In November 2020, Ismael Soto Luna, 59, was waiting to cross a street in Van Nuys when a 2-pound metal cap fell from a nearby light and hit him in the head, knocking him to the ground and fracturing his skull.
He was later diagnosed with brain damage and, as his condition worsened over time, dementia requiring 24-hour care, according to the lawsuit filed in the city. Earlier this year, the city of Los Angeles agreed to pay $21 million to solve Luna’s case.
During the trial, a credit expert retained by Luna’s lawyer, Arash Zabetian, said he reviewed thousands of city documents and found that there were no standards for regularly inspecting the lights. Even after Luna’s injuries, the city didn’t address the danger, Zabetian said. Within a few blocks of the corner where the plaintiff was injured, about half of the light poles had loose or missing caps, meaning they had already fallen.
Los Angeles is going broke, and debt settlement in such dangerous situations is one of the reasons. In just the first three months of the fiscal year, the city is in more trouble than that $47 million settling lawsuits and claims for injuries and other incidents in the public domain. This money is owed to people who tripped over broken roads or crashed their bikes on crumbling asphalt, suffered property damage due to potholes or falling tree branches, and suffered other damage involving the city’s infrastructure.
Of course, no city can completely prevent tree branches from falling on cars or quickly fix all potholes. But Los Angeles’ staggering backlog of basic maintenance is hurting residents and driving up debt costs. It usually takes more than ten years to repair a road. Street trees are almost all pruned 15 years. Part of the city’s streets need to be rebuilt, and approx 15% are not considered failed.
The city is also lagging far behind in maintaining street lights like the one that injured Luna. The general manager of the Bureau of Street Lighting Miguel Sangalang said the aim is to check the lights once every 10 years. The city responds to reports of burned out lights, but it can take six months or more to fix one.
Due to rising debt payments, which also stem from lawsuits involving employment issues and police use of force and negligence, the city is considering borrowing $80 million to pay certain judgments and settlements. That can cost more money Interest of $20 million at current rates, that means the city will be paying over $100 million just to settle legal cases rather than to solve any underlying problems.
“We are being asked to borrow money to cover the legal costs of our crumbling infrastructure instead of actually fixing it,” lamented Jessica Meaney, executive director of the non-profit organization Investing in Place.
This is not a new problem. For years, the city has not had enough money to maintain roads, lights, sidewalks, trees and public infrastructure. It usually takes a lawsuit and a ballot measure to force city leaders to prioritize safety and repairs. Indeed, in 2015, LA agreed to spend $30 million a year to fix broken roads only after disabled residents sued the city.
That didn’t make him old backloghowever. The study found that in fiscal year 2020, the city spent $12 million – about half of its total budget for sidewalk repairs – to settle injury claims and lawsuits.
Meaney and other advocates pushed LA to adopt an infrastructure finance plan, a multi-year budgeted road map for investing in and maintaining public assets. Los Angeles is the only major city in the country without one, forcing its public works departments to request and seek funding every year.
The Bureau of Street Lighting is an example. The agency does not have the staff or budget to regularly inspect street lights for loose caps or other problems, or fix it fast–extinguished or vandalized lights. The agency gets most of its funding from taxes paid by property owners in the districts for street lighting inspections, but 90% of inspections have not gone up since 1996. about 30 years, plus whatever the City Council and mayor can afford each budget cycle.
LA can’t continue to budget like this. The city has long been committed to a comprehensive plan that outlines infrastructure needs and costs, including regular maintenance and development of public services, such as bus shelters, local coordinators and protected bike lanes. Then the City Council and the mayor can prioritize projects and spend money — or seek more money through bonds or tax measures — to deliver what Angelenos should expect in a world-class city.
Last month, Mayor Karen Bass announced that city staff would improve a a lotannual investment plan coordinating maintenance and development. He Executive Directive 9 creates a Financial Planning Steering Committee to help deliver infrastructure projects in less time and less cost.
It’s a great idea, but planning and prioritizing can’t be done behind closed doors. Bass and the City Council should make this work transparent so that the public, including neighborhood councils, advocates and business leaders, know what to expect and can hold city leaders accountable.
Los Angeles has underinvested in its infrastructure for decades. Citizens are paying the price with high debt payments and shamefully deteriorating roads, sidewalks and other public works.
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