Mayor Karen Bass rescinds former LA Mayor Garcetti's last order on lighting Hollywood sign
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles signed an executive directive on his last day of duty at the office to introduce a pilot program for a duration of 18 months that permits illuminating the Hollywood sign.
However, his successor Mayor Karen Bass rejected the proposal within hardly 10 days of its publishing. The plans on implementing the order on the 15th day after its launch was canceled by the Mayor, reports the Los Angeles Times.
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The orders have caused a dramatic turn in the decisions in the hillside neighborhood near the sign. Spokesperson Zach Seidl told the news outlet that the current Mayor repealed the order and canceled the pilot citing legal issues. To the department heads, Bass wrote: "I am hereby rescinding Executive Directive No. 36. There is no replacement.”
The decade-long debate over lighting the iconic sign had been unresolved so far. Mayor Garcetti approved the order on December 11 on illuminating the sign that was erected in 1923. However, the order received a backlash and was rejected within days. The huge Hollywood sign is nearing its century and discussions on its lighting are still ongoing.
The then-L.A. Times publisher Harry Chandler originally built the sign as a temporary placement on the hill for an 18-month advertisement for "Hollywoodland", his real estate development. Later in 1949, the “land” was removed from the title following the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce's approach to care for the sign placed on the land that was turned into part of a park.
The sign was illuminated for decades but lost its lighting power in the late 1970s. To maintain it, the Hollywood Sign Trust non-profit was created. The organization experimented with innovative technology that would help in the reduction of the new light possible on residents and wildlife on the hill earlier this year, according to a report by the New York Post.
In the directive, Garcetti stated that “As the centennial of the Hollywood Sign approaches in the coming months, it would seem fitting to build on these successful efforts to illuminate our city’s most famous landmark.”
Chair of the Hollywood Sign Trust, Jeff Zarrinnam, told earlier this year that any illumination of the sign “would be a collaborative effort in partnership with the trust, the city, which includes elected officials, the public at large, and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce” and pointed out that “now the city may not have a lit sign for the anniversary. I would like to know why she rescinded it.”