‘Smart Pole’ Street Lights – and What City Hall Hasn’t Told Us about Them

EASTSIDER--Honest, folks, I didn’t make this one up. Many of you might remember the recent photo-op splashed across the media showing a smiley Eric Garcetti proudly announcing his initiative to pop up a bunch of “smart pole” streetlights – the ones that have wireless transmitters built into the poles. “Huzzah,” he says, “free wifi for all…ain’t I grand?” 

Well, thanks to a gentleman named Kevin Mottus of the CA Brain Tumor Association and Parents for Safe Technology, we were informed at Saturday’s DWP Committee meeting that there could be some RF radiation in the Mayor’s initiative. Seriously. 

And don’t discount this one. In this age of GMO’s in our food and all types of wireless radiation zapping the bodies of the current generation of Angelenos, is anyone surprised that cancers and all kinds of other health issues are hitting people at a younger and younger age? In his presentation, Kevin provided backup links. You can learn more about the cancerous and neurological health effects associated with wireless RF radiation two websites:  saferemr.com from UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, and bioinitiative.org, which reports on some 1800 studies of various serious wireless health effects. 

Those of us who waged the Cell Tower Wars with City Hall were told at every Planning Department meeting that we could not even raise the issue of cell tower radiation. Why?  Because it was federally preempted. That’s right, the courts ruled that any discussion of it could be preempted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), one of the more corrupt agencies of the federal government…and that’s saying something. 

You know…the FCC…the agency that is currently headed up by Democrat Tom Wheeler, the former chief lobbyist for the cable industry. He was once the CEO of the cable industry’s lobbying group as well as of the wireless trade association. And the former chair of the FCC, Republican Michael Powell, is now the head of the cable lobbying group. I guess money trumps political affiliation for the Big Boys. 

Lost in the cell tower wars, however, was the fact that “preempted” does not and never did mean “safe.” Which leads to the point of this article. The wifi light poles can go up with virtually no oversight or meaningful public review. And here’s the kicker -- the radiation from wifi (as in, these light poles) is actually not preempted by the FCC. But as far as I know, we were never informed about this important fact. 

Even worse, people who live within 500 feet of the poles do not even have to be notified of their placement by the City. Why? Federal preemption does not apply to LA’s wifi because it is a local enterprise, as opposed to the national cell enterprises that are subject to federal law. Therefore, even the cheesy 500 foot rule doesn’t apply to the smart poles. 

While it’s beyond the scope of this article, the idea of free municipal wifi for LA goes all the way back to 2007, when former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa proudly announced his WiFi Initiative. Long story short, the carriers didn’t like the idea of losing money so they sued the cities that tried to install it. Most cities that had tried municipal wifi wound up with economic disasters on their hands. And all that came out of LA’s attempt to introduce this was a Comprehensive Report in 2009. 

Flash forward to 2013, when Councilmembers Blumenfield and Price introduced another motion to target the digital divide in LA, designed to provide free basic wifi to communities with low incomes. 

Of course, this is LodsAngeles, and so, while approving the overall concept, the Council dumped the part of the initiative aimed at low income Angelenos. 

Over time, the 2013 motion morphed into CityLink LA and the current Mayor’s Great Streets Initiative. Does this sound like a pattern? And lo and behold, we have a bunch of smart pole street lights in our future -- with more photo-ops and smiley faces all around. 

{module [1177]}

Here’s the big problem for me: In reviewing the Council File and all the appendices, including a DWP Resolution in Support of the CityLink LA Project (more later), I can find no mention of the public’s right to weigh in on the issue of radiation safety. And there is no mention of anyrequirement to notify citizens living within 500 feet of the smart poles going up. I should have known something was wrong when the whole thing was advertised to Neighborhood Councils as a “good deed with no down side.” 

This issue is serious. Kevin Mottus provided the DWP Committee meeting with plenty of backup documentation to justify legitimate, scientific concerns over the issue of RF radiation and what it can do to us and our children.  

So what can we do? Since the actual implementation of these poles is going to take a while, Mr. Mottus has provided us with a sample motion for Neighborhood Councils: 

“The ______ Neighborhood Council opposes the City’s plan to provide citywide wifi due to health risks associated with continuous exposure to RF radiation emitted by wifi systems until such time as the City notifies residents within 500 feet of each wifi transmitter, as is done when installing a Cell Tower wireless transmitter, and until such time as the World Health Organization changes its classification of wireless microwaves from a 2B carcinogen to a category that shows it is safe.” 

Please note that the DWP Committee took no action with respect to the smart pole proposal. At the same time, I think it’s pretty disingenuous for our elected officials to ram this stuff through without the basic courtesy of letting Angelenos know they have the legal right to raise questions. People have the right to get answers to their questions about the usually preempted issue of wireless radiation and its impact on our communities. 

 For more information, contact:  Kevin Mottus at [email protected]

 

(Tony Butka is an Eastside community activist, who has served on a neighborhood council, has a background in government and is a contributor to CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

-cw

 

CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 92

Pub: Nov 13, 2015