BIOGRAPHY
Jim Dear was first elected to the Carson City Council in March 2001 bringing in a new approach to city government. He went on to win a special election in March 2004 to become Mayor of the City of Carson. He was re-elected Mayor to serve a full four-year term in the March 2005 General Election. Dear was re-elected in March 2009 and again in 2013 to another four-year term of office as Mayor. Dear was re-elected to the City Council in November 2018.

Jim Dear was born and raised in the Harbor Area of Los Angeles County, having attended local schools including Gardena High School, Los Angeles Harbor Community College, and obtaining a BA degree in Political Science at UCLA in 1977. Jim Dear attended graduate school at CSUDH in Carson. He is a retired History and English public school teacher with L.A. Unified School District.

Dear served on the Carson City Council standing committees which include: Senior/Community Center, Economic Development, Commercial and Public Signage, Technology, Government Organization, Policy, Public Safety, Financial Audit, City Hall Building Improvements, Council Chambers Technology Issues, Landscape & Monument, Restaurants/Retail, Entertainment, Theatre, and Personnel.

Dear represented the City of Carson as a former member of the Board of Directors of the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County and he continues to serve on the County of Los Angeles Public Library Commission. He has also served as a delegate representing Carson on the Los Angeles County City Selection Committee, the California League of Cities where he was appointed to the Ethics Education Committee, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, California Contract Cities Association, Gateway Cities Council of Governments, Oversight Board to the Successor Agency to the Dissolved Carson Redevelopment Agency, Southern California Association of Governments and the UCLA/RAND Prevention Research Center. He was a Charter member of the Carson Sheriff’s Station Support Foundation, and has served on the I-710 Oversight Policy Committee, South Bay Work Force Investment Board, and South Bay Council of Government.

Jim Dear began his career in public service as an intern with former Congressman Glenn Anderson and later promoted to a paid position in Washington D.C. He then worked as the fund raising director for the California Citizens Action League (to obtain lifeline utility rates for low income residents, among other victories), and then as a consultant to Californians Against Waste to get environmentally friendly legislation passed in Sacramento. Dear was often a volunteer for many other elected officials over the years. In the 1990's, he worked as a legislative aide for former State Senator Ralph Dills.

In the community, Jim Dear is a member, and has served as an officer of the local Lion’s Club International, the Carson Fraternal Order of Eagles, and the Friends of the Library. He serves as executive board member of the NAACP, delegate for UTLA, member of the Carson Chamber of Commerce, and Chairman’s round table member of the YMCA. He has received from the NAACP both the NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award and the Annual Freedom Fund Award. Jim Dear is a strong supporter of many charitable and non-profit organizations that service the City of Carson.

Jim Dear's accomplishments include the Founder and Creator of the Women's Issues Commission, Carson International Sculpture Garden, Carson Toastmasters Club and his leadership with the Ethics Task Force. He was successful in creating the Carson Code of Ethics and the lobbyist registration requirement. Through his leadership of the Public Safety Task Force, Dear successfully created the Carson Sheriff's Park Enforcement Team and brought forward into reality the Volunteers on Patrol Program with the Carson Sheriff's Station. He founded the Carson Toastmaster Club and the Internal Sculpture Garden. Dear is a champion for civil rights. He has earned the reputation as an aggressive policy maker who takes difficult issues and gets results for Carson residents. Jim Dear has worked hard to promote economic development and at the same time increase the quality of life for Carson residents. Jim Dear has championed and supported many small Carson businesses and has established relationships with business owners and encouraged many Carson residents to shop local and support their neighborhood storefronts.