Westwood newsracks in the pink

Remember that newsrack ordinance that got so much attention back in 2005?

Recent complaints about its lack of implementation have been reported in the Los Angeles Business Journal and at CityWatch.

Not sure if it's related, or just a regularly scheduled cleansing, but several ratty, old newsracks in Westwood Village have been sporting pink tags from their handles this past week. The tags are from the Street Services Investigation & Enforcement Division and warn that the boxes will be removed within 10 days if not brought into "full compliance by that date."

CityWatch runs down the terms of compliance.

Here's an excerpt from the LABJ story posted April 2:

Getting an ordinance is one thing, and getting it enforced is another. The group [Coalition for L.A.’s Enforcement Applied to Newsracks] is complaining to the Los Angeles City Council Public Works Committee about the slow pace of implementing the law. Only 12 percent of the city’s 23,500 permitted newsracks have been relocated as the law requires, and all 3,000 of the “re-seeds” are in one neighborhood – the South Valley, where newsrack blight was worst.

“There is little visible evidence that progress has been made toward implementation,” CLEAN said in its report to the council panel.

Looks like the proposed 2007-2008 city budget allocated $556,224 for the Newsrack Enforcement Program.

More information on newsrack permits available at the Bureau of Street Services Web site.