Shaken but Not, Alas, Stirred

After the 5.5-magnitude reminder that rattled out of Upland Wednesday, you would think the state Assembly would have gotten the message about earthquakes and buildings that fall down when the ground shakes. But even after some 15 million Southern Californians were startled and alarmed by yet another quake, the lawmakers came within a whisker of killing a proposed $300- million bond issue to fix up old government buildings to meet state seismic safety standards. The Assembly finally did approve reconsideration of the bond measure sponsored by Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), and it may come up again for a final vote on Monday.

There is legitimate concern about how much bonded debt the state is incurring, but the Torres bill is precisely the sort of program bonds are designed to finance. The Assembly must get over whatever political hang-up it that put the quake bonds in jeopardy and pass this bill as soon as possible. Senate approval of minor amendments and the governor’s signature also are needed for the issue to go before voters at the June 5 primary.

The Los Angeles City Council is considering a similar measure, a $376-million bond issue for reconstruction of city office buildings, fire stations, community centers, bridges and other structures to meet earthquake standards. It should act quickly on this plan to make certain it also gets on the ballot.

But the state measure is particularly urgent. Between 1980 and 1987, the state Seismic Safety Commission found that at least a third of 1,350 state buildings were unsafe in the event of an earthquake. More than 400 of those were high-occupancy structures, including classroom buildings and other facilities in the University of California and California State University systems. The $250 million in Torres’ plan (the other $50 million is for local government assistance) will not make all these buildings safe or provide for their replacement, but at least it will get the job started.

Any further delay in this quest puts Californians unnecessarily at risk. That cannot be tolerated.