LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass joined City Councilmember Imelda Padilla today as she unveiled an initiative to help keep communities safe and well-lit in front of a local elementary school in Van Nuys. The effort includes more than 100 streetlights that were modernized with solar-powered lights to help curb copper wire theft and better the environment. This is part of Mayor Bass’ continued efforts to upgrade city services and build toward a greener Los Angeles. Pictures of the event will be available here.
“Councilwoman Padilla’s leadership has been absolutely noticed in just the short time she’s been serving in this capacity,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “Her tenacity when it comes to service is exemplified by this event today and I look forward to continuing to work with her to make neighborhoods safer while bettering the environment.”
“I have spent most of my career bringing people together to advocate for our families to have a better quality of life, for our seniors and kids to feel safe in their neighborhoods, and for our local youth to have a brighter future,” Councilmember Imelda Padilla said. “And now as the Councilmember for District 6, it means a lot to be working together with Mayor Bass, the Department of Public Works, and the Bureau of Street Lighting to usher in a new era of brighter and safer neighborhoods with more resilient solar lighting.”
Street lighting is integral to improving community safety in Los Angeles neighborhoods. This initiative is a tangible and innovative investment in neighborhood safety, with brighter, more sustainable lighting that will illuminate public spaces, enhance visibility and safety during nighttime hours while helping to deter copper wire theft. The updated solar powered streetlights help curb copper wire theft as they do not require copper wire to be used at the bottom of the light pole. This improvement is working to help keep the lights on while preserving City infrastructure, and ensuring City resources and personnel can focus on system upgrades, maintenance and repairs.
Today’s announcement builds on Mayor Bass’ commitment that Los Angeles is a world class city that delivers world class services. Last year, she signed Executive Directive 5 to upgrade the delivery of city services by decreasing wait times, enhancing the quality of the service and better communicating the result of service requests.