Department of Building Inspection

Building Inspection Commission


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BUILDING INSPECTION COMMISSION (BIC)
Department of Building Inspection (DBI)

SPECIAL MEETING
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.
City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 416
Aired Live on SFGTV Channel 78

ADOPTED MAY 20, 2009

MINUTES

              

The regular meeting of the Building Inspection Commission was called to order at 2:10 p.m. by President Lee.

 

1.   Call to Order and Roll Call – Roll call was taken and a quorum was certified.

COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENTS:
Frank Lee, President
Mel Murphy, Vice-President, excused
Kevin Clinch, Commissioner
Reuben Hechanova, Commissioner
Robin Levitt, Commissioner
Criss Romero, Commissioner
Debra Walker, Commissioner
Ann Aherne, Commission Secretary

D.B.I.REPRESENTATIVES:
Vivian  Day, Acting Director
Edward Sweeney, Deputy Director
William Strawn, Communications Manager
Rosemary Bosque, Chief Housing Inspector
Laurence Kornfield, Acting Manager, Permit Services
Pamela Levin, Administration & Finance Division Supervisor

Sonya Harris, Secretary

 

2.          President’s Announcement.

 

President Lee introduced Commissioner Kevin Clinch who replaced Commissioner Sattary in the Structural Engineer’s Seat.  President Lee thanked Commissioner Sattary for his service.  President Lee said that Commissioner Clinch is an Associate with ARUP and currently resident ofCole Valley.  President Lee asked Commissioner Clinch if he would like to say a few words.

 

Commissioner Clinch thanked President Lee and said that it is exciting for him to have the opportunity to serve the City and that he is looking forward to the next two years.

 

Commissioner Walker welcomed Commissioner Clinch and stated that it will be an interesting two years.  Commissioner Walker said that she would like to publicly thank Commissioner Sattary for his service, and stated that Commissioner Sattary worked hard on the Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety (CAPSS).  Commissioner Walker said that she hoped Commissioner Clinch would step up and partake in working with CAPSS as well.  Commissioner Walker said that Commissioner Sattary gave the Commission recommendations about seismic safety, and was very helpful in talking to the Commissioners to explain the engineering concepts of tall buildings so the City owes him a very large debt of gratitude.

 

President Lee stated that the Commissioners received instructions for filing their Form 700, Statement of Economic Interest, which are due to the Ethics Commission by April 1, 2009.  President Lee said that Secretary Aherne agreed to collect the forms and turn them in or the Commissioners can turn them in directly to the Ethics Commission.  President Lee stated that since there is a Special Meeting this month the Regular Meeting for February 18, 2009 would be cancelled.  President Lee said that the election of officers and an update on the Joint Planning & Building Commission meeting will be agendized for the next Regular Meeting. 

 

President Lee said that he, Commissioner Walker, and Acting Director Day met with Planning Department staff to review the agenda for the Joint Meeting, and it was not quite ready so the meeting is postponed until March 19, 2009. 

 

Commissioner Romero asked if there are topics on the Joint Meeting agenda that could be reviewed now.

 

Acting Director Day said that the only topic may be the IT portion and the Permit Tracking System which is an item of big concern, specifically how both departments will share the costs and implementation of the joint permit tracking system.  Ms. Day stated that another topic is the demolition policy and the inconsistencies between both departments. 

 

President Lee stated that he would like to see the two departments working together on a presentation regarding demolition instead of one department telling the other what to do, so he was encouraging DBI and Planning to put together a joint presentation.

 

Commissioner Walker said that CAPSS was discussed at the last Joint Meeting but there is not enough information right now to do a presentation to the joint Commissions.  Commissioner Walker stated that some of the Planning Commissioners would like to be updated on CAPSS, so this may be discussed at the Joint Meeting.

 

There was no public comment on the President’s Announcement.

 

3.   Director’s Report.

a.   Update on legislation. 

 

Acting Director Day said that she gave the Commissioners a memo from the City Attorney regarding the need for an emergency order for the vacation of utilities in the event of foreclosures. Ms. Day stated that she is working with the City Attorney to expand this emergency order to include “prior to foreclosures” so all bases are covered, because there are a lot of instances where DBI is picking up the bill for properties where they have not actually been in foreclosure yet.  Ms. Day said that the owner might have vacated and there might be tenants but the property is not in foreclosure, and the Department has to pick up the bill.  Ms. Day stated that there needs to be a blanket emergency order for the City so that when these occasions arise individually DBI can go ahead and act on them immediately and not wait and create an emergency order individually for each property.  Ms. Day said that the Department is working with the City Attorney, through Housing and Code Enforcement to do that so she wanted the Commissioners to be aware of this issue. Acting Director Day stated that she would forward any legislation received prior to the next Commission meeting to distribute it to the CAC immediately.  Ms. Day said that the reason she is trying to get all of the legislation through is because part of it includes fees that are beneficial to the Department, so she wants to make sure Commissioners are aware of this ahead of time instead of waiting until the next meeting.

 

President Lee asked if the Department has started talking to the utility companies and the PUC.

 

Acting Director Day said that the utility companies throughout California are already aware of these emergency orders.  Ms. Day stated that it is part of Public Utilities Commission laws already in effect and she has been given a pre-declaration which will be forwarded to the Commissioners as soon as it is received electronically.  Ms. Day said that it is a declaration by the City and County of San Francisco regarding the preservation of private utilities at master metered residential buildings so it does apply to other buildings.  Ms. Day stated that the City Attorney has been working very diligently on this to make sure that there are not people in the City that do not have utilities.

 

Commissioner Walker asked if there was an ETA about when the Department will be ready to issue the emergency order.  Acting Director Day responded that the emergency order would be issued as soon as she reviews it and the Department gets the go-ahead to issue it.

 

Commissioner Walker said that she wanted to thank Acting Director Day for doing this, and just to let people know the City of Oakland took an action right before the Christmas holiday, wherein their Chief Building Official basically declared a state of emergency to say that PG&E is not supposed to turn off power, it changes the whole dynamic of it and Acting Director Day has expanded this order not just to buildings in foreclosure.  Acting Director Day thanked the Housing Inspection and Code Enforcement divisions for their work on the emergency order as well.

 

Acting Director Day stated that the emergency order covers the major utilities such as:  Heat, light, and water but they are not including cable or telephone service since they are not considered essential services. 

 

President Lee said that he thinks even the companies understand that because the PUC is statewide and has also mandated this; it is just a matter of having to declare the emergency order each time and if there is a blanket emergency order it just makes it that much easier for DBI staff to get in faster and the companies know that they cannot do this.

 

There was no public comment on the Director’s Report.

 

4.       Public Comment:  The BIC will take public comment on matters within the Commission’s jurisdiction that are not part of this agenda.

 

There was no public comment.

 

5.       Report, discussion and possible action on the proposed budget of the Department of        Building Inspection for fiscal year 2009/2010.

 

Acting Director Day stated that the budget has not been revised since the last submittal, and the Department is prepared to submit it to the Mayor as it stands.  Ms. Day said that there may be changes later after the budget goes to the Mayor’s Office, but if there are she will bring them to the Commission immediately.  Ms. Day asked if there were any questions.

 

Commissioner Romero said that there are reductions of salaries by 19%, and there are also reductions on the work orders of 34% so he was wondering if Acting Director Day could review what those might be.

 

Acting Director Day stated that the reductions in the salary will include some staff reductions because the Department has to balance the budget.  Ms. Day said that for this year DBI is $7.2M shy as of December and this does not include the January figures.  Ms. Day stated that this number might be revised a little based on January figures but if anything it will go down, not up, so that explains the decrease in salaries.  Ms. Day said that the Department has scaled back all projects to help try to alleviate the impact upon staff, on the salaries, and on the work orders.  Ms. Day stated that those are actually reductions from other departments that have scaled back their work orders that they are charging DBI and said that it only looks like 1% but overall considering the fact that r prices also went up, getting it reduced by anything was a major achievement, rather than having it go up by 10%.  Ms. Day said that it includes increases in DBI’s work orders to other departments that DBI was allowed to take.

 

Commissioner Romero said that the other issue had to do with projects, and he asked if those are projects that are actually coming into the Department.

 

Acting Director Day responded no, those are work order projects that have been in the back such as the Permit Tracking System and the remodel.  Ms. Day said that these are projects within the Department that funds have already been allocated for many years ago.

 

Commissioner Levitt thanked Acting Director Day for her hard work on the budget during this tough time, and said that she has been doing a great job trying to get things back on track.  Commissioner Levitt stated that there may be a lot of things that are done by the Building Department that may not need to be done right now in terms of priorities and efficiency.  Commissioner Levitt said if there is anything that DBI can do to increase efficiency and reduce some of the workload for things that are not necessary that would be great.  Commissioner Levitt stated that it costs $200K to lease vehicles every year, and if there was a bike fleet available it could save a lot of money though he does not want “to beat a dead horse” by bringing this up again.

 

Acting Director Day stated that it is actually not “a dead horse” because a memo went out yesterday informing staff that there is a bike fleet available, and there are bicycles available for inspectors that would like to use them.  Ms. Day said the bike fleet is something DBI is exploring and the Department is also looking very closely at the leasing charge, and trying to work with the City Administrator’s office to get that reduced or have some kind of benefit from that charge.

 

Commissioner Walker asked if the fleet manager was looking at downsizing DBI’s fleet since there are small smart cars available now.

 

Acting Director Day said that if DBI replaces the cars they are being replaced with more efficient cars, but at this point there is a freeze on the purchasing of any vehicles.  Ms. Day stated that the Mayor has frozen vehicle purchases until he looks at the electric car situation throughout the City.  Ms. Day said that the last cars the Department replaced were the big Crown Victoria’s that were replaced with small Prius hybrids.

 

Commissioner Walker stated that as the Department has gone into sort of a downturn she clearly thinks that the Housing Division is still experiencing the same flow, if not more, of Code Enforcement issues.  Commissioner Walker said that she appreciates the budget items around Code Enforcement outreach and SRO collaborative that can help maintain livable conditions for tenants.

 

Acting Director Day thanked the finance staff and said that they have worked overtime to get this budget prepared for the Department, and it was actually ready a month ahead of time.  Ms. Day stated that they looked at the budget in December and had figure crunched by then so she knew what had to be done except for the actual final figures for the salary line, and that is due to the hard work of the finance department digging into these work orders, talking to other departments, finding out what DBI was being charged for, and what DBI could charge them for and this is still being done on a daily basis.  Ms. Day said that the finance staff worked very hard and deserves a lot of credit for this budget.  Ms. Day stated that the executive team and the actual staff themselves have helped on this budget as well so the ideas are still coming forward.

 

President Lee said that this is a very difficult budget this year with the economy turning down so fast in the last three or four months, and it is really unheard of how bad things are.  President Lee stated that he hopes everyone including the people that work at the Department understands that this not anything personal, but is just the downturn of the economy.  President Lee said that he hopes everyone works together and whoever remains looks for ways to be efficient, streamline, take care of and organize things to be ready for the next upturn, and this way DBI can handle anything that comes in the future.

 

Commissioner Romero stated that he appreciated Acting Director Day and the DBI staff handling the budget issues, and referenced President Lee’s comment about people not taking things personally and he said that people do not take it personally unless it happens to them.  Commissioner Romero said that unfortunately he has to deal with a lot of that and he thinks the way Acting Director Day has handled the situation is definitely going to be good for the Department in the long run.  Commissioner Romero stated that over the past couple of years within City government one of the things that has impacted a lot of decision-making regarding the way people work and the way employers manage their departments is a lack of trust and it really is bad for morale and said that it would definitely impact on the City budget within the coming year.  Commissioner Romero said that it definitely helps when there is a manager or department head that is very cognizant of the fact that they have to keep morale up under very bad times, so it is not lost on him that this is definitely a shift from the way people were feeling.  Commissioner Romero stated that not everybody will be 100% happy but he just thinks that the Acting Director has done a great job in turning around some of the bad feelings in a very short period of time.

 

Commissioner Hechanova said that the Commission is fortunate given the current unforeseen circumstances that Acting Director Day has shored up things that the Department needs, and more importantly he thinks that stronger group support will come as a result of this.    Commissioner Hechanova thanked Ms. Day for her guidance.

 

Commissioner Walker made a motion seconded by Commissioner Hechanova to approve the 2009/2010 budget.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

RESOLUTION NO. BIC 006-09

 

6.   Discussion and possible action on the six-month performance evaluation for the Acting Director.

a.   Public Comment on all matters pertaining to the Closed Session.

 

**PLEASE NOTE: ITEM #’S 6 & 7 WERE TAKEN TOGETHER….

 

Mr. John O’Connor said that it seems like a few weeks ago that everyone was at the BIC for the appointment of a Director back in August, and under the circumstances Acting Director Vivian Day has done an excellent job at DBI and it is probably the worst time to be in that position.  Mr. O’Connor asked that the Commission appoint Ms. Day as the permanent Director of DBI and stated that there needs to be somebody steady to move forward with this Department under these challenging times.

 

Mr. Angus McCarthy stated that past presidents used to talk about the Ford model and the fact of hiring from within and said he guesses that the Commission and even the industry went outside and they went through the motions but are now back again and it looks like DBI is hiring from within which is a good thing considering what is going on.  Mr. McCarthy said the appointment of Deputy Director Sweeney and hopefully Director Day will seal the DBI once and for all.  Mr. McCarthy stated that the rank-and-file are happy about this which was a big problem and now looks settled. Mr. McCarthy said that he hopes that the BIC remembers what really built the Commission and the Department which was the small builders in the City.  Mr. McCarthy stated that there is a small building community that are very good at coming up with creative ideas and can put money back into the Department with everybody pulling on the same rope and being on the same page.  Mr. McCarthy said that he is quite confident DBI will survive this because in his humble opinion this is the greatest town in America with the greatest talent along with everything that comes with it so he believes this downturn will be short-lived.  Mr. McCarthy stated that the smaller development community will probably keep this Department on its feet and keep the key people that have worked very hard in place and working.  Mr. McCarthy wished Ms. Day good luck and said that in tough times it is incredible to see somebody who wants to take on such responsibility.

 

Chief Housing Inspector Rosemary Bosque said that she has been with the Department and before that the Bureau for about 19 years, and has seen about five changes in the Department heads in that 19-year period. Ms. Bosque read what she called “The Seven Habits of a Highly Effective Acting Director” which addressed the following points:

·         Acting Director Vivian Day has done a tremendous amount in the last six months to repair working relationships with other departments so that there are now stronger alliances.

·         Ms. Day has a practical and technical understanding of mandates and business cases.

·         Ms. Day has direct work experience and is willing to roll up the shirtsleeves and look at the necessary detail and give input to staff so things are done the right way.

·         Ms. Day values the staff as a crucial resource and when making decisions does them on the basis of fairness and professionalism.

·         Ms. Day is not motivated by decisions on the basis of ego and ambition and staff has greater confidence even though they know we are in a difficult time.

·         Ms. Day is looking at every dollar, penny, and every way not to be wasteful so people will not lose jobs.

·         Ms. Day, Pamela Levin, and Administration Services staff have done a tremendous job looking at every detail in the budget, fiscal spending, and spending habits.

·         Ms. Day & Ms. Levin have put much better procedures in place so DBI’s spending will be better in the future.

·         Ms. Day has maintained a more respectful and responsive relationship with the Commission by making sure they have the information necessary to make informed decisions.

·         Ms. Day sees the importance of code enforcement, not just with respect to residential housing stock in the City, but all buildings:  She understands and wants to employ fresh ideas with respect to cost recovery tools.

 

Ms. Bosque said that she strongly encouraged the BIC to make Ms. Day a permanent Director.

 

b.      Possible action to convene a Closed Session.

 

Commissioner Walker made a motion seconded by Commissioner Hechanova to convene in Closed Session at 2:40 p.m.

 

RESOLUTION NO. BIC 007-09

 

c.       CLOSED SESSION:  Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(b) and the San Francisco Administrative Code Section 67.10(b).
Acting Director of the Department of Building Inspection – Ms. Vivian Day

 

d.      Reconvene in Open Session to vote on whether to disclose any or all discussions   held in Closed Session (Administrative Code Section 67.10(b).

 

Commissioner Walker made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Hechanova to reconvene in Open Session at 3:20 p.m., and to disclose the information agreed upon in Closed Session.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

RESOLUTION NO. BIC 008-09

 

President Lee stated that the Commission looked at the Acting Director’s six-month performance and offered her the job of permanent Director of the Building Department which she accepted.  President Lee said that the vote to offer her the permanent Director’s position was unanimous.

 

Director Vivian Day thanked the Commission and the Department staff for being so supportive of her acting position and said that the BIC and DBI staff will all go forward together.

 

Commissioner Levitt said that he wanted to second Ms. Bosque’s comments and in his interaction with Director Day they are very accurate.  Commissioner Levitt stated that Ms. Day has made a tremendous difference in the Department and instills a lot of confidence in the staff as well as the Commission and her performance is outstanding.  Commissioner Levitt welcomed Director Day and said that he looks forward to working with her. 

 

Commissioner Hechanova stated that Director Day came to the Department at a time when the challenge was great and in fact the current challenges are even greater.  Commissioner Hechanova said that he thought the BIC picked the right person for this job.

 

President Lee offered Director Day congratulations as well, and said that during the six months she was Acting Director she has done very well to integrate herself with the City family.  President Lee said that Director Day has gained the respect of a lot of civic leaders, colleagues, community, and the building industry.  President Lee stated that Director Day also worked well with the Commission and DBI staff.  President Lee said that he thought that the unanimous vote to offer Ms. Day the permanent Director position is a testament to her abilities. 

 

Item #7 was included in item #6.

 

7.   Discussion and possible action regarding a Public Employee Appointment – Director of the Department of Building Inspection - Ms. Vivian Day

 

a.   Public Comment on all matters pertaining to the Closed Session.

 

b.   Possible action to convene a Closed Session.

 

  1. CLOSED SESSION:  Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(b)(1) and the San Francisco Administrative Code Section 67.10(b).

 

d.      Reconvene in Open Session to vote on whether to disclose any or all discussions held in Closed Session (Administrative Code Section 67.10(b).

 

8.       Discussion and possible action on yearly performance evaluation for Secretary to the Building Inspection Commission.         

 

a.      Public Comment on all matters pertaining to the Closed Session.

 

Rosemary Bosque, Chief Housing Inspector, said that she was speaking as a member of the staff and it is a pleasure to have worked with Ann over the years.  Ms. Bosque stated that Secretary Aherne has always been capable whenever staff can not find a document, because she keeps a very good library.  Ms. Bosque said that Ms. Aherne always gives staff the appropriate information and being in her office on occasion she sees that she gets back to you very quickly.  Ms. Bosque stated that she wanted to tell a quick little story with one of DBI’s previous Directors who told staff he was leaving before he told the Commission and she recalls overhearing Secretary Aherne say in a firm but kind and professional manner indicating that he had 15 minutes to call the Commission or she was going to do so.  Ms. Bosque said that the BIC probably received that contact from Ms. Aherne which is a testament to her diligence and her duties as a Commission Secretary.

 

Mr. Sean Keighran congratulated Director Day, and said that he did not speak earlier because he really did not think there was a need to.  Mr. Keighran stated that things have been so quiet, professional, and such little drama in the Department under Director Day’s leadership so it was really a no-brainer.  Mr. Keighran also congratulated Ms. Day on her work for the last six months, and said that he would like to speak in support of Ann Aherne.  Mr. Keighran stated that Secretary Aherne has been coming to the BIC hearings since its origin and there have been various Directors, Acting Directors, and many Commissioners yet Secretary Aherne has been the thread of continuity through it all.  Mr. Keighran said that given the challenging times ahead everyone knows what lies in front of us, so he thinks a little bit of continuity is such a valuable commodity right now.

 

Mr. John O’Connor congratulated Director Vivian Day and wished her all the best in the future.  Mr. O’Connor said that he believes Director Day is the third permanent Director since DBI was formed in 1995, and said that he would also like to speak in favor of Ann Aherne as Secretary.  Mr. O’Connor stated that sometimes he needs to review minutes of meetings to get accurate information and the minutes of the Building Inspection Commission are comparable to none.  Mr. O’Connor said that if you go to other Commissions and look for minutes that you never get accurate information, but in the Building Inspection Commission everything is down to a ‘T’ and the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed so he thinks the BIC should give Ann a really good evaluation.

 

b.      Possible action to convene a Closed Session.

 

Commissioner Romero stated that since he works for Local 21 and represents Secretary Aherne that he would like to recuse himself from the Closed Session.

 

Commissioner Walker made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Hechanova to recuse Commissioner Romero from the vote.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

RESOLUTION NO. BIC 009-09

 

Commissioner Walker made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Hechanova to convene in Closed Session at 3:38 p.m.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

RESOLUTION NO. BIC 010-09

 

c.       CLOSED SESSION:  Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(b) and the San Francisco Administrative Code Section 67.10(b).
Secretary to the Building Inspection Commission – Ms. Ann Aherne

d.      Reconvene in Open Session to vote on whether to disclose any or all discussions held in Closed Session (Administrative Code Section 67.10(b).

 

Commissioner Hechanova made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Walker to reconvene in Open Session at 3:55 p.m., and to disclose the information agreed upon in Closed Session.

 

The motion passed unanimously.

 

RESOLUTION NO. BIC 011-09

 

President Lee said that the Commission reviewed and evaluated Commission Secretary Ann Aherne’s performance and asked her to continue being the Commission Secretary, which she accepted. President Lee stated that the offer was made unanimously, and he congratulated Secretary Aherne and thanked her for being the BIC’s secretary. 

 

Secretary Aherne thanked the Commission.

 

Commissioner Levitt said that the Commission is very fortunate to have Secretary Aherne and he thanked her for all of her work. 

 

President Lee stated that he knows it is not easy to coordinate everyone’s schedules, but Secretary Aherne does a great job in coordinating all schedules to make sure the Commissioners are together at the same time.

 

9.   Commissioner’s Questions and Matters.

a.   Inquiries to Staff.  At this time, Commissioners may make inquiries to staff regarding various documents, policies, practices, and procedures, which are of interest to the Commission.

 

There were no inquiries to staff.

 

b.      Future Meetings/Agendas.  At this time, the Commission may discuss and take action to set the date of a Special Meeting and/or determine those items that could be placed on the agenda of the next meeting and other future meetings of the Building Inspection Commission.

 

President Lee said that the next Regular Meeting is on March 18, 2009.

 

Secretary Aherne stated that she would let the Commissioners know if the Joint BIC & Planning Meeting would be taking place or not on March 19, 2009. 

 

10.    Adjournment.

 

Commissioner Walker made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Murphy that the meeting be adjourned.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

RESOLUTION NO. BIC 012-09

 

The meeting was adjourned at 3:59 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

__________________

Sonya Harris
Assistant Secretary

 

Edited by,

 

 

__________________

Ann Marie Aherne
Commission Secretary

 

 

 

SUMMARY OF REQUESTS BY COMMISSIONERS OR FOLLOW UP ITEMS  

 Election of officers at the next Regular Meeting. – President Lee

Page 2

Update on the Joint Planning & Building Inspection Commission Meeting. - President Lee

Pages 2 & 11

Send BIC electronic copy of the Public Utilities Commission pre-declaration relating to emergency orders. - Director Day

Page 3

 Secretary Aherne will let the Commissioners know if the Joint BIC &     Planning meeting will be held on March 19th – Secretary Aherne

 

Page 11