Creating Personal Liability for Elected Officials is Motivational

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a publication, FEMA 395, Earthquake Safety and Mitigation for Schools

There is a sidebar in that publication on page vi If we can create this same type of motivation for elected officials everywhere, then maybe there is an opportunity to move public safety in general and seismic safety in particular up on the list of priorities.

Saying, "It costs too much money is not a good/legal excuse for not taking action. No more studies please!!

You may be liable for earthquake deaths and injuries in your older school buildings.

The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake destroyed at least 70 schools and damaged 420 more, 120 of them seriously. As a direct response, California enacted the Field Act, which established strict design and construction standards for new schools in California. But what about all the existing schools that were vulnerable to earthquakes? It took
over 30 years to solve this problem, but more than just the passage of time was required.

In 1966 the Attorney General of California issued an opinion indicating that school boards were responsible for ensuring nonField Act buildings were examined, and if schools were found to be unsafe and the board did not make the necessary corrections to make them safe, the individual school board members were personally liable. The opinion received widespread media attention. School boards, then realizing the gravity of
the situation, became quite concerned about the structural condition of their pre-Field Act public school buildings. Legislative action soon followed. The Governor signed the Greene Act in 1967, which relieved the individual school board members of personal liability only once the board initiated the process of examining existing buildings and established an intent to carry through to completion all the steps necessary for their replacement or repair.

You too may be liable for earthquake deaths and injuries in your older school buildings, but can you wait 30 years to act? This manual provides you with the tools to assess your vulnerability and to find cost-effective
ways to reduce your liability today."