Council to Reconsider Quake Repair Funds

Bowing to pressure from San Fernando Valley representatives, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday unanimously agreed without discussion to reconsider spending more money to repair and replace housing in quake-damaged areas.

The council is scheduled to take a second vote Tuesday on how to divide $47 million it amassed from the sale of bonds for affordable housing.

Last week, with three Valley council members absent, the council deadlocked on a proposal to spend $23 million of the money to repair and replace housing damaged by the Jan. 17 Northridge quake.

Instead, the council voted to allocate only $14.7 million for quake-damaged areas--or $8.3 million less than the proposal backed by Valley representatives. The council also designated $14 million for areas damaged by the 1992 riots and $18 million for citywide use.

Valley Councilmen Richard Alarcon and Zev Yaroslavsky successfully pressed for another vote, arguing that it was a violation of protocol for Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas to bring the matter up in the absence of Yaroslavsky and Councilmen Joel Wachs and Hal Bernson. Ridley-Thomas, who has denied that he intended to take advantage of their absence, co-sponsored the motion for reconsideration, but was not present when it was put to a vote Wednesday.

Yaroslavsky and Alarcon contend that more funds should be allocated to the quake zones, where 25,000 housing units were damaged, because federal quake aid will leave the city at least $200 million short of funds for housing. Their plan calls for the council to allocate only $10 million to citywide housing.