A Slow Recovery : 2 Years After Quake, Whittier Far From End of Rebuilding

On the second anniversary of the earthquake that violently shook the Southland, Whittier officials have doubled to 10 years their estimate of how long it will take for their shattered city to fully recover.

Repair of homes and businesses in Whittier--with $78 million in damage, the city hardest hit by the 5.9 temblor on Oct. 1, 1987--has been stalled by problems with contractors, the lengthy process of obtaining earthquake recovery loans and disputes over how the city should be rebuilt.

Complicating matters, city engineers are seeing the first signs of escalating deterioration of the community’s aging sewer system, which they attribute to the quake.

10-Year Effort Expected

Last year, civic and business leaders predicted that it would take about five years to rebuild.

“Building was going rapid-fire right after the earthquake, and then it stopped,” said City Manager Tom Mauk. “It took time for homeowners to get funding and figure out what they wanted to do. That was when I realized this was a 10-year process.”

More than 5,000 homes and businesses in the community of 73,000 residents, 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles, were damaged in the temblor. The quake, the largest in Southern California in 16 years, caused $368 million in damage throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties and three deaths.

Today, roughly 20% of the damaged buildings in Whittier are still under reconstruction. About a dozen vacant lots stand as reminders of what’s left to be done.

Some city officials say there have been tremendous strides in reconstruction, despite the problems. Others say rebuilding has not gone fast enough.

Signs of the powerful temblor are easily spotted, especially in the historic Uptown area, where many of the Victorian-style homes were built 60 years ago. Scores of quaint houses near the picturesque stretch of Beverly Boulevard are in various states of disrepair.

Recently, the city had to dig up a half-mile of Painter Avenue to replace a 70-year-old sewer line that split in several places. Assistant City Engineer Leon Yehuda said similar breaks are expected to be found in the city’s 200 miles of sewer lines in the future, although at present “it is impossible to predict the scope of the damage.”

Jumpy residents have called city building inspectors to complain that their earthquake-shaken homes now creak, apparently caused by the settling of wooden frames and shifting ground.

“It makes people nervous,” said Richard Hubinger, the city’s director of building and safety. He said he assures the “numerous” callers not to worry, that “the house is not going to fall down.”

Outsiders Surprised

People often are surprised to learn the city is still rebuilding, said Larry Haendiges, president of the Uptown Merchants Assn. and a Planning Commissioner.

“It’s easy for an outsider to say, ‘Well, just fix it. Why is it taking so long?’ ” he said. “It takes time and money. People who are impatient just can’t survive this.”

Marie Moore, who lives with her husband and three children in a historic, two-story Uptown home, knows patience all too well.

Two weeks ago the family moved back into their still-damaged home. Two separate contractors reportedly took Moore’s money and walked off the job, bringing work on the house to a halt several times in the last two years. The Moores are now on their third contractor and hope to see the house, in which several rooms are uninhabitable, finished next year.

The house is on stilts, exposing a gaping hole where the cracked foundation once stood. Mounds of dirt bury the front yard. Boards cover the front windows.

“Not in my wildest dreams would I think that it would take this long,” Moore said. “I want to go forward. I just want to put everything behind me and go forward.”

Bill Lewis, the city’s building rehabilitation manager, said at least 4% of the residents who had repairs done on their homes experienced problems with contractors.

As contractors descended upon the city by the dozens--some from as far away as Alaska--to seek work repairing thousands of damaged homes, the city tried to weed out those who were untrustworthy.

“Three or four times we would tell people, ‘Hey, this guy is no good,’ ” Lewis said. “No matter how much you tell them, some just wouldn’t listen. They were desperate to get their lives back in shape.”

One contractor went through neighborhoods grossly underbidding jobs. When he received down payments, he disappeared, Lewis said. Another took on too many projects, then could not finish the jobs. One went out of business, others left the state. The stories go on and on, Lewis said.

Robert Bolin, a researcher from New Mexico State University who is studying the lasting effects the quake has had on Whittier, said the pattern surfaces time and again. “You get unqualified contractors” who prey on disaster-stricken areas around the country, he said.

And even when residents found reputable contractors, many of them had to wait at least six months to obtain federal, state or city loans, Lewis said. As a result, in some areas construction had barely started eight months after the quake because of “the lengthy bureaucratic process,” he said.

Waiting for State Aid

Today, a dozen residents still are waiting for funding from the state, Lewis said. One out of 10 homeowners who applied for loans were turned down often because they already were too much in debt, Lewis said.

“There are always people who fall through the cracks,” he said.

Pete Wilson, who owns a house near Beverly Boulevard, is a perfect example.

Wilson has been waiting since the quake to receive a loan. Recently, he was told he soon will receive state funds to repair his home.

“It’s been a bloody nightmare,” he said.

Burden on Elderly

Some elderly people living in homes they had paid off prior to the earthquake had to obtain large loans to repair the damage, Lewis said. In some instances, older people had to go back to work or put off retirement just to get money the cover their loan payments, he said.

Regardless of the problems, Whittier’s residents feel strong allegiance to their community, according to studies and city leaders. But fast-paced change, much of it brought on by reconstruction, is having an impact on how people view the city.

No Longer Sleepy

“This is what they used to characterize as a sleepy, quaint, historical village,” said Joe Holiday, the president of the Uptown Homeowners’ Assn. “Now it’s changing to a more modern commuter, typical Southern California-type community.”

Shortly after the temblor, developers began approaching owners of ravaged homes in areas zoned for high-density construction, urging them to sell rather than take on the tiresome and costly repair process.

Some sold and, quickly, apartment complexes started to spring up.

Soon community activists discovered that the city was allowing developers to build apartments in violation of the city’s General Plan, a long-range blueprint calling for single-family homes in much of the quake-stricken area. The residents joined together and demanded that the building be stopped.

“The residential areas were up for grabs,” said Helen Rahder, a researcher for the Whittier Conservancy, a powerful citizens’ group formed after the earthquake. “We were not going to sit by and let those homes be destroyed.”

Eventually, city officials listened and adopted a plan to protect historical property and the city’s small-town atmosphere.

“Growth is never achieved without controversy,” said Manny Ocampo, assistant city manager. “We’re making the best out of a tragic situation. It just takes time.”