MAR VISTA, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Residents in Mar Vista say they’re growing increasingly frustrated as large portions of their neighborhood remain without street lighting, a problem local leaders attribute to ongoing copper wire thefts.
“Thousands of blocks across Los Angeles are darker than they should be. That’s a public safety problem,” said Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky of L.A.’s 5th District.
Streetlight outages have become a persistent concern across L.A. County, particularly on the Westside.
On Friday, residents joined Yaroslavsky and Councilwoman Traci Park, who represents the 11th District, to call attention to the urgent repairs needed.
Many living in the neighborhood say the lack of lighting has left them feeling unsafe.
“You can’t see 5 feet if you don’t have a flashlight or your dog doesn’t have lights on it. It is so scary here, and you’re tripping, and it’s really scary,” said Mar Vista resident Pam Marton.
Her husband, Andrew Marton, said the city’s initial repair timeline pushed him to call Park’s office for help.
“The response from the city was it was going to take 270 days to get it fixed, and then that got me involved to contact Traci’s office and see if she could speed it up. It was really pitch dark,” he said.
Officials say copper wire theft remains the primary cause of the outages, as thieves pull wire from streetlight poles to sell for quick cash.
Park said she and Yaroslavsky are taking immediate steps to combat the backlog of repairs.
“Councilwoman Yaroslavsky and I are dedicating $500,000 of our district funds to create a new street light repair crew that is going to significantly focus on repairing and addressing the backlog of light outages in both CD 11 and CD 5,” Park said.
Both councilmembers also announced plans to explore converting streetlights to solar power in the future. They introduced a motion Friday to begin allocating funds toward that effort.
Copyright © 2026 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.