Overview
- Councilmembers Katy Yaroslavsky (CD5) and Traci Park (CD11) introduced a motion pooling $500,000 in discretionary funds to accelerate Westside streetlight repairs, with a City Council hearing still to come.
- A dedicated repair crew would be created for their districts, alongside purchasing solar-powered fixtures designed to deter copper wire theft.
- The two districts report more than 1,100 open repair cases, reflecting a broader city backlog that has left many neighborhoods without lighting.
- CBS News reviewed city data showing over 37,000 repair requests by last fall, while the Bureau of Street Lighting said roughly 15% of the system was affected and nearly half of service calls involved wire theft.
- Related efforts include recent solar conversions in Lincoln Heights and Cypress Park, new district-level repair funding elsewhere, a Council-approved contract amendment for an engineer’s report on updating maintenance assessments, and a separate proposal to invest $65 million to expand solar streetlights citywide.