Streetlights can cost a city millions of dollars each year. Municipalities pay a set fee for each light to the utility responsible for them because the lights are not metered. But on any given day, cities aren’t getting what they pay for because of lights that are out, which are repaired only when citizens report them. Two Northeast Ohio city council members are on separate missions to hold their utility accountable.
Akron Councilmember Phil Lombardo represents Ward 2, which includes the North Hill and Chapel Hill neighborhoods. On a recent summer evening, we drove through the streets of his ward looking for streetlight outages. A seven-page document was spread out on his lap.
“So, this is my latest list of streetlight outages,” Lombardo said. “Now, remember, FirstEnergy said they’re all fixed.”…