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The plan is to list any media coverage related to the special tax. We're not likely to locate everything, so if you come across something that you consider relevant, please follow the instructions below. Please check that the URL/link works for you. (We recognize that you may subscribe to a site that has a pay wall or otherwise requires you to log in. That's ok.) If the URL/link doesn't contain words related to the subject, such as a YouTube video or a post on X, please include some short description, like a title, so that we don't have to figure out what it's about. Text to 909-378-5401 using this format (omit brackets): Some web sites allow public comments on articles. Sometimes the comment system prohibits or restricts putting URL's in a comment. # # #News and Opinion
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| * Indicates recent addition. | |
|---|---|
| Date | Headline / Summary |
| May 09 * | L.A.'s golden streetlights have turned harsh white. Homeowners aren't happy |
| by RM: An interesting take on the nuisance and health issues connected with the brightness of the lights, especially LED lighting. If you're blinded by LED automobile headlights, you'll understand the problem. | |
| May 08 * | [Comment] |
| by RM:New comment by supporter on Apr 14th propaganda piece complaining of not receiving ballot. Correctly describes the four-page, full-color flyer that was mailed at the same time as the ballots as "advertising." | |
| May 07 * | Replacing the Streetlights in Los Angeles |
| by RM: This fact-challenged supporter (retired city planner raking in your taxes) is all for it. His street lights have been out for months. Basically, he's just spouting the party line. Example false fact: "proposal to replace 200,000 copper-wired streetlights with solar-powered units." There will be some replacements when and where the City sees fit. DWP is buying 60,000 solar-powered lights to prevent the end of the world. Unreturned ballots do not count as a Yes vote. Suppressing the vote, however, helps the City because of City's huge weighted Yes vote. | |
| May 06 * | Primm Casino Closures, Police Scam & Oscars AI Ban |
| by RM: KFI host Tim Conway Jr talks @11:35 for a few minutes about the ballots and whether anyone believes more money will fix anything. | |
| May 01 * | Los Angeles: Want Your Streetlights to Work Again Pay Up |
| by RM: The article is an opinion based on the Post article. Nothing new | |
| Apr 30 | Owen Gregorian |
| by RM: This is a reprint of the Post story on Twitter. It had 29 replies and 14.4K views at 6:38 pm on 2026-04-30. | |
| Apr 30 * | LA Keeps Tripping Over the Same Stone, Leading to a Burdensome Prop. 218 |
| by RM: This article explains the voting process and the City's own disproportioate weight. Here's a new insight: "Indeed, special interests who are feeding at the public trough will come out supporting the assessment, as signified by multiple brochures by the Board of Directors, Los Angeles Police Protective League, backing the assessment." Disgusting! Also, large commercial propertites don't vote, almost equivalent to a Yes vote. For all his insight, the author fails to address the foundational of "special benefit" attached ONLY to property owners, without which the assessment is unconstitutional. | |
| Apr 30 * | The Street Light Assessment Ballot: A Referendum on City Hall |
| by RM:Long-time critic, LA WatchDog's solution is to vote NO. As pointed out by his colleauge in the companion article below, No votes will be swamped by the City, silent assent, and partisan campaigns. Like his colleague, he doesn't address the indisputable fact that "street" lighting does not provide any benefits to property owners. | |
| Apr 30 * | Endorsement: Vote No on Los Angeles streetlight assessment increase |
| by RM: A vote No endorsement. Short and sweet, but again no solutions. A member of the Editorial Board is the spokes-mouth for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association (HJTA), who created the voting rules (Proposition 218) that completely disenfranchise all but an infinitesimal (extremely tiny) fraction of the property owners. The big-city street lighting assessments pre-existed Prop 218 by many years. At the time, HJTA knew of these, yet Prop 218 set up a system that put the City in the cat-bird seat, allowing it to manipulate such an election in its favor. When the votes are counted in favor of the City, property owners can thank HJTA for the outcome. | |
| Apr 29 | Inventor creates ingeniously simple device to end LA's copper wire theft. The city immediately shot it down |
| by RM: This is a repeat of an earlier story in the Post that includes a new section that addresses an inexpensive invention to stop CWPT. The City rejected the invention for the Sixth Street Bridge in 2022. After all the CWPT, the bridge is now dark. It's all about SMART city and solar lights which are both expensive and costly to maintain. | |
| Apr 29 | Inventor develops clever simple gadget to maintain LA's lights, but the city quickly rejected it. -... |
| by RM: This is a rewrite of the Post story. It's much shorter. | |
| Apr 27 | Karen Bass can't catch copper thieves, so she's going to pick your pockets |
| by RM: Well written attack focusing on CWPT. A bit long. There's an audio player. Unfortunately, no solutions, except to vote No. | |
| Apr 24 | LA property owners asked to approve increased fee to repair streetlights |
| by RM: Reporter is fact-challenged. Almost every "fact" is misstated. Idiot quote in speech by Karen Bass: "Solar lights don't have copper in them." | |
| Apr 23 | Ballot sent to LA Homeowner to raise taxes for broken streetlights |
| ... Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has voiced strong support for the initiative. "As long as voters support the street lighting ... proposal "yet another sign the City of Los Angeles is failing its residents." "Instead of addressing the root causes of... | |
| Apr 23 | Sinister way LA's trying to get you to pay to fix its streets: 'Hard no with a middle finger' |
| ... Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has voiced strong support for the initiative. "As long as voters support the street lighting ... proposal "yet another sign the City of Los Angeles is failing its residents." "Instead of addressing the root causes of... | |
| Apr 23 | LA Proposes a Light Tax to Repair Streetlights Damaged by Crooks |
| ...fixes to lighting infrastructure while copper-wire bandits have run rampant pillaging streetlights. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has voiced strong support for the initiative. "As long as voters support the street lighting assessment, we'll be able... | |
| Apr 22 | LA wants property owners to pay for city's failure to keep lights on |
| by RM: Scathing take on the failure of the City focusing on CWPT (copper wire and power theft) that has grown algorithmically in recent years. The City's solution? Make the property owners pay more. | |
| Apr 20 | Monks and Merrill: Karen Bass Budget |
| by RN: Podcast: 36 min. Complaints about the special assessment, but no solutions. Mostly complaining about homeless issue. | |
| Apr 20 | Los Angeles voters to weigh fee increase for streetlight repairs amid copper theft concerns |
| by RM: Includes 2 min broadcast video. Focuses on Cheviot Hills. Some facts are not correct, for example replacing 200,000 will occur over decades. Same with solar-powered lights, which require solar panels and batteries, which add a whole new maintenance issue, as panels degrade and need cleaning and batteries die. | |
| Apr 20 | Confused About the L.A. Streetlight Vote Here's Who Actually Pays |
| by RM: Report has some facts different than reported elsewhere. For example, "About one third of Los Angeles is excluded. Properties without adjacent streetlights or without measurable illumination are not assessed." This implies that not all properties in the district will get a ballot. None of this is mentioned in the engineer's report. | |
| Apr 19 | The Los Angeles Tax Collector Handles Billions So Why Do So Many Residents Feel Ignored |
| ...North Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles on a Monday morning is how big it is. Fluorescent lighting, laminate countertops ... something goes wrong. Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector Official Title Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax... | |
| Apr 17 | Mrlni Dietrick |
| by RM: Huge post on twitter. 20 views as of 2026-04-25. Lots of good arguments, just not the right platform for them. No way to connect with Ms. Dietrick. | |
| Apr 16 | Adam Miller talks to LAist about why he should be LA's next mayor (Transcript) |
| by RM: Audio: 26 min. Interview by Larry Mantle was done on April 13, 2026. Although both should have known about the upcoming special assessment election approved in early March, nothing about it was discussed. Typical political babble -- "We can do better." | |
| Apr 16 | L.A. property owners to vote on streetlight fee increase |
| by RM: Coverage of staged press conference on April 8, 2026 by Street Lighting Bureau. All you need to know about this farce: "Streetlights are no longer just lighting -- they are becoming platforms for EV charging and smart city infrastructure." The city has grossly neglected the system for decades. The city wants to spy on the people, but doesn't want to pay for it. The bait-and-switch is street lights. Extortion at its finest: "Officials warned that failure to approve the fee increase would likely worsen repair delays and raise safety concerns." | |
| Apr 15 | Property owners vote for city improvements |
| by RM: Reads like a propaganda press release. Why should property owners pay for EV chargers, air quality censors, and cameras on street lights? Total surveillance, SMART city is on the horizon. | |
| Apr 14 | Los Angeles Proposes First Streetlight Fee Increase in 30 Years - The Los Angeles Post |
| LOS ANGELES Some 550,000 property owners in the city of Los Angeles will receive unique ballots by mail ... increase in property assessment fees to pay for maintenance and repair of LA's street lights. If approved, funding for the... | |
| Apr 14 | Los Angeles Proposes First Streetlight Fee Increase in 30 Years |
| by RM: This outfit that hosted (organized) the April 8th press conference. Article reads like an argument in favor of passage. Has some alleged facts that differ from other reporting. | |
| Apr 09 | LA's Bureau of Street Lighting Briefs for Upcoming Assessment Ballot |
| by RM: Report on the April 8th press conference. | |
| Apr 08 | Street Lights of Los Angeles Briefing with LA's Bureau of Street Lighting |
| by RM: This outfit that hosted (organized) the April 8th press conference. Includes a one-hour video of the press conference. The opening speaker is clearly biased. | |
| Mar 26 | Los Angeles streetlight assessment heads to property-owner vote |
| by RM: California Apartment Association alerting members about the election. Gives a phone number for Proposition 218 Compliance Section at 213-847-1500. | |
| Mar 26 | 60K streetlights |
| by RM: This covers the politicians putting a happy face on the terrible state of street lighting in Los Angeles. Bass says: "The lights have been ordered." It doesn't cover who will pay. | |
| Mar 15 | Elections | Office of the City Clerk |
| by RM: Elections officials shouldn't be posting arguments in favor on their official web site. | |
| Apr 19 | New Streetlights Could Be Coming To LA. Here's Why We (Sometimes) Have To Vote On It First |
| by RM: This is a three-year-old article, but it provides insight into the "other" lighting districts. These districts are created at the request of the property owners, and, in almost cases, the assessments are approved. The districts typically involve less than a dozen properties. You can find the engineer's report and other documents on the agenda for the City Council's meeting on May 9, 2023. | |
