Safe Streets Advocates Stage Die-In Protest Against Severe City Budget Cuts
More than fifty safe streets advocates assembled on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall to protest proposed city budget cuts that could adversely impact already-underfunded programs making city streets safer. Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE) Executive Director Damian Kevitt called out Mayor Karen Bass for a “DOGE-style slash and burn… fiscally irresponsible budget” that he claimed will lead to “bloodshed” on city streets.
BikeLA Executive Director Eli Akira Kaufman noted, “We’re missing people here today” because “over 300 people last year” were killed in L.A.’s street violence epidemic “killing people in slow motion and at high speeds – across generations.” In addition to deaths wrought by speeding drivers, Kaufman described, “people are dying from childhood obesity, type 2 diabetes… even drivers are sick and getting sicker – unwell because of being trapped in endless traffic.”
Los Angeles continues to experience a rising tide of traffic violence. In 2024, traffic deaths exceeded 300 for the third straight year. Both 2023 and 2024 saw crash fatalities exceed homicides. The city’s pedestrians are killed at increasingly high volumes, disproportionate to their numbers.
Responding to a nearly one billion dollar budget deficit, Bass proposed significant cuts to many city departments. In terms of personnel, the hardest hit department would be Transportation (LADOT), where nearly a quarter of staff could be laid off.
More than a dozen city workers, represented by the Engineers & Architects Association (EAA) union, joined the protest event. EAA spokesperson David Somers spoke critically of the mayor’s proposal that targets 840 EAA members for layoffs.
L.A. Walks Board Chair Jose Richard Aviles spoke of the budget proposal “nothing but a disrespect.”
“A disrespect to L.A. citizens, a disrespect to Angelenos, a disrespect to countless city employees and folks at LADOT who are doing the work to make these streets safer.” Aviles termed rising levels of traffic crash deaths under the city’s Vision Zero policy as “broken promises” to “plenty of us” who walk and take transit in Los Angeles.
“If we don’t get a budget that is reflective of the values of pedestrians and cyclists, then we will shut the city down.”
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