Agency Accused of Breaking Quake-Aid Promise to Poor

Alameda County officials and legal-aid lawyers Wednesday accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency of reneging on a promise to spend up to $30 million to rebuild low-income housing lost in last October’s earthquake.

FEMA officials, who filed papers Monday in federal court in San Francisco to clarify its settlement of a lawsuit filed earlier this year by the Legal Aid Society of Alameda County, denied that they were going back on their word. They blamed the misunderstanding on semantics.

At issue is whether federal officials actually agreed in that settlement to help the county rebuild some of the low-income hotels and apartment buildings that were damaged by the 7.1-magnitude temblor. The estimated cost of repairs range from $20 million to $30 million.

Don Perata, chairman of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, said the settlement clearly includes language that the federal agency will assist in those repairs, which he said are critical to keeping about 1,000 people from having to live in the streets.

FEMA spokeswoman Lorri Jean said the federal agency believes that it agreed to help the county with these buildings only if the buildings could be fixed with minor rehabilitation.

“FEMA is not changing anything,” she said, discounting charges that the federal agency is backing away from earlier promises. “We never said we would rebuild residences.”

FEMA’s effort to clarify the exact terms of its earlier court settlement is scheduled to be heard Friday in San Francisco by U.S. District Judge Eugene Lynch.