Roberti Faults Officials Over Fire Rebuilding

Public officials who say California’s brush-fire victims should not be allowed to rebuild are both heartless and stupid, state Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys) told a lunchtime crowd Wednesday.

“I think in the future we have to be careful about building in hazardous areas, and I think we should discourage that,” Roberti told the San Fernando Chamber of Commerce during a luncheon at the Odyssey restaurant. “But what do you do about people who already have built? . . . The people who say we should not let them rebuild, not only are they heartless, but stupid.”

Homeowners obtained permits for their structures long before building and environmental laws changed, Roberti explained. Denying them permission on the heels of a personal disaster would be unfair, he added.

Although Roberti did not mention any officials by name, Gov. Pete Wilson publicly chided homeowners for building in fire-prone areas, a sentiment echoed by state Assemblyman Tom Bates (D-Oakland) and U. S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt.

After the oblique swipe at fellow politicians, Roberti said he would stand with the governor for tougher sentences for those convicted of arson, as well as more stringent rules on hard time for repeat violent offenders.

The remarks came after a 20-minute speech on California’s sluggish economy that progressed into the thicket of local disasters and international affairs once the floor was opened to questions from the 45 members who attended. They queried Roberti on immigration and the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement. Roberti said he had “serious doubts” about NAFTA.

An undeclared candidate for state treasurer, Roberti said he would push for more creative use of bonds to finance the state’s fraying infrastructure and more aggressive boosterism to attract business.

“A week doesn’t go by in which a governor from another state doesn’t come to try to take business away from California,” Roberti said. “We have to realize the way we grew in the first place was through promotion.”

Roberti acknowledged that bond issues are a hard sell with fiscally conservative voters distrustful of public spending. But government and business must teach voters that it is an investment in their economic future.

“We’ve got to be careful,” he said afterward. “I think you have to talk in terms of job creation.”