Taking it to the streets! Alderman, community members team up to reduce City’s streetlight costs
By Toni Miles
Members of the newly-formed Ward 3 Streetlighting Review Task Force, Long Beach Ward 3 Alderman Joey Giuffria (center) along with resident volunteers Jim Schloegel (left), a utility company retiree, and Keith Clark (right), assess streetlights and their usage in the Ward 3 area of East Azalea Drive in Long Beach. (Photo caredit: Toni Miles)
Long Beach Ward 3 Alderman Joey Giuffria, along with two other resident volunteers, are joining forces to create the Ward 3 Streetlight Work Group. Their mission – to review City expenditures on streetlight utility bills.
“One of the things that really got my attention when we were in budget meetings was the fact that…last year, we had budgeted $350,000 in streetlights…it was reported that we’ve already exceeded that, and we’re not even through with the fiscal year yet,” said Giuffria at the August 4 Board of Aldermen meeting. “Next year, they’re looking at putting $400,000 into streetlights.”
“We’re spending a lot,” Giuffira continued. “There must be some efficiencies, something we might be able to do to take a closer look at that.”
And that’s just what the Ward 3 Streetlight Work Group plans to do.
Serving alongside Alderman Giuffria, who spearheaded the idea and formation of the Ward 3 Streetlight Work Group, are Long Beach community members and residents Keith Clark and Jim Schloegel, who bring their own fields of expertise to the team’s mission.
The work group members were announced by Giuffria at the City of Long Beach’s August 4 Board of Aldermen meeting.
Giuffria selected the two community volunteers on the work group. Clark will contribute research and financial analysis, and Schloegel will bring his subject-matter expertise from his previous career in the energy industry.
Long Beach resident and retired Entergy employee Jim Schloegel addresses city leaders at the August 4 Long Beach Board of Aldermen meeting. (Photo credit: Toni Miles)
Schloegel, who put in thirty-five years at Entergy before retiring several years ago, shared his thoughts at the August 4 Board meeting.
“When Joey [Giuffria] approached me with those [streetlighting] costs, I remembered we went through a similar thing at Entergy with streetlighting, the rates, cost of it, the burn rates and such as that, so I proposed we have a meeting with Mississippi Power, which is a provider for Ward 3. I do know Coast Electric services other sections [of the City],” Schloegel told the Board. “We could have them come in and bring a D1 or grid map and show us exactly what lights are over there to what lights we are actually paying.
“Say, for instance, some streetlights weren’t put back, that’s money going down the drain. I’ve seen it in New Orleans. It went retroactive in the City of New Orleans, and the City of New Orleans recovered millions, because it went on for so many years,” Schloegel continued.
The new work group has a simple mission, to answer the question: Is the City receiving the level of service it is paying for when it comes to streetlights?
Why a work group?
“A work group was established because this group has a specific objective: conducting a detailed review and audit of streetlights within Ward 3,” Giuffria says. “Unlike a permanent or ongoing committee, the Work Group will complete its defined objective, provide its findings and recommendations, and then disband.”
“The mission is to conduct a boots-on-the-ground review of Ward 3 streetlights, verify the location and inventory of streetlights, document fixture types and available specifications, identify opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce costs, and provide fact-based recommendations that promote responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars,” Giuffria continued.
The Work Group is specifically focused on Ward 3. However, the Ward 3 review could potentially be expanded or provide a model for a similar review throughout the city of Long Beach. The findings of the Work Group will help inform any future approach the City may consider.
Once the Ward 3 review has been completed and the Work Group has presented its findings and recommendations, the Work Group will disband.
The desired outcome is to determine whether the City is being correctly billed for the streetlight services it receives, identify any opportunities for greater efficiency or cost savings, and make fact-based recommendations to the Board of Aldermen.
