COURT OFFICIALS PUSH COUNTY FOR QUAKE REPAIRS.

Byline: Phil Davis Daily News Staff Writer

Frustrated that the Van Nuys Superior Court still needs major repairs five years after the Northridge Earthquake, judges and lawyers called on county officials Wednesday to move quickly to fix the building.

The attorneys and judges said they believe the courthouse is safe, but it is marred by cracks, ruined ceilings and some major structural shoring outside four courtrooms on the seventh floor.

``It's outrageous,'' Presiding Superior Court Judge Michael Ferrell said at a news conference outside the courtrooms, where thick sheets of plywood, 4-by-6-inch beams and steel girders have supported a seventh-floor wall since the January 1994 temblor. ``Nobody knows what is going on.''

A spokesman for Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said the $6.6 million repair job is under design, but other repairs including restoring the red-tagged San Fernando courthouse took top priority.

The spokesman, Joel Bellman, criticized the lawyers and judges for ``blindsiding'' the county with a Wednesday morning news conference.

``If you really want to get something done,'' he said, ``you work with them instead of showboating and embarrassing them. It's not how things get done in the real world.''

For courthouse employees, the lingering damage is scary.

``Everyone's nervous,'' said Etta Astrachan, an administrative judicial secretary. ``You just kind of wonder if there's another big shake if it's all going to hold.''

Bellman said the relatively minor damage to the still-functional Van Nuys courthouse made it a low priority on the county's lengthy quake repair list.

``We've been working on it consistently, but at a slower pace,'' he said. ``They are not at the front of the line, and they will not be at the front of the line.''

Like many homeowners, county officials were forced into long legal battles with insurance providers to make them pay for earthquake damage. It took more than three years to force insurers to cough up $17 million for repairs to the red-tagged San Fernando courthouse, which moved its operations to Van Nuys until it reopened in January 1998.

Bellman said the closure of the San Fernando courthouse threatened the economy of a city and created judicial gridlock at the Van Nuys courthouse, so it took priority.

He added that the county also invested considerable effort in demolishing and rebuilding the Mid-Valley Comprehensive Health Center, which also got a red tag after the quake.

``That place was operating out of trailers,'' Bellman said. ``The health department staff performed heroically for months under battlefield conditions.''

But Fred Gaines, president of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association, said the attorneys and judges tried to go through proper channels to no avail. Five years without a straight answer was too long, he said.

``This is the people's courthouse, and the people deserve better,'' Gaines said. ``We're not here to assign blame. We just need this job to get done.''