Council Members Push to Widen Slum Crackdown

The day after Mayor Richard Riordan called for new measures against slum housing conditions, several City Council members pressed for even more comprehensive reforms, including an annual inspection program for all apartments.

The proposals came Tuesday as the council officially accepted the report of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Slum Housing, a citizen panel that was sharply critical of inspection procedures at the Department of Building and Safety.

During an emotional 40-minute debate, Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg said “it would be a travesty” if the council failed to act on the report’s call for overhauling the city’s anemic inspection system.

She said Riordan’s call for 14 new inspectors to staff the Proactive Code Enforcement Program--a small pilot project with six inspectors that seeks out slum conditions--was inadequate.

“‘Fourteen inspectors is better than zero but there are an awful lot of units out there,” she said.

The city Department of Building and Safety visits residential units only when it receives a complaint. Other California cities, including San Francisco and Pasadena, conduct routine annual inspections of apartment buildings; Los Angeles does not.

The failure of the building department to aggressively target slums has contributed to the spread of the problem, and there are now more than 156,000 Los Angeles apartments units in substandard condition, the report said.

Goldberg, whose Hollywood-based district is plagued by more than its share of dilapidated apartments, called on the council to adopt a motion that would give landlords 48 hours to repair critical housing problems once they are cited.

If a landlord failed to make the required repairs, city crews would step in and put a lien on the property for the cost of the work.

The proposed ordinance--which Goldberg first proposed to the council two months ago--would apply only to a short list of “emergency” conditions, including a lack of running water or heat, roof leaks and vermin infestation, she said.

Goldberg and Councilman Hal Bernson instructed the city attorney’s office to return the measure to the council for action next week.

Councilman Mike Feuer challenged the council to adopt an annual inspection program for all apartment buildings in the city. The new program would be paid for by a fee charged to every apartment owner in the city.

Although the inspection program has been opposed by the powerful apartment owners lobby in the past, Feuer argued that the council had a moral obligation to move forward.

“This boils down to one word: will,” Feuer said. “Do we have the will to do something about a problem that we have had for more than a decade?”

Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas stressed the need to coordinate all the city programs to combat slum conditions, including the latest efforts to examine the problem of illegally converted garages.

“I wonder if all the dots are being connected,” he said.

The Rev. Donald Maryfield, who heads the citizens panel, said he was “very pleased by the response” of the council.

He said he agreed with Feuer that part of the solution to the slum problem is having the will to take action. But he said the city also has to be willing to pay for the programs to combat the problem.

“It’s the will, plus the finances,” he said.