Lights Out for Safety!

One of the things that makes the City of L.A. so attractive to businesses and residents is the services of the Department of Water & Power (DWP). Service programs and low rates (even though they have risen in the last few years) are a hallmark of their superior services. Sadly, one such service may be history: as of last month (4/26), the DWP has suspended its Outdoor Area Lighting Program. This program provided lower cost lighting solutions (from 4.25 to 8.31 a month) for private property & public for the consumer and had been operating at the same rates for some time. Since 1997, a DWP customer could pay the rates and basically "lease" the equipment from the DWP. This addressed safety issues round schools and community centers and helped brighten alleys behind homes and businesses.

But because the work (installations) was done on overtime and the material costs have increased, the program has become cost prohibitive. The DWP is currently reviewing whether any iteration of the program will exist after the suspension.

This is not the first nuisance-fighting tool the City has offered that then gets discontinued though it has been proven highly effective in addressing concerns about safety and security. In 2004, the City sponsored "nuisance alley conversion," program which allowed alley-adjacent property owners to petition to have the alley closed with access and maintenance responsibilities to those petitioning adjacent properties, was reduced by $600,000 - virtually eliminating it. This program, too, was successful yet cut due to funding challenges.

It's frustrating that the creative, low-cost solutions to addressing a community's quality of life concerns are being eliminated.