Block Party Raises Funds for 1998 Mudslide Victims

One year ago, Napa Street resident Louis Vaughn heard a sound “like a giant toilet flushing,” and looked out his patio door at 2 a.m. to find his patio missing. The 60-by-12-foot structure had slid away, along with the hill behind his house--gazebo, Weber grill and all.

He and his neighbors marked the anniversary of the West Hills mudslide Saturday afternoon with a block party for the victims.

Local restaurants sold food at the Napa Street event, called “A Taste of West Hills,” and a raffle was held to benefit owners of five houses on Shoup, Malden and Napa streets who still can’t go home 12 months after El Nino rains caused the hill to collapse.

Vaughn, 67, and his wife, Reata, who had knee surgery two weeks ago to repair damage done when she moved out of their home, are living in a rented townhouse in Valencia. They still make mortgage payments on their uninhabitable dwelling.

The $2.4-million grant allocated last November by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to acquire properties affected by landslides in Canoga Park, Northridge and Studio City has yet to reach them, residents said.

Napa Street resident Roxana Benseman organized Saturday’s event, which included a raffle fund-raiser.

She also initiated a letter-writing campaign to City Council members seeking help not only for the homeowners directly affected by the slide, but for neighbors whose property values, they say, are negatively affected by the eyesore the damaged houses have become.

Efforts to reach the offices of City Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the West Hills neighborhood, were unsuccessful.

Frank Julian, 73, lives at the foot of the collapsed hill, which swept a 2-foot treetop into his dining room and 20 feet of dirt into his yard that night. He praised Benseman’s efforts.

“It’s not the money she’s getting,” he said, “it’s the idea that somebody’s helping.”