For the first time in a decade, the Los Angeles City Council seat representing the Watts-to-San Pedro district is wide open.
Four candidates have lined up and will face off in the June 7 primary, offering voters a fresh slate that includes both those familiar to the community and those new to local politics.
The seat has been held by Joe Buscaino, a former LAPD officer who successfully broke into L.A. city politics on his first run for public office, since 2012, when he was elected to finish Supervisor Janice Hahn’s council term. He was reelected twice after that.
But when faced with running for a third, four-year term this year or taking a shot at the L.A. Mayor’s race, Buscaino chose the latter. Buscaino, 47, later dropped out and has endorsed Rick Caruso for mayor.
The importance of the position is hard to overstate. Representing the local communities on the City Council carries substantial weight when it comes to influencing what does or doesn’t get done.
But that said, council members have only so much power in a city the size of Los Angeles.
Among key attributes constituents look for are the bread-and-butter services — when residents call, they expect a quick response to solve an issue.
Lining up to run for the now-open council seat, in the order they are listed on the June 7 ballot, are:
- Danielle Sandoval, an entrepreneur and community leader.
- Anthony Santich, a community advocate and businessman.
- Bryant Odega, an educator and community organizer.
- Tim McOsker, businessman and nonprofit director.
A runoff, if no one receives more than 50% of the vote, will be held Nov. 8 between the top two finishers.
Danielle Sandoval
Sandoval, 45, of Harbor City, completed paralegal studies course work and earned a real estate sales certificate. She’s also worked in hospitality and opened her own restaurant in San Pedro.
But it has been her volunteer experiences, she said, that have shaped her values.
She’s done work with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority of Greater Los Angeles, Meals on Wheels, the City Lights Gateway Foundation (focusing on debris removal near schools) and Tree People. Sandoval has also spent time sorting and distributing food boxes and personal protective equipment throughout the pandemic, including working with groups such as ThinkWatts, Watts Community Core, Watts Rising, The Watts Empowerment Center and Coalition for a Safe Environment.
Sandoval has served on neighborhood councils and has been active in the push to remove idling diesel trucks from around playgrounds in communities adjacent to the Port of Los Angeles.
The diverse district, Sandoval said, needs more equal representation.
“I will represent a district whose majority population is currently underserved and left out of the decision-making process at the city level,” she said in a written statement.
On homelessness, she said, housing will be her top priority, along with a “comprehensive and humanistic approach to the unhoused crisis that avoids displacement and empowers our unhoused” with more workforce development programs.
Anthony Santich
Santich, 60, of San Pedro, has worked in port-related industries throughout his career and is the son of Croatian and Italian parents; San Pedro has large populations of both, stretching to the port town’s early days. He grew up across the street from Mary Star of the Sea Church surrounded by some 20 relatives who lived on the same block.
He has accused the Port of Los Angeles of mismanaging the TraPac Terminal, not creating jobs to serve district residents and spending “billions of public dollars” on terminal automation that should be invested in the community. The port, for its part, has said automation is the key to remaining competitive.
Santich’s campaign has stressed coming down on “the Establishment,” arguing he’s an outsider who will fight corruption.
“I will not allow a city or port contract,” he said, “to be awarded to anyone that has given money to my campaign.”
Santich, who has never run for political office, pledged to have no off-calendar meetings or private phone calls with lobbyists, or port or city officials.
“I don’t want to be the dictator of CD15 the way it seems to be with every council office,” Santich said.
He lists his key issues as being homelessness, crime prevention, more investment in public safety and reducing port pollution.
Bryant Odega
Bryant Odega, 24, of Harbor Gateway, has grown up in the district and is a teacher for Los Angeles Unified School District.
His parents emigrated from Nigeria both come from working-class backgrounds, Odega said: His mother was a nurse and his father was a taxi driver before he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and forced to leave the country when Odega was 7 years old.
Odega has emphasized that working-class background.
“I’m the only person who’s a renter in this race,” he said.
Odega said he became interested in politics because of the climate change movement.
He supports doubling the size of the City Council, Odega said, so it better serve the area.
“I know what it feels like to struggle,” he said, adding that there is a sense of urgency in resolving problems such as homelessness, pollution and poverty.
Odega joined the Harbor Gateway South Neighborhood Council in 2019, working to persuade the council to pass a resolution supporting the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s LA100 climate study that would bring 100% clean renewable energy to L.A. by 2035.
“I’m the right person to represent this community,” Odega said, “because this is a working-class community.”
Odega said he envisions community gardens that could be established in all areas of the district to help families grow their own healthy produce.
“My frustration is with government inaction,” said Odega, who has a bachelor’s degree from UCLA in political science and labor studies, served on the Student Senate for California Community Colleges and was elected president of the El Camino College Black Student Union. “Air quality is getting worse and rents are going up.”
Tim McOsker
McOsker, 59, of San Pedro, has spent his career as an attorney and businessman who served in City Hall during the administrations of former City Attorney and Mayor James Hahn.
Most recently, McOsker was CEO of AltaSea and has been president of the Business Improvement District in San Pedro.
But despite his well-known involvement, this is his first run for elected office.
His campaign, he said, is a way to continue what’s been a family legacy serving the city.
McOsker’s father served for 30 years as an L.A. firefighter and his brothers Mike and Pat also joined the Los Angeles Fire Department, serving in the department’s union.
“Through my decades of work and experience in the community,” McOsker said, “I have deep relationships with many local leaders.”
His focus, he said, is on homelessness and affordable housing, economic recovery and jobs.
McOsker has also served on the Charter Revision Commission for the city of Los Angeles.
“I am relying on my lifetime of service,” he said, “my experience and the hard work of fundraising, building institutional and individual support, and retaining my commitment to diverse community outreach.”
