Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Move to Fill ‘Pothole’ Sparks Controversy in Los Angeles

Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger repairs a pothole on a street in his Los Angeles neighborhood on April 11, 2023. The Office of Arnold Schwarzenegger via AP

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger filmed himself filling a “giant pothole” and posted it on social media this week, but some Los Angeles city officials aren’t pleased.

“Today, after the whole neighborhood has been upset about this giant pothole that’s been screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks, I went out with my team and fixed it. I always say, let’s not complain, let’s do something about it. Here you go,” the “Terminator” star wrote on Twitter.

The 75-year-old  former “Mr. Olympia” bodybuilding champion also posted photos and videos of himself filling the hole on social media. A woman yelled “thanks” at the former California governor, who responded: “You’re welcome.” He also said, “This is crazy. For weeks I’ve been waiting for this hole to be closed.”

However, city officials said that it wasn’t a pothole that the “Predator” star filled.

“This location is not a pothole,” a Los Angeles city spokesperson said. “It’s a service trench that relates to active, permitted work being performed at the location by SoCal Gas, who expects the work to be completed by the end of May.

The spokesperson added to NBC Los Angeles: “As is the case with similar projects impacting city streets, SoCal Gas will be required to repair the area once their work is completed.”

Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger repairs a pothole on a street in his Los Angeles neighborhood on April 11, 2023. The Office of Arnold Schwarzenegger via AP

And a Southern California Gas Company spokesperson, Marissa Girolamo, told CNN that SoCalGas workers completed an upgrade to a pipeline system on Mandeville Canyon Road in Brentwood in January. They had “applied temporary paving over the excavation,” she said.

But because of the relatively wet and rainy weather during the winter and early spring months—which triggered flooding and mudslides across California—the work to repave the road wasn’t completed, she said.

The Epoch Times has contacted the city of Los Angeles for comment.

On Twitter Thursday, Schwarzenegger wrote that the pipeline work was finished months ago. “Apparently, they thought it was a good plan to take six months to cover the trench, so I just did them a favor,” he wrote. “And why don’t they talk about the second pothole I filled,” he added, responding to a post that claimed the city’s response was “bureaucratic damage control” that did not explain why the hole wasn’t filled.

A representative for Schwarzenegger told Fox News that the city’s statement is “being careful with their wording to imply Arnold prevented their gas line work without directly saying it, because it’s not true.” The spokesman said that Schwarzenegger actually filled two holes, not just the service trench referenced by the city.

“The city’s first response to this news was that the service trench would be filled by the end of May,” the former governor’s spokesman continued. “So it appears their plan was to close one lane of a two-lane road and force people to drive in cars and bicycles in wrong-way traffic for 2 more months, which is insane.”

The actor’s representative also told Fox that “Arnold doesn’t blame the mayor for this, because she hasn’t been in office very long, he just wanted to protect his neighbors and show that it is possible to work quickly.” He was referring to newly elected Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat.

Termed the “governator,” Schwarzenegger was elected as the 38th governor of California, serving between 2003 and 2011. He was first elected in a special recall of then-Gov. Gray Davis on Oct. 7, 2003.