Public Works bureaus warn proposed FY25-26 cuts would slow repairs, extend outages to years

Council members and bureau chiefs at the Board of Public Works Budget Committee on May 20 heard detailed warnings that the mayor’s proposed fiscal year 2025–26 budget would reduce services across multiple Public Works bureaus and extend repair timelines for streetlights, streets and other infrastructure.

The Bureau of Street Lighting (BSL) told the committee its staffing and operating model is “unsustainable.” Miguel Sanlang, Bureau of Street Lighting, said the bureau expects to lose “around 25 or so positions net” and that without a negotiated MOU to do projects for the Department of Water and Power, BSL would need roughly $7.7 million in offsets or face deeper position cuts. Sanlang said an MOU would let the bureau “redeploy” crews to DWP projects but warned that would also divert those crews from city streetlight repairs and “increase to 2 to 3 years” the time to restore streetlights in many areas.

The Bureau of Street Services (BSS) said the proposed cuts would affect nearly every division. Keith Mosley, General Manager of Street Services, and Shirley Lau, executive officer, outlined proposed reductions that they said would leave the bureau with its smallest workforce in decades, cut the investigation and enforcement division by 83%, reduce street sweeping crews from about 71 to 56 and slash pavement preservation funding. Lau said the reductions would raise response times for obstruction and pothole requests from days to weeks or months and further reduce slurry and resurfacing lane miles.

Robert Katamatsu, chief financial officer for the Bureau of Engineering, told the committee the bureau has 915 authorized positions now and that the proposed budget cuts 31 positions (leaving about 784). He said the bureau is weighing reassigning staff to special-funded projects and raising permitting fees to recoup costs; an ongoing fee proposal aims to add about $7.5 million in revenues for development services.

Barbara Romero, general manager of the Bureau of Sanitation, said the proposed plan would eliminate 238 positions systemwide, with 159 filled and 79 vacant positions proposed for deletion. Romero and assistant director Robert Potter said the livability programs that support illegal dumping and encampment response would be affected, and they described realignment options to preserve core services while absorbing as many vacancies as possible.

Raul Mendoza of the Bureau of Contract Administration said his bureau faces a proposed 14% staff reduction — 53 position eliminations including 31 filled posts — and warned that cuts to inspection and compliance staff would reduce capacity for wage and prevailing-wage enforcement and slow certified-payroll processing for city projects.

Elise Madsen, executive officer for the Board of Public Works, told council members the board itself is largely general-funded and has limited ability to shift staff; she raised a particular concern that two petroleum office staff who manage pipeline franchise billing and invoicing were slated for deletion, noting those positions oversee roughly 43 pipeline franchises that generate more than $60 million in annual general-fund revenue.

Committee members pressed bureaus for mitigation options. Sanlang and others said they are exploring temporary MOUs (notably with DWP) and accelerating an assessment ballot for streetlight districts; Sanlang said BSL hopes to present an engineering report and a ballot schedule this summer, with an expedited fall election timeline. Other suggested offsets included moving staff to special-funded vacancies, converting consultant budgets back to city staff, pursuing fee increases, and seeking grant or philanthropic support to preserve specific positions.

Public comment during the meeting underscored the local impact of service declines. Several speakers, including Audit LA and Jason Reedy, described broken wheelchairs and damaged mobility equipment they attributed to potholes and deteriorated pavement and urged the committee not to reduce street services. Carrie Rudolph, Bruce Traini and others raised concerns about a separate agenda item on a proposed vacation of an easement on Pacific View Drive, saying neighbors were not properly notified and that utilities and sewer lines could be affected; the committee later continued that item for further consideration.

Committee outcome: this agenda item (verbal discussion of departmental impacts) was a hearing and no formal action was taken. Bureaus were asked to return with additional mitigation proposals, revenue options and impact details during the budget process.

Why it matters: the bureaus presented matching warnings that staff reductions and reduced contract spending would both delay repairs and, in some cases, eliminate revenue-generating work. Committee members repeatedly asked for tangible trade-offs and for bureaus to present options that would preserve jobs and essential front-line services while meeting the administration’s budget targets.