Copper wire theft is an ongoing problem in Los Angeles and the nation as a whole.  Challenging economic times make the theft of copper wire and heavy metals very lucrative.

Thieves are taking the copper wire from streetlights, in some cases, leaving whole blocks in the dark.  My office is receiving a few complaints from the Los Feliz area of the 4th District about streetlights going dark, but the problem is not as prevalent in Los Feliz as in other areas of the city.

There are two dedicated crews from the Bureau of Street Lighting who are responding to all of these outages.  But they can only move so fast; and with the city’s budget challenges, replacing stolen copper-wire is an extra cost that we can ill-afford.

Here’s what you can do to help prevent copper wire theft. Call 911 immediately if you see a wire theft in progress or see any suspicious activity around streetlights.

Anybody working on the streetlights should have a yellow City of Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting nearby with a city seal, the words “street lighting” on the driver and passenger doors and the word “Exempt” on its license plate. Workers should be wearing an orange vest, hard-hat and carry city identification.

If something seems amiss, take photos or video, get a license-plate number of the vehicle, but do not confront these people.

Having well lit streets is a public safety issue and a core service of the city. Since 2007, Bureau of Street Lighting crews have responded to 1,800 copper wire thefts and have restored function to some 12,000 streetlights.

The Bureau, along with a private manufacturer, has built a special lockable lid for existing concrete electrical vaults to protect them from repeated thefts. This new lid is placed on all locations where theft has occurred, protecting them from further plunder.

But opportunistic thieves will move to another unprotected location, so it’s important that we all be vigilant to suspicious activity around our street lights.

With its active and engaged residents, as well as quaint shops and restaurants, Silver Lake is an ideal neighborhood to launch Los Angeles’s Streets For People (S4P) project.

S4P is an effort between Los Angeles city and county departments that seeks to quickly and inexpensively transform under-used streets into vibrant public spaces.

The first S4P pilot project is expected to open this spring and will convert Griffith Park Boulevard between Sunset Boulevard, Maltman Avenue and Edgecliffe Drive into a pedestrian plaza bordered by potted planters, moveable tables and chairs and a decorated street surface. This site was considered an optimal choice because it already generates a significant amount of bicycle and pedestrian activity because of nearby local businesses and the twice-weekly farmer’s market.

The Silver Lake Improvement Association (SLIA), Silver Lake Neighborhood Council and the Silver Lake Chamber of Commerce played instrumental roles in building consensus for the project.

When construction is complete, SLIA, in partnership with adjacent business owners, will oversee the site’s maintenance and programming. The pilot project will be installed for approximately one year and the street will be closed to automobile traffic during this time.

Angelenos want safer and more welcoming streets for walking, jogging, and bicycling.  And we also seek public spaces where communities can come together for family and neighborhood activities. Streets for People is designed to meet these needs in a cost-effective manner, and I hope that the Silver Lake projects is the first of its many successful efforts.

Ever wonder why California government seems so prone to boom and bust?  Our revenue charts look like seismograph paper.  Our state’s general fund, which pays for things like education and public safety, has gone from over $100 billion dollars to closer to $80 billion dollars in just a few years.  This is because we rely too heavily on volatile sources of income.

Thirty years ago, California income taxes accounted for less than a third of state revenues.  In 2010, individual income taxes accounted for 44% of California’s tax revenue—very high compared to other states. Compounding the issue is state’s heavy reliance also from capital gains tax revenues.

Between 2007 and 2009, during the height of the current recession, capital-gains taxes, as a percentage of the state’s general fund, plummeted from 12% to 3%, as investors left the stock market and could not sell homes for profit. This dependence caused billions of expected tax dollars to disappear, and caused an immediate hole in the state budget.

Relying on these unstable revenue sources is poor policy.  This year’s projections are actually taking into consideration whether Facebook will go public in 2012, creating more Silicon Valley millionaires, who will have to pay considerable capital gains taxes.  Is that any way to govern a state?  Hoping that a dot.com IPO will result in an influx of tax dollars?

I am considering legislation including overhauling the tax code and implementing an enhanced “Rainy Day” savings fund. Ups and downs happen, but they need not be so severe.  That just results in squandering when times are good, and unneeded suffering when times are bad.

Mike Gatto is the Assistant Speaker Pro Tempore of the California State Assembly.  He represents parts of Los Angeles, including Los Feliz, North Hollywood and Silver Lake among other areas.