$360-Million Earthquake Bond Issue to Go on Ballot

Taking a lesson from the damage caused by the Oct. 17 San Francisco Bay Area earthquake, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to put a $360-million bond issue on the June ballot to pay the costs of shoring up roads, bridges and city-owned buildings, including City Hall.

If approved by the voters, the bonds would add about $30 a year for the next 20 years to the tax bill of the average homeowner.

The council also approved an ordinance Wednesday intended to force the owners of unreinforced brick buildings to make the seismic repairs required by a 1981 law that has been largely ignored.

Under the new measure, tenants of owners who ignore the law, may begin paying rent to city-controlled escrow accounts. The measure also sets a limit of $75 a month on the amount landlords may raise rent to defray the repair costs.

The council was jolted into action last October after a 7.1-magnitude temblor hit the Bay Area, causing widespread damage.

Officials gave the City Council dire reports about the condition of buildings and bridges in the Los Angeles area. At least 34,000 people--and perhaps as many as 100,000--live in unreinforced buildings, largely in low-income areas, that probably could not withstand a magnitude 7 quake.

As of Jan. 1, about 501 residential buildings containing about 13,665 units still had not been brought up to seismic safety standards, according to a task force formed after the earthquake.

Councilwoman Gloria Molina, who sponsored the measure, said it is intended to prod landlords and to save buildings from demolition.

City Hall has the most expensive repair price tag--$112 million. “We’re standing in a building that is structurally unsafe,” Councilman Richard Alatorre said.