons for his election to the City Council.[25] He was elected for the first time to the council with more than $220,000 in donations from the police union Los Angeles Police Protective League, a fact that came under scrutiny in light of renewed opposition to police union spending.[26]

In June 2020, in the wake of widespread protests following the killing of George Floyd, Buscaino organized a "unity march" with the NAACP and the Los Angeles Police Department.[27] In a July 2020 vote to cut the LAPD by $150 million, Buscaino was one of the only two votes against the proposal.[28] In an op-ed, Buscaino claimed that conversations with police officers convinced him that policing needs "smart investments" and "deliberate planning," rather than funding cuts.[29]

An 2017 editorial in the Los Angeles Times criticized the geographical makeup of District 15, and argued that it resulted in lack of representation for communities like Watts and Harbor Gateway. The piece argues that Buscaino continues to be exclusively re-elected by the people of San Pedro, meaning that Buscaino is beholden only to this small community. The editorial describes his performance as "adequate — no more and no less."[32]

Buscaino ignited controversy when he spoke out against the motion of the Los Angeles City Council to rebrand Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day.[33][34] The move to change the name was largely supported by Native American activists, with the notable endorsement of Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell. Buscaino opposed a name change, but offered a compromise title of Immigrant Heritage Day. Buscaino's opposition and argument for Columbus Day was very rare, with Buscaino describing the proposal as "divisive". The measure passed 14-1 with only Buscaino dissenting.[35][36]