Los Angeles Councilmember Tim McOsker is trying to win reelection to the 15th District seat against first-time political candidate Jordan Rivers during the June 2 primary election.
McOsker, 63, is an attorney with deep roots in San Pedro who ran for public office for the first time four years ago — winning the seat previously held by former Councilmember Joe Buscaino. McOsker’s first term leading the 15th District was his first time serving in a publicly elected office.
Rivers, meanwhile, is a San Pedro resident whose occupation is listed on the ballot as a community organizer. He is the founder and chief liaison of the Global Residents Initiative, which launched in January 2025.
If a candidate receives a majority of the vote during this election — which seems likely, given there are only two people running — he will win outright. If no one receives a majority, there would be a runoff in November.
The 15th District comprises the Harbor Area, including San Pedro.
The most southern part of L.A. and its 15th District — San Pedro — is some 25 miles from Downtown Los Angeles, where the City Council meets. The area was annexed by Los Angeles in 1909 after residents voted to consolidate what was an independent city with L.A., all related to the growing port. The city acquired a 16-mile long strip of land to geographically connect the Harbor Area to the central part of the city.
For Rivers, the district’s primary issues — and his top priorities — are social mobility, redevelopment and food security, he said in his response to the Southern California News Group’s Voter Guide questionnaire.
McOsker began his first term in office referring to the district as the “One-Five” as a way to emphasize that it is made up of five communities: San Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway and Watts. The reference has stuck.
“I am focused on the greatest challenges facing Los Angeles: Supporting our working families, making our neighborhoods healthy and safe, and delivering reliable city services,” McOsker said in his response to the Voter Guide questionnaire. “I work collaboratively with labor, business groups, nonprofits, community leaders and stakeholders to advance policies that help the people of CD 15, or ‘One-Five’ as I call it, thrive.”
His other priorities, McOsker said, include supporting working families, good-paying jobs and small, family-owned businesses that hire locally; workforce training programs, community programs that promote safe neighborhoods, afterschool programs and jobs; access to parks and libraries; and environmental justice issues, including air and water quality.
On the issue of homelessness, Rivers said he would “implement a proposal for mandatory quotas for the existing housing agencies and organizations, such as the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
“We need to have a gradual construction of facilities to house people one at a time,” he said, “to monitor and determine any discrepancies before more funds are added for transitional housing arrangements.”
McOsker, for his part, said housing affordability and homelessness have become “two of the greatest missions we face as a city and it is the moral challenge of our time.”
The incumbent advocates for building more housing “at every income level” and for a process that speeds up approvals to ensure that housing “actually gets delivered efficiently and responsibly.”
“At the same time,” he added, “we must continue bringing people indoors, holding ourselves accountable for results and making sure our neighborhoods remain livable as we tackle this crisis.”
Rivers said he would replace the signs for “Special Enforcement Zones” with “Safe Shelter Zones.”
“Special Enforcement Zones” typically refer to designated areas where the city strictly enforces ordinances banning or restricting sitting, lying or storing personal property.
“Safe Shelter Zones” refer to emergency housing and support areas.
“The language surrounding ‘Special Enforcement Zones’ is dehumanizing toward the issue of homelessness,” Rivers said. “Signs stating where homelessness can be moved instead of solved don’t address the issue of homelessness.
“I would invest in 311 to create a robust relief, recovery, response and rescue effort for residents to dial in place of 911,” he added, “so that individuals facing neglect who are disadvantaged and are exposed to volatility are getting the immediate long-term care and housing accommodations needed to ensure that they’re not a threat or danger to themselves or others.”
Rivers also he wants to address how best to improve transparency and accountability at City Hall via “routine engagements with neighborhood councils and a media network connecting local stations to local issues.”
He said he would mandate staffers be assigned to certain areas of the district to attend neighborhood council meetings. He would also advocates for those neighborhood councils to host community events, and provide facilities for town halls and local fairs — so they can interact more with the communities they represent.
McOsker said he’s long been a strong supporter of neighborhood councils, stressing that “people should not have to travel downtown to feel heard.”
City services, personal meetings and decision-making need to be “closer to the community,” he said. And neighborhood councils “are closest to the issues and understand the needs of their communities better than anyone. Government works best when it is accessible, responsive and rooted in the neighborhoods it serves.”
McOsker pledged to “continue working closely with neighborhood councils and community groups by maintaining open communication, attending meetings and ensuring city departments are responsive to local concerns.”
Looking at City Hall itself, McOsker said, he supports holding public hearings on major contracts, leases and spending decisions “so residents can see how their tax dollars are being used and provide input.”
“Transparency is not just a goal,” he said. “It is a mandate.
“I also support modernizing city systems by creating transparent digital tools, such as dashboards that track permits, projects and service requests in real time,” McOsker added. “Just as important, the government must meet people where they are. Expanding access to district offices and community engagement ensures residents to not have to navigate a distant bureaucracy to be heard.”
Weighing in on the issue of public safety, Rivers suggested looking at the issue through a lens of public health rather than public safety “when it comes to mental health.”
“Many people facing neglect are facing dire circumstances beyond their immediate means of support,” he said, adding that they “need additional assistance, as they have either nowhere else to go or no means to sustain themselves.”
Long-term social care and quality assistance, Rivers said, are needed “to improve humane treatment and access to transitional housing accommodations.”
Those accommodations, Rivers added, must be around the clock.
“The reason many deprived people are not staying in shelters is because these services do not operate for a full day,” he said. “That needs to change, and we need to create incentives for more public health workers and social workers to be employed by making attractive job offers.
“I would invest more in public health and human services,” Rivers added, “so that these resources will be more accessible for everyone.”
McOsker, for his part, called public safety “foundational.”
“Every resident deserves to feel safe in their home, on their street and in their community,” he said.
Approaching the matter, however, needs to reflect “the full needs of our neighborhoods, including mental health and prevention.”
“I support a balanced approach that ensures our police and emergency services are properly staffed and able to respond when needed, while also expanding unarmed crisis response programs like CIRCLE and UMCR,” McOsker said. “These teams are critical in responding to nonviolent calls and helping individuals experiencing mental health crises receive the care they need, while allowing sworn officers to focus on serious and violent crime.”
CIRCLE stands for Crisis and Incident Response through Community-led Engagement, and it’s a 24/7 unarmed response program in Los Angeles that deploys mental health professionals and outreach workers. UMCR stands for Unarmed Model of Crisis Response, and that’s a citywide initiative that dispatches trained mental health professionals and social workers to handle non-violent 911 calls.
Prevention, he said, “is just as important.”
To check out McOsker’s and Rivers’ full responses to their Voter Guide questionnaires, go to dailybreeze.com/voter-guide.