Los Angeles's 15th City Council district is one of the fifteen districts in the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tem ...

. It is currently represented by

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Tim McOsker since 2022, after previous member

Joe Buscaino Giuseppe "Joe" Buscaino (born ) is an American politician and former police officer, who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 15th district from 2012 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Buscaino served as President ...

retired to run for

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

that year. The district was created in 1925 after a new city charter was passed, which replaced the former " at large" voting system for a nine-member council with a district system with a 15-member council. Not only geographically, but also representationally the district has been one of the most stable. There have been only eleven council members since 1925 and none have served fewer than four years. The thirty-year incumbency of

John S. Gibson Jr. John S. Gibson Jr. (August 11, 1902 – April 22, 1987) was an American politician, whose career spanned many decades and two states. A member of the Democratic Party from San Pedro, Gibson served on the Los Angeles City Council for the 15th di ...

was the third-longest of any Los Angeles City Council member, after

Ernani Bernardi Ernani Bernardi — also known as Noni Bernardi and Nani Bernardi — (October 29, 1911 – January 4, 2006) was a big band musician and politician. Bernardi served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1961 to 1993, representing 7th district and ...

of the 7th District and

John Ferraro John Ferraro (May 14, 1924 – April 17, 2001) was an American politician and businessman who was a Democratic member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1966 until his death in 2001, the longest tenure of any member in the city's history. Befo ...

of the

4th District Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. The district mostly been represented only by residents of San Pedro, which has outside influence as the district's traditional base of political power. Eight of the eleven counclmembers who have represented the district have come from San Pedro.

Geography

The 15th district encompasses all of the city's southern area and the Port of Los Angeles, which includes the communities and neighborhoods of

Harbor City Harbor City is a highly diverse neighborhood in the Harbor region of Los Angeles, California, with a population upward of 36,000 people. Originally part of the Rancho San Pedro Spanish land grant, the Harbor City was brought into Los Angeles as ...

Harbor Gateway The Harbor Gateway is a in the Los Angeles Harbor Region, in the southern part of the city. The neighborhood is narrow and long, running along a north-south axis. Its unusual shape has given it the alternative name of "the Shoestring Strip". T ...

, San Pedro,

Watts Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power. Watts may also refer to: People *Watts (surname), list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters *Watts, main character in the film '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' *Watts family, six chara ...

, and Wilmington. The district overlaps with California's 43rd and 44th congressional districts. It also overlaps with

California's 35th State Senate district California's 35th State Senate district is one of 40 California State Senate districts. It is currently represented by Democrat Steven Bradford of Gardena. District profile The district straddles Interstate 110, including the inland port ...

and a part of the State Senate's 30th district, as well as California's 64th, 66th, and 70th State Assembly districts.

Historical boundaries

The historical boundaries does not differ from the modern boundaries, with the main difference being the northern border. At its creation, it was at

Slauson Avenue Slauson Avenue is a major east–west thoroughfare traversing the central part of Los Angeles County, California. It was named for the land developer and Los Angeles Board of Education member J. S. Slauson. It passes through Culver City, L ...

, before moving down to

Manchester Avenue Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in 1928. In 1933, the major eastern boundaries of the shoestring are

Figueroa Street Figueroa Street is a major north-south street in Los Angeles County, California, spanning from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington north to Eagle Rock. A short, unconnected continuation of Figueroa Street runs just south of Marengo Driv ...

and

Normandie Avenue Normandie Avenue is one of Los Angeles County's longest north–south streets, with a stretch of about . It lies between Western Avenue to the west and Vermont Avenue to the east. The avenue begins in the south by branching off from Vermont Aven ...

and western limits are

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

avenues, before some parts of South Broadway being absorbed in

District 8 District 8 can refer to: *District 8 Jakarta, in Indonesia *District 8 (Ho Chi Minh City), in Vietnam * VIII District, Turku, in Finland * VIII District, Budapest, in Hungary *Riesbach, also known as District 8, in Zürich, Switzerland * District ...

by 1935. In 1986, the boundary moved south, but district still included part of the

area."Los Angeles' Realigned City Council Districts," ''Los Angeles Times,'' September 21, 1986, page B-3
(with map) In 2011, it was now south of

Century Boulevard Century Boulevard is a major east–west thoroughfare in the southern portion of Los Angeles, California. Century Boulevard acts as a continuation of Tweedy Boulevard at Alameda Street in South Gate in its east end (Tweedy Boulevard in its ea ...

on the west edge of the Shoestring, north of the boulevard to the east.

List of members representing the district

References

Access to most ''Los Angeles Times'' links requires the use of a library card.

External links

Official City Council District 15 website
{{Los Angeles Los Angeles City Council districts Harbor Gateway, Los Angeles San Pedro, Los Angeles Wilmington, Los Angeles