Westside LA Council Members Pool Funds for Street Light Repairs

Katy Yaroslavsky and Traci Park allocate $500,000 to address backlog of over 1,100 repair cases

Published on Feb. 14, 2026

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Two Los Angeles City Council members representing the Westside, Katy Yaroslavsky and Traci Park, have announced a joint effort to allocate $500,000 in discretionary funding to accelerate repairs of inoperable streetlights in their districts. The move comes as the area faces a growing backlog of over 1,100 open repair cases due to issues like copper wire theft.

Why it matters

Reliable street lighting is a key public safety and quality of life issue for Westside neighborhoods. The high number of outages has left many communities in the dark, raising concerns about crime and pedestrian safety. This joint funding initiative by the council members aims to address the problem more quickly than the city's standard repair process.

The details

Yaroslavsky and Park, who represent the 5th and 11th Council Districts respectively, introduced a motion to dedicate $500,000 towards a dedicated street light repair crew and the procurement of solar-powered lights. Unlike other districts, their areas do not have access to discretionary tax increment funds typically used for infrastructure improvements, so they are pooling their own discretionary dollars to tackle the issue.

  • On February 13, 2026, Yaroslavsky and Park announced their joint funding initiative.
  • The motion is expected to be heard by the full City Council in the near future.

The players

Katy Yaroslavsky

Los Angeles City Council member representing the 5th District, which includes communities such as Brentwood, Bel Air, Melrose and Hancock Park.

Traci Park

Los Angeles City Council member representing the 11th District, which includes coastal communities like Venice, Pacific Palisades and Del Mar.

Andrew Martin

A resident of Mar Vista who expressed frustration over the latest copper wire theft that left his neighborhood in the dark.

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What they’re saying

“While the city works to get ahead of this epidemic, we are taking action locally to dedicate funding and restore lighting in our Westside neighborhoods.”

— Traci Park, Los Angeles City Council member (dailynews.com)

“One in 10 lights are out, and my colleagues and I on the City Council are done asking residents to wait on a broken bureaucracy.”

— Katy Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles City Council member (dailynews.com)

“The usual feeling you have is that government doesn't work, but this is a clear example that it does, starting at the bottom with local community members and local leaders like Traci and Katy. We're hopeful that our lights will be up and running very soon.”

— Andrew Martin, Mar Vista resident (dailynews.com)

What’s next

The motion introduced by Yaroslavsky and Park is expected to be heard by the full Los Angeles City Council in the near future.

The takeaway

This joint funding initiative by two Westside council members demonstrates how local leaders can take proactive steps to address pressing infrastructure issues in their communities, even when facing challenges like a lack of dedicated funding sources. Their collaborative approach aims to quickly restore street lighting and improve public safety for residents.