SAN DIEGO — We now have an update to a story we first brought you on Monday.
People living in one Del Mar neighborhood were fed up with how long it was taking the city to fix broken lights on their street, saying it would make Halloween dangerous for kids.
After our story aired, the city came out to repair the lights!
"Very happy! The lights are fixed," said Teryle Aguilar.
People on Minorca Cove were relieved Monday after spotting a city of San Diego truck show up, followed by two workers fixing their street lights.
Prior to the city coming out, neighbors described their street as pitch black.
Two out of the only three lights on Minorca Cove had been out since as far back as February of 2021.
That's when it was first reported to the city's “Get It Done” app.
Even though the neighborhood has a Del Mar zip code, it's part of San Diego's jurisdiction.
When CBS 8 first spoke with neighbors, they were frustrated by how much time it was taking to repair the lights, and worried about kids trick or treating in the dark.
"My husband is considering buying his own lights," Aguilar had said.
The morning after our story aired, someone from council member Joe LaCava's office called Norman Ratner, who had filed the original complaint, to let him know the lights would be back on within two weeks.
"I said it won't do any good unless you can get it fixed this week by Halloween."
Ratner got what he and others wanted.
Still, he questions why it took so long.
"It used to be I would call and it would take two weeks to get something fixed but 20 months is ridiculous," said Ratner.
According to the city's website, right now it takes an average of 334 days to fix a broken streetlight.
As for why the city says:
"A high volume of street light issues, combined with delays in parts deliveries, complex and outdated street light circuits, and a high number of staff vacancies is causing street light repairs to take longer than normal."
Either way, Ratner and the rest of his neighbors are happy with the progress, especially knowing his grandkids and all of the other children around here will be safer because of it.
"It was CBS 8 that came through that did the trick,” said Ratner.
“It's wonderful to know there's an effective way of getting things done,” said Alba Overgard.
“I'm sure there will be lots of people celebrating on the street this Halloween,” said Aguilar.
WATCH RELATED: 'Pitch Black' | Del Mar street dealing with broken lights for nearly two years
WATCH RELATED: A look at San Diego's 'Get it Done' app and how the city prioritizes reports