A reminder for pothole haters, it's time to get ready to get yours filled: Operation Pothole is returning next month to the oh-so-mean streets of Los Angeles. Operation Pothole was first launched in January by City Council President Eric Garcetti, who set the lofty goal of getting 10-15,000 potholes filled over the course of a couple of days. This time, as Streetsblog notes, the goal is double: 20,000 potholes to be filled by twice as many crews on June 4th and 5th. more ›

It took 50 crews two days to respond to thousands of phone calls from concerned citizens to tackle more than 16,000 repairs to our streets as part of the city-wide "Operation Pothole," this past weekend. more ›

Miguel Santana, Administrative Officer for the City of Los Angeles, wants to cut the graffiti removal program in half to save city budget dollars and residents in graffiti-heavy neighborhoods are none too pleased, according to the Venice Patch. Slashing the graffiti program down to the bare essentials will save the city $1.5 million - a figure that many supporters of the program believe is paltry compared with other programs that could be cut and would save the city far more dollars with less negative impact. more ›

And they're off!! WIth a goal of filling and fixing up to 15,000 road hazards this weekend, approximately 50 city road repair crews have been deployed across Los Angeles repairing potholes and pavement deterioration caused by recent, heavy hitting rain. more ›

City Council President Eric Garcetti hates potholes, and chances are, you do too. If you've got a loathsome pothole that is ruining your commute (not to mention your vehicle) Garcetti says don't hesitate to phone it in to 3-1-1 so crews can come fill it. more ›

Sunday marks a big day of transition for Los Angeles, thanks to the city's budget shortfall. Both the Library and the city's 24-hour operator service shorten hours. more ›

City Council President Eric Garcetti will officially launch his free iPhone App tomorrow and is inviting folks to come out to Historic Filipinotown in the morning to download it and try it out by reporting potholes, graffiti and other problems. “Garcetti 311,” which will work for all of District 13 (.pdf map) that spans parts of Echo Park, Silver Lake and Northeast L.A., is a pilot program to let citizens report problems with visual evidence from the streets. more ›

Following the news of Councilmember Paul Krekorian's iPhone app, the Council President himself, Eric Garcetti, will announce his app in a training session this afternoon. Garcetti 311 will let people in District 13, which covers parts of Hollywood, Thai Town, Little Armenia, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Atwater Village, Glassell Park and other neighborhoods, take and submit photos of potholes, graffiti and other problems for the city to address. The free app will be available later this month and on other platforms, like Google Android, Blackberry, Palm, and Windows Mobile, within the next three months. more ›

How many times have you placed something you don't need anymore on the sidewalk hoping it will disappear someday soon? A fridge? A bed? A mattress? A desk? If you didn't call 3-1-1 to request a free bukly item pickup, that's illegal dumping, which can be punishable with high fines or some jail time. The Department of Public Works reported today that in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year (that is, April - June of this year), 15 arrests were made, 172 administrative hearings conducted and 1,503 administrative citations were issued to Multi-Family Bulky Item illegal dumping violators. Most of the arrests were made in South LA, where the LA Times continued to investigate a massive illegal dumping problem. The department also has two online forms, one for reporting the location of illegal dumping and another to tip off investigators if you might know a suspect (there could be a $1000 reward). You can also call 3-1-1 to report illegal dumping. more ›

An e-mail, probably from an anonymous staffer within the city's Information Technology Agency, says the city's most successful outreach tool to the public is set to be cut from the budget outright. If you don't use it, 3-1-1 is available 24 hours a day with live city operators ready to take various requests like graffiti and bulky item pickups and help you access any person within the city. It's goal is to centralize access to the city and could in fact save the city money when the three phased project is finished, if ever. more ›

Tomorrow is Cesar Chavez Day, eponymously named for the Mexican American farm worker turned labor and civil rights leader. It's an official state holiday in California and in seven other states meaning closures of government buildings and services. Today, Los Angeles city offices and libraries are closed and tomorrow, state offices, the DMV and superior courts, state universities and community colleges will close. Mail delivery, public schools, county and federal offices will all remain in operation both days as well as public transportation, banks and trash services. Unfortunately, not many people know about the holiday. Because LA City Hall is closed today, everyone is calling the 3-1-1 Call Center, which this morning was an easy 10-minute wait to reach an operator. "Everyone is calling us because it's a holiday," explained a rushed operator who had 58 calls on hold. more ›

Seven months after the LA Times did a report on South LA's illegal dumping problem, they've found not much has changed. The city says service is getting faster, but the problem persists. more ›

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa yesterday told the Daily News editorial board that a large unseen number of layoffs are coming to city employees. "We can't continue to operate the way we have in the past," he said. more ›

Apparently, 23-seconds can be a long time for some. That's how long it takes to listen to Mayor Villaraigosa's "Welcome to 3-1-1" speech when you call the city's 24-hour operator hotline which is available for connection to any city service except emergency 911 calls. more ›

Photo by kpe II via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr more ›

Dear LAist, Lordy, lord, lord. Today I called 311 about a issue: a noise complaint about a neighbor's dog that had been barking for 2 straight hours. The 311 lady asked me my zip code than transferred me to the LAPD. The annoyed LAPD operator explained to me that the police didn't handle barking dog noise complaints. I explained that this was where the 311 operator had transferred me. The LAPD operator then transferred... more ›

Via Steve Hymon's Monday LA Times column on all things local government, apartment dwellers are finally able to participate in the city recycling program:What can apartment dwellers in Los Angeles do this week that they couldn't do a couple of weeks ago? Recycle. For reasons difficult to explain, apartment and condo dwellers in Los Angeles have for decades had their trash picked up by private haulers instead of city crews. That, too, has meant... more ›

In every budget, there is give and take, there are sacrifices and there are unintended consequences. When you add 100 more police officers or 20 new traffic control officers at bad intersections, something has to go. In the case of this year's city budget proposal from the mayor, the tree trimming cycle goes to 10 years (it really should be 3-5 and is currently at 8) and 3-1-1's graveyard shift go R.I.P. But more... more ›