LA Council Confirms Appointment To Harbor Commission

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday confirmed Sheila Lewis, an executive with the Watts Labor Community Action Committee, as the newest member of the Harbor Commission.

In a unanimous vote, the council approved Mayor Karen Bass' appointee. Lewis will take the seat left vacant by former U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Los Angeles, who resigned from her post on the commission in July.

Lewis serves as the general manager of family and reentry services with the Watts committee, a role she has held since 2005. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from Capella University, and is working on a doctorate degree in education from USC.

Councilman Tim McOsker, who represents the Harbor Area, welcomed Lewis to the board, noting that she is "certainly a daughter of the One-Five," meaning the Council's 15th District.

McOsker also recognized the work of the Watts Labor Community Action Committee.

"The ethic of the place came out of the labor movement, and the idea that folks in community in the labor movement could create spaces where there are advancing economic opportunity, jobs, developing equity, and WLCAC through the leadership of Ted Watkins, God rest his soul, and then handing it off to Tim Watkins, who is here," McOsker said.

"WLCAC in Watts and in the 15th (District), and in the city of Los Angeles, is a place that is really dedicated to creating opportunity for all of us," McOsker added.

He said Lewis has been instrumental in many things, but particularly in job creation and opportunities in reentry programs. The councilman said Lewis would be a champion on the commission who understands employment barriers and challenges to achieving environmental justice, and how to break them down.

"I watch very closely who gets appointed to this commission, and I will say unapologetically that I was advocating for somebody to be directly related to the labor movement, in the labor movement, and the mayor, very smartly and very appropriately, found someone who lives in my community, who works in my community, who cares about jobs, and appointed Miss Sheila Lewis," McOsker said.

Lewis said she's "ready to do the work and I'm ready to serve." Her term will end on June 30, 2028.

In a similar vote, the council approved the reappointment of Ishmun "Lee" Williams to the Harbor Commission for a term expected to end June 30, 2031. Bass first appointed Williams in 2023.

A resident of San Pedro, Williams owns and operates the Lee Williams Real Estate Group, and earned a master's degree from the University of Washington. He's a board member of the Boys and Girls Club of LA Harbor and the past chair of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce.

"Mr. Williams has been an excellent harbor commissioner, representing not just the Harbor Area, but the port and the region," McOsker said.

Williams was appointed to the board following an effort by McOsker to ensure that the commission had at least two members who lived in the Harbor Area.

"I want to thank you again for the opportunity to serve my community, to serve the people of LA and to make America's busiest port in the Western Hemisphere something that we can be proud of," Williams said.

The five-member Board of Harbor Commissioners oversees the Port of Los Angeles.

City News Service