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joe buscaino

Joe Buscaino is the President Pro Tempore of the Los Angeles City Council and represents the Council’s 15th District which includes the communities of Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, San Pedro, Watts, and Wilmington as well as the Port of Los Angeles.

Councilmember Buscaino has served as the Chair of the City’s Trade, Travel and Tourism Committee since 2017. The committee oversees the Port of Los Angeles - the busiest container port in the United States, LAX - the second busiest airport in the United States, and the LA Tourism and Convention Board. Councilmember Buscaino also serves as Vice-Chair of the Rules, Elections, and Intergovernmental Relations Committee and as a member of the Public Safety Committee, Transportation Committee, Homelessness & Poverty Committee, and the Ad Hoc Committee on the 2028 Olympics and Paralympic Games.

In 2019, Councilmember Buscaino was elected as President of the National League of Cities (NLC) which represents more than 2,000 cities, towns, and villages across the country. Since November 2020, he has served as NLC's Immediate Past President.

Councilman Buscaino has lived in the 15th District his entire life and is a first-generation Italian-American, whose parents emigrated from Italy over 40 years ago, in pursuit of the American dream. Prior to his election to the City Council, Buscaino served for 15 years as a police officer in the Los Angeles Police Department.

He has served on the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Harbor Area, the San Pedro YWCA’s Racial Justice Committee, and the Advisory Council for the Los Angeles Watts Summer Games and is active with Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church and various Italian-American organizations.

Joe and his wife, Geralyn, a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, are raising their two children in San Pedro.


Personal Statement 

As a first-generation Italian American, the son of immigrants, and a City Councilmember from one of the most diverse cities in the world, I strongly believe in the mission of Sister Cities International: TO PROMOTE PEACE THROUGH MUTUAL RESPECT, UNDERSTANDING, AND COOPERATION — ONE INDIVIDUAL, ONE COMMUNITY AT A TIME. 

Throughout my time on the City Council, I have sought to build relationships with elected leaders in other cities through my work as a board member of the California League of Cities and National League of Cities. Cities of all sizes in all countries face similar challenges, and I strongly believe we can all benefit by sharing information and best practices. I will strongly support and encourage Cities to adopt specific policies and ordinances to facilitate a greater sharing of information and resources, such at Los Angeles Administrative Code Section 22.547, which allows the City of Los Angeles to sell surplus city equipment to our sister cities for $1. I recently authored a motion utilizing this provision to donate a surplus fire engine to the City of Beirut, following the tragic explosion at the Port of Beirut on August 4, 2020. 


Skills 

Through my work at National League of Cities, California League of Cities and Sister Cities international, I have formed relationships with elected leaders from Cities all around the United States, and several cities abroad. I have been a City Councilmember in Los Angeles for 9 years, and, as chair of the City Council’s Trade, Travel and Tourism committee, I work closely with LA’s Tourism and Convention Board, department of Convention and Tourism Development, the Port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles World Airports.