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LA WATCHDOG - Mayor Bass indicated that the budget would increase funding for the repair and maintenance of our lunar cratered streets and cracked sidewalks. The budget, however, tells a different story.
According to the Pavement Preservation Program Budget Outlook, the City plans to pave 690 miles of streets in the upcoming year. For the current year, the City was anticipating paving 960 of streets, down from 1,850 miles the previous year. Overall, this is a decrease of 63% in the streets paved.
The performance measures in the proposed budget also indicate that the percent of streets in good repair is anticipated to be 56% in 2026-27, down from 62% in 2025.
As for the sidewalks, the City is anticipating constructing 60,000 square feet of new construction, down from 223,000 square feet in 2022-23, Bass’s first year in office. This represents a drop of 75% in sidewalk construction.
While we have been misled, the deferred maintenance on our streets and sidewalks is in the range of $5 billion according to the City with no plan to address this shortfall.
Every year, our streets and sidewalks continue to deteriorate because the City is unwilling to devote the necessary resources to its infrastructure. Instead, the Mayor and the City Council continue to approve budget busting labor agreements that are negotiated behind closed doors with the campaign funding bosses of the City’s public sector unions.
In June, we will be asked to approve a series of ballot measures that will provide, IF approved, the City with over $100 million in new revenue. But why should we approve these measures when the City has no plan to address our failing infrastructure? In essence, this is more of our hard earned money flushed down a rat hole into the black hole known as City Hall, a corrupt complex that lacks transparency and accountability and refuses to reform its busted finances.
How long will we allow City Hall to neglect our streets and sidewalks, to tell us tall tales, and to use us as their ATM? It is time for Angelenos to say NO.
(Jack Humphreville writes the LA Watchdog column for CityWatch, where he covers city finances, utilities, and accountability at City Hall. He is President of the DWP Advocacy Committee, serves as the Budget and DWP representative for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, and is a longtime Neighborhood Council Budget Advocate. With a sharp focus on fiscal responsibility and transparency, Jack brings an informed and independent voice to Los Angeles civic affairs. He can be reached at [email protected].)
