Ed Reyes wants answers on collapsed building
Los Angeles City Councilman Ed Reyes said he wants an explanation for how an apartment building in his district that collapsed Sunday could have appeared to have passed inspection by the city’s Housing Department just nine months ago.
“It’s very upsetting,” Reyes said today. “These types of oversights can’t be allowed … it’s very dangerous.”
It’s unclear from city records exactly what kind of inspections took place at 1624 S. Westmoreland—another thing Reyes criticized. It appears that complaints were filed in December 2007 alleging that the building’s concrete masonry was not structurally sound and that its vertical supports were unstable.
The city’s computer shows that those complaints were closed without further action in January 2008. But the picture on file with 1624 S. Westmoreland is not the right one; it appears, instead, to be a photo of the property immediately behind it, on Orchard Avenue.
Reyes speculated that inspectors may have gone out to the wrong property, and thus missed the dangerous signs that the building was about to collapse. Housing officials did not respond to calls for comment and Reyes said he had not yet been able to reach them either.
The building is owned by Frank McHugh, who has been convicted of numerous health and safety violations. Tenant advocates have long complained that city officials allowed the landlord to get away with making superficial repairs to his buildings.
--Jessica Garrison
Photo: Los Angeles Times
