Time Summary:
0:44 Describes having been in Santa Cruz as a city employee since 1973

1:06 Discusses policies surrounding the need to improve the earthquake safety of buildings prior to Loma Prieta, focusing on the attempt to implement these policies in Santa Cruz

4:13 Highlights SB27X, which allowed for certain kinds of funding support for earthquake related reconstruction and retrofitting projects, and how it was passed after the Loma Prieta Earthquake

4:43 Describes experiencing the earthquake while picking up his kids from daycare in a trailer building at Holy Cross, having gone there after leaving his work as principal planner with the city

5:49 Compares Loma Prieta to childhood experiences in Japan

6:05 Describes earthquake precautions their family had taken in terms of building and planning

6:28 Returns to work to support response efforts, while temporarily keeping his young children in the family car in the parking lot

8:10 Describes coordinating initial damage assessment of downtown

8:32 Describes what he saw downtown, both the physical and human landscape

9:18 Details initial look at the Cooper House

9:38 Describes the study conducted prior to the earthquake by the city on the stability of buildings and compares it to what happened

10:17 Describes the city's evacuation and emergency supplies process

12:08 Talks about the struggle to determine how to care for his family while also meeting his civic obligations

13:43 Describes the overall emergency responsiveness of city staff, Red Cross, and other individuals

14:39 Describes perceptions of the safety of the Civic Auditorium and its legacy as a WPA project

15:22 Talks about the ongoing stress of the situation, especially the aftershocks, and the importance of checking in with people

15:50 Describes not returning home after 3am

16:45 Describes returning to work the next day, and how his staff was divided across various response issues

17:11 Talks about the emotional response to the energy of the situation and then having time to decide what's next, and his decision to start fundraising for long term response and recovery

17:50 Describes the "miracles of the earthquake", or the silver linings of the situation

18:59 Describes people's willingness to help Santa Cruz

19:29 Talks about how the psychological aspects of the earthquake and how he used photography to cope with the trauma

20:26 Highlights the status of the levee failure and response

21:56 Talks about his concern about sharing his perspectives on the Cooper House

22:30 Describes his relationship to the Cooper House project

23:05 Discusses the opinions about the stability of the Cooper House

23:46 Details the way the Cooper House was impacted by the earthquake and prior retrofitting

24:22 Describes pursuing the second opinion from another engineer, whom he trusted to care for the heritage value of the building

26:09 Relates what the specialist told him about the Cooper House

28:03 Compares what it would take to support the Cooper House to other nearby buildings

28:31 Describes reporting his findings to City Hall, and his feelings that they did what they could

29:14 Describes the difficulty of tearing the building down, physically and emotionally

30:03 Talks about how the earthquake changed his career, shifting it towards redevelopment

32:00 Describes how disaster brings Santa Cruz together

32:41 Describes how recovery takes decades

33:14 Describes the impact of the earthquake on his family

33:38 Talks about his family's personal earthquake preparations, despite how easy it is to feel removed from disaster in daily life

34:27 Describes emotional impact of recounting the earthquake

35:01 Emphasizes the difficulty of figuring out how to care for your family during disaster

36:15 Describes comical commemorative brick given to earthquake community responders