Bernson was reelected in every vote thereafter until his own retirement in 2003 , although in 1991 he was forced into a runoff with Julie Korenstein , who was one of the challengers who attacked him for backing the controversial Porter Ranch development in his district ( below ) . It was , however , not strictly true that Bernson was " pro-growth , " the '' Times '' reported during that campaign , listing several incidents in which the councilman had voted against developers ' wishes . Bernson . a " conservative Republican , " labeled Korenstein as " at one time . . . a Peace and Freedom member . " Bernson was dubbed " Mister Earthquake , " for his driven attitude toward making city building safe in the event of temblors . The '' Times '' said of him : After all , he has been the most avid proponent of seismic safety on the Los Angeles City Council for more than a decade , spearheading a slew of safety-minded ordinances , including a widely copied law requiring the retrofitting of thousands of unreinforced masonry buildings . . . . He took an interest in seismic safety and decided to back the proposal , warding off angry building owners and others . Some apartment owners bused in elderly tenants to testify at council hearings that their rents would go up , possibly leaving them homeless if such a law passed . But the law did pass , in 1981 . A few years later , he helped organize the city 's first international earthquake conference , attended by 28 countries . He also developed a quake safety booklet for children and help create the " Quakey-Shakey Van , " a vehicle that helps teach children about quake safety . Nevertheless , Bernson refused aid from the Community Redevelopment Agency in rebuilding damage in his district from the 1994 Northridge earthquake on the grounds that the agency was trying to foist " social engineering " off on the area under the guise of earthquake reconstruction
1994 Northridge earthquake
1994 Northridge earthquake
Hal Bernson