Posted on 02/18/2025
ONE BIG THING: FIXING OUR BROKEN STREETLIGHTS
What Happened?
We know that well lit streets are safe streets, but far too often, we get calls about street light outages all over the City. The vast majority of these outages are due to a lack of maintenance.
That’s why our office has made it a priority to fix broken street lights as quickly as possible. This year, we funded another $200,000 in street light repairs around the district. That money has gone to pay for crews from the Bureau of Street Lighting to work overtime hours every weekend, and assure that every service request we receive is attended to in a timely manner.
And just last weekend, BSL crews repaired six street lighting circuits, restoring 306 lights with these funds, in Windsor Square, St. Andrews Square, Larchmont Village, and Koreatown!
Why it Matters
Our City Departments work hard every week to complete service requests as soon as possible, but unfortunately, decades of disinvestment in critical services have delayed these improvements in our neighborhoods. For example, it can take:
- Over 6 months to fix a broken streetlight
- 7 years to fix a broken sidewalk
- 14 years for tree trimming
We’re committed to reversing this trend by focusing resources where they’re needed most, and we need your input to help guide future improvements.
Please take a quick survey at bit.ly/cd13survey to share your thoughts and help shape the future of our neighborhood.
What’s Next?
We are not even halfway through the $200,000 currently allocated for these repairs, but even once those funds run out, we will continue to invest in the critical services our constituents ask for, because we know that working streetlights are essential for keeping all our neighborhoods safe.
There are still thousands of streetlights out across the City, so we need your help identifying where our help is most needed. Make sure you report any outages to 311 and contact our office so that we can prioritize repairs in your neighborhood!
Three More Quick Hits!
1. Free Tax Prep
Tax season is here! But there’s no need to worry. The Community Investment for Families Department (CIFD) is once again offering FREE tax prep and filing services through their Free Tax Prep LA program. If you make under $67,000 annually, you can make an appointment and consult with trained tax professionals, at zero cost to you.
You can claim up to $10,000 in Cash Back refunds through credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and others. Many people have already used this service with the City, and have claimed an average return of $2,500.
It’s your money, so make sure to make an appointment today, and file your taxes, completely FREE.
2. Cleaning Up District 13
This week, our Clean Team with the LA Conservation Corps picked up over 11,000 pounds of waste from the streets across the district, including 88 bulky items and nearly 200 bags of trash. Overall, City crews closed 3,788 service requests from 3-1-1, and received another 1,439 requests.
If you’d like an update on your 311 request, or if you have any additional questions, please call our District Office at (213) 207-3015 or via email at councilmember.soto-martinez@lacity.org and our team will be happy to help.
3. Last Chance to Register for the Homeless Count
The count is next week from February 18-21, and we still need volunteers in a few of our locations, so visit TheyCountWillYou.org to register today!