The Los Angeles City Council allocated $100,000 Tuesday to further support work by a dedicated street light repair crew covering Westside neighborhoods.
In a 13-0 vote, the council approved a motion introduced by Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, and seconded by Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez. Yaroslavsky put forward the money from her Fifth District discretionary fund.
The two council members who put forward the motion were absent during Tuesday’s meeting.
Earlier this year, Yaroslavsky and Councilwoman Traci Park partnered to establish a dedicated street light repair crew for their respective areas.
The Fifth District includes Brentwood, Bel Air, Melrose and Hancock Park, among other areas. Park represents L.A.’s coastal neighborhoods such as Venice, Pacific Palisades and Vista Del Mar.
They initially provided a combined $500,000 for the crew. The council members have said the crew is necessary to accelerate repairs of inoperable street lights, which have been damaged by copper wire theft. A backlog of broken lights also needs to be addressed.
Combined, the council members’ districts had more than 1,100 open street light repair cases in the Westside, which they hope to address with their discretionary dollars.
Other council members have used their own discretionary funding to support dedicated street light repair crews, including Hugo Soto-Martinez, Ysabel Jurado and Hernandez.