City audit finds streetlight electricians paid for 198 hours of idle time as repair backlog hits 7,000

Two San Diego streetlight electricians spent 198 hours — the equivalent of 25 full workdays — parked at job sites where no documented repairs took place, according to a city performance audit accepted by the Audit Committee on Thursday.

The audit, released in October by the Office of the City Auditor, found that San Diego's streetlight repair backlog has swelled to roughly 7,000 outstanding requests and the average wait for a repair has climbed from 144 days in fiscal year 2021 to 340 days in fiscal year 2026.

Auditors examined vehicle telematics data from December 2025 through May 2026 and found stationary stops averaging 2 hours and 25 minutes, totaling nearly 200 hours of paid idle time. The report concluded that "insufficient oversight of streetlight electricians increases the risk of misuse of limited Program resources."

The Transportation Department agreed to all 12 of the auditor's recommendations, which include strengthening oversight by routinely using telematics data to identify activity warranting supervisory review and conducting fact-finding reviews of the vehicle activity and callback overtime issues.

But Transportation department officials and the union pushed back at Thursday's hearing. Naomi Chavez, the department's chief operating officer, called the fraud an "isolated incident" rather than a systemic problem and said the department disputes the accuracy and completeness of the audit's data.

AFSCME Local 127, which represents the electricians, argued the City Auditor's Office violated its labor contract by keeping the investigation in-house rather than turning it over to Transportation officials when the probe began with a fraud hotline tip.

"If there is abuse going on in the city, they don't need to report it. They sat on this for nine months," union official Matt Kostrinsky said.

City Auditor Andy Hanau defended his office's handling of the probe, saying past experiences with Transportation officials made it crucial to keep the investigation within the auditor's office.

"When it appears to be a broader issue with fraud involved, that's when we keep them," Hanau said. "Our investigation of these complaints was consistent with investigative best practices, the city charter and state law."

The audit also found that management did not use available tools to track workers and failed to address lengthy periods of crew inactivity. The streetlight repair backlog has grown despite the city providing additional resources to the program.

Chavez said three of the city's 18 electricians have been shifted back to general streetlight repair and away from "Before You Dig" locator work. Other changes include more worker training, adjusted schedules, and better data collection.

"We're just getting started," Chavez said. But she added that "nothing in the audit or its recommendations changes the fact that the streetlight repair program does not have the resources currently to effectively reduce the backlog."

The Transportation Department was until recently led by Bethany Bezak, who Mayor Todd Gloria named the city's chief operating officer earlier this year.