Hollywood neighborhoods Friday can expect a dedicated street light repair team to turn the lights back on in areas that have been dark for some time.
In a 14-0 vote, the Los Angeles City Council approved $1 million on Friday for a street light repair team that will work exclusively in Council District 13, encompassing the Hollywood area. Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, who represents CD13, introduced a motion last year calling for the crew that will be supported with discretionary dollars allocated for his district.
Councilman Bob Blumenfield was absent during the vote.
“Well-lit streets are safe streets, and our residents deserve this basic public amenity,” Soto-Martinez said in a statement. “We will do whatever it takes to get the lights back on and eliminate the street light backlog in District 13.”
The dedicated street light crew is expected to accelerate repairs and reduce the district’s street light backlog.
Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado established a similar crew to address those same issues in her Council District 14, encompassing downtown and northeast Los Angeles neighborhoods such as Boyle Heights.
Los Angeles continues to faces challenges with broken or damaged street lights. City officials report that repairing broken street lights takes more than nine months on average.
According to Soto-Martinez’s office, the fee that funds 90% of street light maintenance in the city hasn’t been adjusted for inflation for decades.
Additionally, the Bureau of Street Lighting had a city-high 32% vacancy rate until recent years, when those job vacancies were eliminated entirely. Copper wire theft also increased to record levels in recent years.
About 60% of broken street lights are down due to routine maintenance.
Other actions that city officials have taken to address street light issues involve “hardening” infrastructure by replacing copper wiring with solar-powered lights.
City officials are exploring other ways to improve repairs and ensure street lights are taken care of by changing funding models and examining staffing solutions.