Sherman Oaks : Council Authorizes Quake Service Center

Nineteen months after the Northridge earthquake, the Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to establish a quake service center in hard-hit Sherman Oaks to help quake victims take advantage of governmental assistance programs.

The center will begin operating next month out of the Ventura Boulevard office of Councilman Mike Feuer and be staffed for two years by two full-time workers. The salaries and expenses, totaling about $110,000, will be paid through a federal grant.

After the quake, seven such centers were opened in the city. However, Feuer’s predecessor, Zev Yaroslavsky, resigned in December to take a seat on the County Board of Supervisors, and no one pressed for a center in the 5th District, which stretches from the Westside to the San Fernando Valley and includes Sherman Oaks. Feuer was elected in June.

Despite the delay, Feuer said his district still needs the center to make sure that the owners of businesses and homes that suffered quake damage have access to all the city and federal assistance programs available.

“There are absolutely palpable needs in the 5th District,” he said after the council vote.

Feuer added that he hopes the center’s team can also complete an assessment of the commercial buildings in Sherman Oaks and Studio City to see how many are still without funding for repairs.