LA property owners have rejected new streetlight fees in a special vote — by an 80-20 margin.
It is a massive vote of no confidence in the City Council.
The council had asked property owners to approve a special assessment to cover the rising cost of maintaining streetlights, many of which have been damaged by copper thieves.
The council also wanted to install solar streetlights in an effort to meet its “green” goals.
One might have expected the assessment to pass, just as a sales tax passed in LA County last month.
Instead — total rejection.
Granted, the vote — a special election under Proposition 2018 — was limited to property owners. And the more your property was worth, the more your vote was weighted.
Plus, the mail-in ballots had to arrive by Election Day to be counted.
If the city’s residents as a whole had been able to vote, under the usual California rules, it is possible the assessment would have passed.
But the old rules, from an earlier generation, prevailed. And the property owners had their say.
Their message is clear: Property owners have had enough of the city’s negligence, wasteful spending and poor management.
They know they are not getting value for their money.
In recent years, those who pay property taxes in LA have had to struggle with homeless encampments on their doorsteps, which the city has been slow to remove; wildfires that the city could not put out, for lack of fire engines and water; a crime wave that erupted after radical protesters demanded cuts in police funding; and schools that remained closed for more than a year during the pandemic, leaving an entire generation of children with major gaps in their education.
Adding insult to injury, the City Council has often continued to pursue its ideological goals as if delivering basic services didn’t matter.
Whether it was saving the planet from climate change; fighting systemic racism; or providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants, the City Council always had a reason to avoid the mundane tasks of governing.
With this resounding election result, property owners told the members of the City Council: We pay enough taxes and fees already. The costs are outrageous. It’s time for you to do your jobs.
Learn to manage with what you have, and live within your means.
Protect the city — its people, and its infrastructure. And keep the lights on without breaking the bank.