SIMI VALLEY : Audit Criticizes City on Quake Claims

Simi Valley officials reacted with disappointment to a federal audit released this week clearing them of gross negligence in aiding residents with earthquake-damaged homes, but also criticizing how they processed claims.

City officials were upset because the audit faulted them for procedures that officials said FEMA had originally approved.

The audit, done by the inspector general for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was prompted by homeowners, who complained the city’s confusing earthquake-assistance policy unnecessarily hamstrung their rebuilding efforts.

“The good news is that the claims that we somehow intentionally corrupted the system were all proved groundless,” said Mayor Greg Stratton.

“We set up a system that (FEMA) approved, but in our ignorance apparently the system they approved was not the system that we needed,” he said.

Stratton said the controversy stems from a federal law that requires landowners making repairs worth more than half the value of the home to meet new standards for building in a flood plain.

The audit concluded that the system city officials used to assess the repair costs was faulty, Stratton said.

The audit also recommended that the city lose national flood insurance coverage until the city and FEMA officials work out a new strategy for dealing with disaster claims.

The two sides have until July to work out a satisfactory policy before the ruling would take effect, Stratton said. He said the flood insurance coverage would probably remain, and that homeowners would not have to pay any increased insurance premiums.