The Song family, who moved to Van Nuys in October last year, lives on Victory Boulevard. They contacted the city’s Sanitation Department because four streetlights in front of their house were not working. Since the complex was new and the streets were dark at night, it was inconvenient for the residents. Consequently, the street has become a place that passersby avoid. The streetlights, which were supposed to be fixed promptly, have now been out for months.
The neighborhood falls under the jurisdiction of the City of Los Angeles’ District 2, but residents say the streetlights have not even been inspected.
The city claims to repair an average of 45,000 streetlights a year, according to the city’s 311 call center, as part of a post-pandemic effort to improve public works services. However, the streetlights near the Song’s house have been overlooked.
Some residents suggest that the copper wires being cut may be causing the lights to stop working, adding to the repair time.
Indeed, city statistics show that there were more than 11,000 reports of broken streetlights in the first quarter of this year alone, and most of the problems are attributed to delays in repairs due to copper wire theft. However, there are no statistics on how quickly they are being repaired or whether repairs prioritize residential streetlights.
“I filed a complaint after being told that the sanitation department was accepting complaints. Afterward, I was told that other residents had filed the same complaint and that the sanitation department would inform me of the outcome,” Song said. “But even after the second complaint in December, no repairs were made.”
In some instances, thieves have broken into neighboring homes by smashing windows after the streetlights failed, and police were called to a nearby shopping center after juveniles got into a fight and fled into the dark streets. Packages delivered to homes have also been stolen.
“As the mayor promised, if there is a threat to residents’ safety, it should be addressed first,” Song added, questioning, “I also wonder if streetlights that have been off for more than half a year need to be reported by residents to get fixed.”
The Song family and neighbors plan to resubmit their previous repair requests, which may have been lost or deleted when they were integrated into the MyLa311 app.
Meanwhile, according to the city, streetlights on wooden poles should be reported to the Department of Water and Power at (800) 342-5397, and those on regular streets should be reported to the Bureau of Street Lighting at [lalights.lacity.org/contact.html]. Traffic signals are the responsibility of the Department of Transportation ([ladot@lacity.org]). Residents can also download the ‘myla311’ application and fill out a service request form.
BY BRIAN CHOI, JUNHAN PARK [ichoi@koreadaily.com]
