SAN DIEGO — When it comes to streetlights, many residents in Pacific Beach are in the dark - literally - about why so many of them aren't working. They've reported it several times, but the lights are still out. It's not just one light here, another one there, it's entire blocks. Residents say it’s leaving their neighborhood dangerously dark.
“Reported it there, there, there, there…,” Brian Curry said as he showed us multiple reports he's filled out on the city's Get It Done app, but nothing's actually getting done.
Pacific Beach resident Kelly Smith also reported a light out, “it’s at least two months. It might be longer.” When she noticed others complaining about it on the Nextdoor website, she decided to take a walk and what she saw, surprised her.
“There's lights out from Loring to Chalcedony. All the streets in between. From around Cass or Dawes to Gresham. So it's a huge outage," continued Smith.
Neighbors say not only is it a safety issue when walking, but it's also a crime issue. Dark streets make car break-ins easier for crooks. So why aren't the lights being fixed? A city spokesperson tells News 8 that the city has a shortage of electricians right now, with about 50% of the positions vacant.
Dr. Jen Campbell is the area's councilwoman and her staff says she is aware of the problem. They also say fixing the lights is tricky because they're set-up much like Christmas lights, where if one goes out, several go out, and they have to figure out which light is the problem.
Bottom line - no one seems to know if, or when, the lights will ever get fixed forcing residents to take matters into their own hands.
“A lot of us started putting our porch lights on at night when the lights are out here because we have to have some type of lighting,” Brian said.
There is one street in the area where the lights work, the 1400 block of Wilbur. The lights were on Tuesday for several hours around lunchtime.