Cities’ Bond Sales Suffer No Ill Effects From Riots : Economics: Although some officials were concerned, Inglewood, Los Angeles and Torrance had no trouble in floating the municipal IOUs shortly after the urban unrest.

Officials in Inglewood and two other cities say that the recent riots seem to have had no noticeable effect on the marketability of their municipal bonds.

Just last week Inglewood sold $36 million in bonds--government IOUs that pay for everything from redevelopment projects to playground equipment--after first delaying the sale from its original date of May 5.

Los Angeles sold $91 million in bonds the same day and Torrance issued bonds worth $10 million exactly a week after the rioting began. In all three cases, most of the bonds sold were to refinance existing bonds at more favorable interest rates for the cities.

“We were a little nervous” before the sale, said Torrance Finance Director Mary Giordano, “but we were real pleased with the rate.”

Inglewood Deputy City Manager Norman Y. Cravens said the city “got a little (better interest) rate than we expected.”

In Inglewood, which totaled about $10 million in damage from the looting and arson rampage, the bond sale announcements were mailed to prospective buyers on April 29. Later the same day, a Simi Valley jury found four white policemen not guilty in the beating of black motorist Rodney G. King, sparking the worst urban riots in the history of the nation.

Municipal officials and bond experts were worried that the three days of civil disturbances, which riveted the attention of television audiences across the country, might adversely affect the desirability of Southern California bonds.

The sales last week by Inglewood and Los Angeles were the first by any cities that suffered damage during the civil unrest, and the issues were being closely watched by bond experts, said Scott Christopher of J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., underwriters for the Inglewood sale.

As it turned out, Christopher said after the sale, neither the bond ratings nor the interest rates suffered any ill effects.