L.A. Moves to Push Out Squatters : Crime: Officials to use $20 million to guard ‘ghost towns’ of vacant, quake-damaged housing, which is concentrated in the Valley.

Frustrated by the growing problem of squatters, drug users and vandals taking over vacant quake-damaged buildings in the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood, Los Angeles city officials Wednesday launched an effort to find money for fencing, barricades and even guards to secure the buildings.

City officials said they plan to attack the problem with $20 million in discretionary funds provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. But that may not be enough, they said, to stem the increase in crime that adjacent communities have already experienced.

An ad-hoc committee of the City Council ordered its staff Wednesday to press the Federal Emergency Management Agency for more funding, even though FEMA officials have already indicated that the problem does not qualify for emergency funding.

A study is under way to determine the exact number of vacant buildings being occupied and the cost of securing those buildings. A report to the ad-hoc earthquake recovery committee is expected Monday.

The money will be used for barbed-wire fencing, lighting, security guards and other measures to clamp down on the gangs, prostitutes, drug users and others taking up residency in vacant buildings.

“It’s got to be done no matter who pays for it,” said Councilman Hal Bernson, whose Northridge-based district suffered the worst quake damage.

Citywide, about 1,250 apartment buildings and condominiums with 17,900 units have been vacated since the Jan. 17 quake, city officials said. There are 38 neighborhoods with more than 100 vacant units, officials said.

But the most serious problems are occurring in about 10 clusters of empty buildings, which housing officials have dubbed “ghost towns.” Such blighted areas have been identified in Sylmar, Northridge, Canoga Park and Sherman Oaks. Three more are in Hollywood. They pose three problems, officials said:

* Squatters in quake-damaged buildings are in danger from collapsing walls and ceilings.

* Illegal occupants have stripped the buildings of bathroom fixtures, carpeting and other items left behind when the buildings were vacated.

* Many of the buildings have become headquarters for illegal drug use, prostitution and other crimes that can spread to adjacent neighborhoods.

“If we are providing a free and enjoyable location for these gangbangers, then we are supporting these other endeavors in nearby neighborhoods,” said Sam Luna, director of the Neighborhood Recovery Program in the city’s Housing Department.

Police and neighbors have already noted an increase in burglaries and other crimes in neighboring communities, Luna said.

Luna plans to ask the council next week to hire four workers to join his staff of 14 to combat the problem. He plans to hire fencing contractors and security guards for the buildings.

Councilman Richard Alarcon, whose district in the northeast Valley includes several “ghost towns,” last month asked that the council name a task force to attack the problem. The proposal has not been considered yet.

“There are several of these ghost towns,” he said. “But you don’t get a sense of how bad it is unless you drive through one of these.”

Alarcon said he is frustrated by the lack of action by the city and wants officials to move faster to make it easier for owners to repair and reopen the buildings.

In Hollywood, a vacant building caught fire two weeks ago and officials believe squatters may have sparked the blazes.

Mirta Ocana, a housing deputy for Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, who represents the Hollywood area, said there has always been a problem with drug users, homeless people and runaways taking over abandoned buildings in Hollywood. The quake aggravated the problem by supplying more vacant buildings.

Ocana said building owners have told her they try to seal the buildings off with boards and barbed wire. The tactic often fails, she said.

“To them, it’s better to have some shelter than no shelter at all,” Ocana said.

A community meeting is planned in two weeks to discuss the problem in Hollywood and consider suggestions to solve it, she said.

Some building owners hesitate to spend substantial sums of money to keep buildings secure because, among other reasons, many are still waiting for word on government loan applications and are not sure if they will ever repair and reopen the buildings.

The failure of a $2-billion earthquake-repair bond issue earlier this month has led to the cancellation of a state program to loan apartment owners money to repair damaged buildings. Local housing officials said that without the $576-million program they fear that many of the city’s 20,000 vacant apartment units will not be repaired.

Bernard Haddigan, a managing director at the Marcus & Millchap brokerage in Encino, which specializes in apartment buildings, defended the owners, saying many are in financial straits and are working hard to refurbish and reopen their buildings.

The problem, he said, is that the government loan programs are sluggish.

“In most cases, the (owners) are not sitting on their hands,” he said. “I think these things are just stalled.”

* THEIR TURF: Squatters take over damaged Sylmar apartments. B1