L.A. Quake Upgrading Proceeds Apace : Safety: But council members are suspicious of numbers and order inspectors to recheck unreinforced masonry buildings.

Earthquake safety repairs have been completed or are under way on more than 1,000 of Los Angeles’ 1,657 brick apartment buildings and residential hotels, officials of the city’s Department of Building and Safety said Monday.

Earl Schwartz, the department’s executive officer, told the City Council’s Community Redevelopment and Housing Committee that owners of only 440 of the buildings, with about 12,000 units, had not started any work.

In the aftermath of last week’s major temblor in the Bay Area, the committee--which includes council members Gloria Molina, Richard Alatorre and Zev Yaroslavsky--had asked for a progress report on efforts to upgrade the city’s pre-1933 unreinforced masonry buildings, as required by the city’s 1981 Earthquake Hazard Reduction Ordinance.

The 1,657 buildings have 48,594 apartment units, mostly in the downtown, MacArthur Park and Hollywood areas.

But what sounded like substantial compliance by the owners of the seismically unsafe buildings was questioned after Schwartz said that Molina’s district, which includes areas west of downtown with large numbers of brick buildings, had only seven buildings left to be upgraded, and Alatorre’s Eastside district had none.

“Last year we were at the top of the list,” a surprised Molina said. “I find this hard to believe.”

“It’s hard for me to believe,” Alatorre concurred, “that every one of the buildings in my district is done.”

Schwartz said he thought the building department’s computer had calculated the buildings based on old council districts, before redistricting took place three years ago.

“We’ll try to get that cleared up,” he said.

He maintained that the total figures were still correct: 647 buildings, or 39%, have been fully strengthened; 407, or 25%, have work under way; 440, or 27%, have had no work done on them, and 152, or 9%, have been demolished.

Saying “your figures are suspect,” Molina instructed building officials to review their numbers and return to the committee in two weeks.

She said a task force of city agencies will be meeting every two weeks “to develop a strategic plan how we’re going to end seismic-deficient buildings in the city of Los Angeles.”

According to the 1981 ordinance, all 1,657 unreinforced residential structures must have their floors, walls and ceilings anchored and strengthened or be vacated.

Originally, the law called for compliance over a 15-year period, but after the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, the City Council ordered the program speeded up.

Landlords were given roughly three years to complete the work after receiving city compliance orders, and those were all issued by 1987, building officials said.

At Monday’s meeting Molina said she will ask the full council to amend an ordinance that already allows the city to seize the rents of landlords who do not comply with building and safety laws. She said her amendment would make landlords in violation of the earthquake safety ordinance subject to the rent seizures too.

Alatorre, meanwhile, announced a proposal to place a bond measure on next June’s ballot to provide up to $90 million in loans for seismic upgrading, with an additional provision for $10 million to build shelters for the homeless.

Last week, Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) and Mayor Tom Bradley announced their support for placing a $90-million bond measure on the ballot for earthquake repairs.