City workers repair a pothole created by recent rains. The City Council voted Dec. 3 to address deteriorating public infrastructure throughout the city. The vote called for staff reports on estimated costs and staffing levels needs to meet industry standards.
Courtesy photo
Wave Staff and Wire Reports
LOS ANGELES — Does your residential street have potholes that have been there for years? Do the parkway trees in front of your house need trimming?
The City Council is finally trying to do something about those and other issues relating to infrastructure in the city.
On a unanimous vote Dec. 3, the City Council instructed staff to conduct a comprehensive analysis of funding, staffing and resources needed to address deteriorating public infrastructure and bring the city up to industry standards.
Several city departments are expected to provide a report in 60 days identifying industry standards and best practices for repair, replacement, maintenance and timely inspection of bike lanes, curb cuts, sidewalks, street trees, storm drains and street lights.
The report should provide information on staffing levels, equipment costs and materials, as well as fleet capacity to reach standards.
The Department of General Services is also expected to report within 60 days on fleet maintenance, repair and storage needs for proposed phases to meet established goals, among other things.
Councilwomen Eunisses Hernandez and Katy Yaroslavsky introduced the motion calling for this information in September. Prior to the vote, Hernandez emphasized that council members often hear from residents asking for the basics.
“They want to know why a tree hasn’t been trimmed in 15 years. Why the street light has been dark for six months. Why is the illegal dumping on the corner still there, or why the crosswalk to their child’s school has faded away,” Hernandez said.
“Our answer has been: We’re doing the best that we can with what we have. But the reality is that we have normalized the system based on scarcity. We have normalized the patchwork approach to public safety,” she added.
Hernandez described her motion as a way to direct city departments to share the truth of what the city needs.
“We need a comprehensive assessment of what it actually takes to run the city, not based on last year’s budget and not based on what we think we can afford in the short term, but based on industry standards and best practices it asks for,” Hernandez said.
Several neighborhood councils filed community impact statements in support of the city updating its standards, staffing and funding for maintenance of infrastructure in the public right of way.
“Budget challenges have resulted in fewer resources to manage our streets, leading to an increasing reliance on expensive outside contractors,” said a letter from the North Westwood Neighborhood Council supporting the plan. “In addition to improper staffing and chronic underfunding of relevant departments, the illogical segmentation of city departments and responsibilities leads to inherent inefficiencies that must be addressed in a time of fiscal distress.”
“This is about accountability and responsibility,” Councilwoman Hernandez said in a statement issued in September when the motion was introduced. “We cannot keep pretending we are saving money by deferring maintenance when in reality we are creating unsafe conditions, driving up long-term costs, and leaving Angelenos literally in the dark. The people of Los Angeles deserve a city that works. To not fight for that is a dereliction of duty.”
