"Faced with numerous complaints about broken streetlights that have plunged neighborhoods into darkness, two Los Angeles City Council members unveiled a plan Friday to spend $65 million on installing solar-powered lights. With 1 in 10 streetlights out of service because of disrepair or copper wire theft, Councilmembers Katy Yaroslavsky and Eunisses Hernandez launched an effort to convert at least 12% of the city's lights to solar power - or about 500 in each council district."
"Broken streetlights emerged as an hot-button issue in this year's election, with council members scrambling to find ways to restore them. Councilmember Nithya Raman, now running against Mayor Karen Bass, cited the broken lights as an example of how city agencies "can't seem to manage the basics.""
""We can't keep rebuilding the same vulnerable systems while copper theft continues to knock out lights across Los Angeles," she said."
"Miguel Sangalang, director of the Bureau of Street Lighting, said there are 33,000 open service requests to fix streetlights across L.A., although some may be duplicates. The average time to fix a streetlight is 12 months, he said."
Los Angeles has about 1 in 10 streetlights out of service due to disrepair or copper wire theft, prompting a proposal to spend $65 million to convert roughly 12% of city streetlights to solar power. The conversion plan aims for about 500 solar lights per council district to reduce theft vulnerability. Five council members proposed the measure and three additional members signed on. The Bureau of Street Lighting reports roughly 33,000 open service requests and an average repair time of 12 months. Repair delays are linked to increased vandalism, a stagnant budget, and a workforce of about 185 people for 225,000 lights.
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