October 23, 1989
Bernie Martin Lambert-Wolf
Thomas-Slick-Marconi Construction
2401 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94118
RE: EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE TO TSM CONTRACTED PROPERTIES BUILT ON ROCK AND ROLL
Dear Mr. Lambert-Wolf,
In last Tuesday's unfortunate Loma Prieta earthquake, several properties constructed via contracts with your company were heavily and fatally damaged. The most serious damage was sustained by buildings which were erected with shabby foundations, especially those which were built on rock and roll.
Although we respect your company's long history and legacy in the Bay Area, we have privately questioned whether your company's decision to build this city on rock and roll was a sound one. Our own seismological reviews, conducted post-mortem, support our hypothesis that buildings which were built with more traditional (if less exotic) foundations withstood structural trauma much more effectively than buildings which were erected on music genres.
For example, many of the buildings which were built on just rock alone came out fine – admirably, in fact. But most buildings that were built on rock intermingled with the roll component simply collapsed into rubble. In terms of property loss, the devastation was nearly as wide as Hurricane Skip, which destroyed hundreds of Florida homes that were built on freeform jazz.
Of painful loss to us is the Balin-Chaquico Law Enforcement Training Facility in the Mission District, a historic complex known for the frieze of policemen employing chokeholds running across the perimeter of the building. Additionally, the indoor flooding at the Exploratorium science museum left several tourists, employees and schoolchildren knee-deep in hoopla.
Our team of adjusters and assessors is completing a full investigation as to the financial damage of properties constructed by TSM, after which we hope our respective attorneys can peaceably reach a settlement. Please notify your legal department of this pending situation.
On a personal note, my husband Burt wishes to thank Mr. Marconi for his offer of free mamba lessons. For obvious reasons he cannot take advantage of Mr. Marconi's invitation at this time.
Sincerely,
Paula Kantner
City Manager
City of San Francisco
1 comment:
I remember that quake well. Where were you? Jeff (aka Valentine, was my roommate then)I was at our place on Haight Street, talking on the phone to Dave. Being a native Californian, at first, I was not concerned. Then, that quake seemed to last much longer than most. I think all the damage we suffered was a broken glass. Apparently that flat was well built. The most shocking thing was going outside to see the swarms of people walking up Haight because Muni wasn't working. And then when we heard on someone's portable radio that part of the Bay Bridge had collapsed - I became concerned about aftershocks. A day I will never forget!
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