SHERMAN OAKS : Meeting to Focus on Quake Recovery

A community meeting to plot an earthquake recovery strategy--bringing together the mayor’s office, federal and local governmental agencies, and the public--is scheduled for June 29.

Ron Mitnick, a vice president of the Greater Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce, said the meeting was set up at the community’s request.

The town hall meeting, which will be held at 7 p.m. at Notre Dame High School, 13645 Riverside Drive, also will include speakers from City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky’s office, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Small Business Administration, the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety and the Valley Economic Development Center.

Earlier this month, Mitnick said the chamber had decided to take action because of feelings that government was not moving fast enough to address earthquake recovery concerns in the area. Sherman Oaks suffered $160 million worth of damage in the Jan. 17 temblor, making it one of the hardest-hit areas.

On the heels of that criticism, Yaroslavsky’s office announced that it would invite community leaders to a meeting on Tuesday to present two new quake-recovery programs: a proposed project to make the town a redevelopment area and a program to help Sherman Oaks property owners get financing to rebuild.

After discussing whether to proceed with the community meeting in light of Yaroslavksy’s planned conference, chamber officials decided to go ahead because they plan to address issues not likely to be covered in the earlier event, Mitnick said. For example, the chamber meeting will deal with economic development, crime issues and options for property owners who do not qualify for traditional loan programs.

“We can’t afford to wait and hang all our hopes on one or two programs without knowing that all the issues are going to be addressed,� Mitnick said.

Representatives from the city planning and public works departments will also be on hand to comment and answer questions. The chamber plans to invite the North Hollywood and Studio City chambers of commerce to the meeting, according to chamber office manager Julie Russell.

“It could end up to be a major gripe session,� Mitnick said. “What we would prefer is a proactive meeting. We’re actively pursuing the mayor’s office to do something prior to the public meeting so that when we pose some questions (the mayor’s representatives) can come up with responses we want to hear, rather than ‘we’ll get back to you.’ �