L.A. Council Creates a Panel to Find Funds for Quake Safety

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved an emergency measure creating an earthquake safety committee to identify unsound structures and find a way to finance an estimated $200 million to $300 million in repairs.

The likely source of funding will be a general bond issue that would cost the average homeowner about $10 a year for each $100 million in bonds, according to Councilman Richard Alatorre, who sponsored the measure. Such an issue would have to be approved by the voters in a general election.

Alatorre called the bond issue “crucial” to the future of the city and said the money is needed to correct serious structural problems before “the Big One hits.”

The council was jolted into action on earthquake safety after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area three weeks ago.

Since then, officials from a number of city departments and state agencies have reported to the council that dozens of bridges, traffic overpasses and buildings in Los Angeles might not be able to withstand a similar jolt. However, the data on the number of such structures as well as their locations has been imprecise.

The measure approved Tuesday instructs the city administrative officer to gather information within 15 days from all city departments and agencies and come up with an estimate of seismic repair costs.

The committee will focus on public buildings, unreinforced multifamily residential buildings and bridges and overpasses.

One issue expected to generate controversy in the committee is how to deal with the owners of unreinforced brick residential buildings who have failed to make repairs required by a 1981 ordinance.

Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who was appointed to the committee, said Tuesday he is hesitant to “bail out a slumlord who has disobeyed the law.”