Council committee hears that staffing cuts and tight revenues will constrain Los Angeles street repairs and ramp work
Summary
At a special Los Angeles City Council meeting, councilmembers and bureau leaders reviewed Public Works-related budget requests for fiscal 2026'027. Departments said prior contract losses and vacancy-driven cuts have reduced capacity for asphalt repairs, ADA curb ramps and proactive sanitation programs; staff will return with detailed position counts and ordinance packages in March'026 and April'026.
At a special meeting called by Councilmember Alicia Hernandez, city department leaders briefed the council on Public Works and partner bureau budget requests for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 and warned that staffing and revenue reductions have reduced the city's ability to deliver street repairs, ADA curb ramps and several proactive services.
Why it matters: Departments said past contract losses, hiring shortfalls and federal funding cuts have led to a substantial drop in authorized positions and operating capacity, forcing them to prioritize highly visible safety repairs and short-term patching over full repaving and broader maintenance. Council members and staff said these constraints could lengthen repair timelines across multiple neighborhoods.
Street Services director Shir Li Lau told the committee the bureau has lost key frontline classifications and cannot deploy the trucks and crews it once did. Department presenters said frontline crews for heavy equipment and truck operations are critical to moving materials and performing large-scale asphalt work; without those crews the bureau must limit paving to the sites that show the most severe failures. Departments described a shift toward smaller, visible repairs and more frequent use of contractors or scheduling work less frequently than in prior years.
Departments also addressed ADA obligations tied to resurfacing: when a street is repaved the city is required to install curb ramps that meet federal accessibility standards. Presenters said ramp-construction crews are slower than paving crews, creating a capacity mismatch that requires balancing how many ramps can be built each year against resurfacing plans. The budget request includes program funding to support ramp construction; departments estimated the next fiscal year would deliver roughly 111 ramps from a $5,000,000 allocation but said tradeoffs remain between ramp capacity and other street work.
Sanitation and environmental bureaus described steep reductions since FY23'024 in programs focused on environmental quality and remediation. Presenters reported multi-million-dollar cuts to key programs, elimination of more than 100 positions across lines of service in one bureau and reductions in overtime and mobile services; they said core emergency responses remain but preventive and proactive services have been constrained.
Robert Putter, assistant director for Clean Water, outlined a separate enforcement package that would expand field enforcement staff and invest in cameras to monitor illegal dumping. He estimated a roughly $4,000,000 package for enforcement staff and additional investments (about $909,000) for camera deployment, saying the bureau uses 311 complaint data to target enforcement and expects surveillance investments to improve enforcement outcomes.
Councilmembers pressed departments for metrics and neighborhood-level detail. Staff said they will return with an itemized list of positions and clearer performance metrics; presenters acknowledged that some one-time factors (contract losses, retirements, COVID-era attrition) and ongoing vacancies have driven much of the reduction in capacity. The presentation noted a prior-year fiscal shortfall the bureau described in its briefing materials.
Next steps: Department staff told the committee they will provide detailed position counts and ordinance/order packages to staff planning in March and aim to begin implementation work in April, subject to council action and any ballot or voter processes tied to specific funding measures. No formal vote or budget adoption occurred at the meeting.
Sources and attribution: The reporting in this article is based on the committee presentations and exchanges recorded during the special council meeting; department presenters included Shir Li Lau (Street Services) and Robert Putter (Clean Water program). Councilmember Alicia Hernandez convened the meeting and led the questioning.
What to watch: Look for the staff return in March with a detailed position list and any ordinance or contract requests; council review and any changes during the formal budget process will determine how many positions and projects receive funding in FY26'027.
