A small but engaged group of residents attended last night’s town hall meeting with Councilman Joe Buscaino at Banning High School’s auditorium. He spoke of his accomplishments during his first year in office and shared a 10 minute video detailing all his work for the 15th districtin Los Angeles, which includes Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, San Pedro, Watts and Wilmington.

Because there was such low attendance almost every attendee was given an opportunity to voice their concerns about ongoing problems in the neighborhood like, crime, violence, overwhelming amount of liquor stores in comparison to resourceful centers, poor air quality and illegal dumping.

Community leaders like Salvador Lara who has mobilized hundreds of residents in an effort to clean-up Wilmington spoke out against illegal dumping in the neighborhood and demanded these people get fined as well as more oversight from law enforcement and residents.

Members of the environmental activism group Clean Up Green Up, pleaded for Buscaino’s support to make LA communities healthier through the establishment of green zones in Wilmington. On the spot Buscaino said he supported the initiative.

When a youth got up and asked for Buscaino to support their group Youth Action and the California Youth Bill of Rights, Buscaino said, “anything to mobilize our youth and I’m with you!”

Buscaino made references to when he was a police officer and patrolled areas like downtown LA when it was a hotspot for crime and now has been transformed into L.A. Live, the entertainment complex that has helped revitalize the city.

“We want the same economic development here,” said Buscaino.

He did acknowledge that more work needs to be done to make Wilmington a safer and healthier community and he committed to doing so if re-elected during the LA city elections March 5, where angelenos will also elect a new city mayor.  

He emphasized on creating more jobs, local economic development and making neighborhoods safer.  

Here’s a video highlighting some of Buscaino’s accomplishments during his first year in office.