CSUN Quake Recovery Chief Is Reassigned in Shake-Up

The administrator who oversaw the earthquake recovery program at Cal State Northridge for the past two years has been reassigned amid complaints work has lagged and other problems, such as alleged conflict of interest.

The reassignment of Jane Chatham caps a year in which CSUN let go its original construction management firm amid alleged fiscal improprieties, faced federal complaints that the campus was slow in handling relief paperwork, and saw Chatham and her husband censured over the conflict issue.

CSUN President Blenda Wilson announced the change Tuesday as part of a reorganization of the campus’ earthquake office. In a statement, Wilson made no mention of any of the problems, declared CSUN’s recovery has “turned the corner,” and praised Chatham for her work.

Art Elbert, CSUN’s vice president for administration and finance, added that Chatham’s new assignment “has nothing to do with” the various problems. But some campus officials had been predicting a change in CSUN’s recovery leadership.

As of this week, the campus’ Disaster Recovery Office that Chatham headed as been renamed the Campus Reconstruction Support office, some of its staff’s reporting responsibilities have been shifted elsewhere, and Chatham has been replaced by Cal State Vice Chancellor Handel Evans.

Meanwhile, Wilson said the campus also plans to hire a full-time attorney to supervise its earthquake-related contracts, with responsibility for both negotiations for future work and monitoring compliance with existing contracts. No such position has existed before at CSUN.

Chatham and her husband, CSUN Associate Vice President for Facilities Bill Chatham, were censured by Wilson earlier this year for accepting free home construction work from several employees of Law/Crandall Inc., CSUN’s original construction management firm and one that they both supervised.

At the same time in June, campus officials said they were ending Law/Crandall’s work on campus and hired another firm. In August, the state Fair Political Practices Commission concluded there was insufficient evidence that the Chathams’ acceptance of the work was a legal conflict of interest.

And in July, days after Wilson told Cal State trustees that federal foot-dragging was threatening to stall the campus’ recovery, federal officials countered that Jane Chatham’s office had been slow in submitting requested information. Wilson then agreed to bring in additional staff.

Elbert said the campus, which suffered an estimated $350 million damage, is now about two-thirds through its building repairs, with completion expected in early 1998. The campus has received about $162 million in federal and state relief funds and has requested $70 million more.

But six major campus buildings--Administration, Fine Arts, the wings of the Delmar T. Oviatt Library, Sierra tower, the computer center and Science 1--remain closed as repairs have lagged. And campus officials have fallen behind their original timetable for removing hundreds of bungalows serving as temporary classrooms.

Evans, who is on loan to the campus, said the plan is to launch a major construction push this summer, when most students are gone, for repairs on most or all major buildings that remain closed.

But Elbert added: “If FEMA doesn’t drop any money on us, then we won’t start any projects.”