July 29, 2025 #1 Local News, Forum, Information and Event Source for Venice Beach, California.

Illegal Dumping Is the Focus of City Council’s Newest Approved Motions

Most of Councilmember Kevin de León’s Clean Streets Plan approved by lawmakers

By Dolores Quintana

City Councilmember Kevin de León, who is currently running for Mayor of Los Angeles, introduced what he termed as The Clean Streets Plan on February 1 of this year to the Los Angeles City Council. The City Council has considered and approved four out of five of the motions unanimously. The final motion has not yet been considered. Part of the plan is to speed up deployment of sanitation teams to clean up after a report of illegal dumping is made by the public.

De León wrote as part of one of the motions, “the city of Los Angeles is facing a crisis when it comes to trash, bulky items and illegal dumping. In every corner of the city, pieces of furniture, loose debris and trash piles are prevalent.” 

Councilmember De León has said that The Bureau of Sanitation only has nine teams made up of two people each that are tasked with clearing illegal trash dumping. Council districts have their own crews on their payrolls to deal with cleanup and The Office of Community Beautification funds some city clean up too according to the Los Angeles Sentinel.

Part of De León’s motion further stated, “the city consistently pours more resources every year into cleaning the public right of way, but progress has been slow and the city is not moving the needle on neighborhood cleanliness. A better strategy is needed that integrates existing resources and adequately staffs the Bureau of Sanitation so that the city can more proactively address illegal dumping and trash.”

The motions call on the city to deal with illegal trash dumping cleanup within 48 hours of a report, with two of the motions specifically targeting illegal dumping and the other two dealing with the deployment of city sanitation teams to deal with encampment clean ups and are aimed at increasing street sweeping in the industrial and commercial areas of the city.

De León’s first motion requests a report from the Bureau of Sanitation, the chief Legislative analyst and the Office of Community Beautification that would detail all of the resources needed to deal with illegal dumping in a more timely manner and how these resources would be funded including usage of council discretionary funds. The Bureau of Sanitation was tasked with generating a new strategy that would enable City services to respond to reports of illegal dumping within 48 hours.

His second motion orders the Bureau of Sanitation to give the Council an update on the CleanSlate Indexing system and to determine which areas of the city have the largest numbers of reports of illegal dumping incidents. The report must also include data from the My311 system and the similar reports made using the system, include information about how much time it took the city to clean up My311 system reported incidents, recommend how the need for these cleanups could be reduced and increase the regular cleanups in those areas. 

The one motion that has not been considered by the council centers on enforcement as a deterrent to illegal dumping. It requires the City Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Sanitation to recommend how to put a system in place to prosecute illegal dumping crimes and enforce the laws that govern the issue. Finally, the motion asks for a report on how the city should seek to prevent illegal dumping which might involve the use of cameras. 

The City Council voted in August of 2021 to restart the interdepartmental working group that had previously been working on illegal dumping after a report was released that confirmed that illegal dumping had increased dramatically in the years between 2016 and 2020. The report found that incidents of illegal dumping rose 450% during that time period. The group has members from the Bureaus of Sanitation and Street Services, the Department of Recreation and Parks and the LAPD and is in charge of enforcement and determining worrying trends in illegal dumping.

The report released by City Controller Ron Galperin in March of 2021 also noted that the Bureau of Sanitation is scrambling to deal with the large amounts of trash that are deposited on city streets and that this waste is making the environment unsafe for city residents. In fact, the amount of trash cleaned up by the Bureau rose from 9,200 tons in 2016 to 14,500 tons in 2020.

In large part, the report stated, the Bureau of Sanitation’s crews are overextended because they are tasked with cleaning up encampments and illegal dumping incidents. The report also noted that, on average, it took the crews five days to respond to and clean up illegal dumping incidents in 2020 and stated that the Bureau has 19 cameras used for surveillance in the 470 square miles of space that the city sits on.

in News
Related Posts

Wallis Annenberg, Visionary Philanthropist and Civic Leader, Dies at 86

July 29, 2025

July 29, 2025

Philanthropist Expanded Foundation’s Reach From Arts to Conservation Wallis Annenberg, a prominent philanthropist and longtime leader of the Annenberg Foundation, died...

Lane Closures Continue on Pacific Coast Highway for Recovery, Utility Work

July 29, 2025

July 29, 2025

Caltrans is urging drivers to slow down and use caution in the active work zones Single-lane closures will remain in...

French Eco-Conscious Sneaker Brand Opens First LA Store on Abbot Kinney

July 28, 2025

July 28, 2025

The space was designed by local architecture firm OWIU (Only Way Is Up) and reflects a distinctly Californian aesthetic French...

Homecare Company Celebrates 14 years of Compassion While Planting New Roots After January Fire

July 28, 2025

July 28, 2025

Luxe Homecare, a leading provider of compassionate and reliable in-home care services for seniors has recently announced the opening of...

Mysterious Dog Deaths Plague Venice Canal Community

July 28, 2025

July 28, 2025

Over the past 10 days, five healthy neighborhood dogs have died unexpectedly, with one currently in the ICU The Venice...

Council to Weigh Next Steps in Justice Case on Land Seized from Black Entrepreneur

July 28, 2025

July 28, 2025

The Ebony Beach Club case has become a focal point of Santa Monica’s growing reparative justice efforts The Santa Monica...

Malibu Teen to Paddle 21 Miles for Ocean Cleanup Following Pali Fire

July 28, 2025

July 28, 2025

His 21-mile prone paddle will trace the coastline from Malibu through Palisades A Malibu high school student and avid surfer...

14-Unit Apartment Complex on Sawtelle Blvd. Lists for $3.25M After Price Cut

July 27, 2025

July 27, 2025

Plans have been approved to convert an existing laundry room into a 536-square-foot accessory dwelling unit  A 14-unit apartment complex...

(Video) A Plus Tree: A Steward of Urban Forest Management Across Los Angeles

July 27, 2025

July 27, 2025

For More Information, Go to Aplustree.com A Plus Tree: A Steward of Urban Forest Management Across Los Angeles For More...

The Third Place Reinvented: Why Kavahana Is Becoming LA’s New Favorite Hangout Spot

July 27, 2025

July 27, 2025

In a city full of coffee shops that close too early and bars that don’t cater to the sober (or...

Avocet Playa Vista: Your New Luxury Retirement Experience

July 27, 2025

July 27, 2025

A wealth of high-end amenities, gourmet cuisine, mind-body programs and stimulating cultural events, centered around a luxury lifestyle retirement experience...

Yacht Crashes Into Seawall at Marina del Rey’s Fisherman’s Village

July 27, 2025

July 27, 2025

Witnesses at nearby restaurants watched as the mid-size yacht collided A yacht crashed into a seawall at Fisherman’s Village in...

LAPD to Conduct DUI Checkpoints Across City This Weekend

July 26, 2025

July 26, 2025

LAPD officials said checkpoint locations are chosen based on areas with high numbers of DUI-related crashes and arrests The Los...

Sunset Jazz & Pizza Series Returns to The Lobster

July 25, 2025

July 25, 2025

The series blends jazz from a three-piece house band with handcrafted pizzas and $5 Open Brewing beers  The Lobster’s popular...

Measles Case Confirmed in LA, Officials Urge Vaccination

July 25, 2025

July 25, 2025

Investigators are working to identify potential exposures and assess the risk to others Health officials have confirmed a case of...