On October 16, Mayor Karen Bass issued Executive Directive No. 9: Streamlining Capital Project Delivery and Equitably Investing in the Public Right-of-Way.
For Investing in Place, this marks an important milestone.
For years, we have researched, written about, and convened conversations around a simple idea: Los Angeles needs a comprehensive, multi-year approach to planning, funding, and managing its public infrastructure. The City’s sidewalks, streets, parks, trees, lighting, accessibility improvements, and other public assets are too important to be managed one budget cycle, one department, or one project at a time.
Executive Directive #9 creates a pathway toward something Los Angeles has never had before: a citywide Capital Infrastructure Program.
The Directive establishes a new framework for improving coordination, transparency, equity, and long-term planning in the public right-of-way. Among its commitments are:
- Engaging the disability community as a partner in planning and maintaining public spaces.
- Prioritizing maintenance and asset management.
- Expanding transparency around project selection and investment decisions.
- Improving coordination across departments and existing work groups.
- Directing resources toward historically underserved communities.
- Supporting workforce development and economic opportunity for Angelenos and local businesses.
Most importantly, the Directive initiates the development of a five-year Capital Infrastructure Program.
This moment did not happen overnight.
Over the past several years, Investing in Place and many partners across Los Angeles have worked to elevate the need for a more coordinated approach to public infrastructure. Together we have:
- Conducted research on more than 30 cities and their Capital Infrastructure Programs.
- Developed LA’s first inventory of public right-of-way assets.
- Convened workshops and roundtables with civic, business, community, and government leaders.
- Interviewed City staff to better understand barriers to creating a Capital Infrastructure Program.
- Organized support from more than 80 organizations and civic leaders around a shared set of principles for infrastructure planning and investment.
Many of the ideas reflected in Executive Directive #9 have been part of these conversations for years.
That is encouraging.
But the release of the Directive is only the beginning.
Creating a Capital Infrastructure Program will require significant work from city staff, elected leaders, community members, and outside experts. Los Angeles currently manages infrastructure through dozens of departments, agencies, funding streams, and annual budget decisions. Building a coordinated, transparent, multi-year system will require new ways of working together and new ways of making decisions.
That work will not be easy.
But it is necessary.
For too long, Los Angeles has lacked a shared framework for understanding infrastructure needs, establishing priorities, coordinating investments, and communicating those decisions to the public. Executive Directive #9 creates an opportunity to begin building that framework.
The directive provides a vision.
The next step is implementation.
Investing in Place looks forward to continuing this work alongside city staff, community leaders, and residents to help ensure that Los Angeles develops a Capital Infrastructure Program that is transparent, equitable, and capable of delivering results over the long term.
This is an important step forward.
Now the real work begins.
