Department of Building Inspection

Building Inspection Commission

1. Roll Call - Roll call was taken and a quorum was certified.

COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT:

D.B.I. REPRESENTATIVES:

Frank Chiu, Director

Amy Lee, Assistant Director

William Wong, Deputy Director

Ann Aherne, Interim Secretary

Tuti Suardana, Secretary

CITY ATTORNEY’S REPRESENTATIVE:

Judy Boyajian, Deputy City Attorney

President Fillon reported that he had no announcements for today and stated that there were only two hours remaining for the meeting so he wanted to move the meeting along quickly.

3. Director’s Report. [Director Chiu]



a. Introduction of Blight Ordinance proposed by Supervisor Newsom. No action required at this time.





Director Chiu said that he wanted to report briefly on the blight ordinance, which is being proposed by Supervisor Newsom. Director Chiu stated that Department staff has looked at the ordinance and is continuing to work with the Code Advisory members. The Department’s initial reaction is that this proposed ordinance is very broad and there is some redundancy. At the same time, the Department feels that this ordinance may have significant impact on staffing issues. Director Chiu said that he spoke with the Supervisor’s aide and understood that the intent of the ordinance is to cover areas that the current Code does not. Currently, if there is a property that is in violation of the Building or Housing Codes, under the current procedure and policy, the owner may elect to board up and secure a building as long as the building is vacated. Director Chiu, said that an example would be a building that is vacated, but has violations, and an owner somehow secures the windows and doors or somehow changes the property, currently that is acceptable. Of course, these properties are often broken into and the Department has to keep going back to make sure the property is once again secured. Director Chiu said that the intent of this legislation is to close this gap by having a legislation that states if there is a violation, it needs to be abated, meaning that the building could not just be secured as is currently allowed. Director Chiu said that he has not received any recommendation from the Code Advisory Committee as yet and his recommendation would be to have a dialog with a Code Advisory Committee member and see what they think in order to respond to Supervisor Newsom’s office. Director Chiu said that no action is required at this time, but he wanted to get feedback from the public and the Commissioners.





Commissioner Marks stated that one thing that concerned her about this legislation is that it provides for an individual to file a private nuisance lawsuit. Commissioner Marks said that she thought the intent of this was that the City would not physically be able to pursue all of these cases and it gives the citizen the right to pursue it. Commissioner Marks said that in her mind, it is a public responsibility, a City responsibility, so that part of the legislation concerns her. Commissioner Marks said that the wording on page 8 about the enforcement responsibilities states that there is no duty on the City to enforce. Commissioner Marks said that is troublesome to her, as she believes that it is the City’s responsibility to enforce. Commissioner Marks said that on page 11 there is a reference about an individual privately filing a lawsuit. Deputy City Attorney Judy Boyajian said that this is somewhat standard language that doesn’t create a liability on the part of the City if they fail to enforce. So it is not releasing the City from the obligation, but is protecting the City from someone suing the City for not doing it. Ms. Boyajian said she believes this is the purpose of the language, but it could be a little clearer.





Vice-President Hood said she had questions about this legislation. Vice-President Hood said that it seemed to her that in some cases it is concerned with things that have to do with the Building Code, especially with things such as deterioration of structures and so forth. In other cases, it goes far beyond anything in the Building Code, such as that no one is allowed to have graffiti on their fence. Vice-President Hood said she was concerned about this because although everyone is concerned about blight and would be concerned if a neighbor had graffiti on their fence, or if there were graffiti on her fence, she would expect it to be painted, but perhaps after the 100^th time this happened it would just be left. Vice-President Hood said she remembered a project she worked on where there were industrial buildings very far from the front of the building. These industrial buildings had the entire sides of the building painted very interestingly. Vice-President Hood said that her teenage son pointed out different graffiti styles to her and she came to appreciate some of the artwork. Vice-President Hood said she felt that there was no difference between one of these graffiti walls and the ads that completely cover Muni buses. Vice-President Hood said that there is a fine line indeed between the illegal work of some artists and some of the murals that are legally painted by other artists, and some of the ads that are placed that cover entire buildings. Vice-President Hood said that some of these legally painted ads can be very unsightly in some instances and in other instances are quite clever and wonderful. Vice-President Hood said she felt that the Commission is in a very difficult sort of aesthetic philosophy area where the Commission is trying to talk about what is acceptable, especially in the way of graphics.





Vice-President Hood said that the other thing that bothered her about this proposed legislation is that she is concerned about what this law would be like in the hands of some of the people from whom the Commission hear appeals. Not necessarily in front of the BIC, but at the Planning Commission and when there are appeals from neighbors who get into battles. Vice-President Hood said she would hate to see neighbors start to pass judgment as to whether or not their neighbor’s houses are in a dilapidated condition. Vice-President Hood stated that there are a lot of value judgments inherent in this legislation, which really need to be defined much more precisely. Vice-President Hood said that she is glad that the Code Advisory Committee is looking over it and would like to know much more about what area this intends to cover that is not well covered in some other way. For example, Vice-President Hood said she believed in the Planning Code, there should be a section about what vehicles can and cannot be parked in driveways and so forth. Vice-President Hood said she was not aware of any examples in San Francisco where recreational vehicles are parked that is a problem. President Fillon asked that the Commission move on as the proposed legislation was just being introduced today and the Commissioners were being given a chance to review it for later consideration. Vice-President Hood said she would just like to express her grave concern about it at this time. Vice-President Hood asked that her comments be passed on to the Code Advisory Committee for their consideration when they are reviewing it.




b. Update on Draft Bulletin regarding Disabled Access Aisle for merchandise displays.





Director Chiu said that the Department has prepared a first draft on an ordinance concerning accessible width for the aisles for merchandise displays. Director Chiu stated that he did not plan on going over the information in detail unless the Commissioners had any issues. Director Chiu said that basically, the Department is trying to provide some guidelines for the staff about the aisle widths. Director Chiu stated that lawsuits had been filed against Macys and Mervyns and as a result the Department had taken action against several retail for lack of proper width. Director Chiu said the Department felt that there needs to be some sort of reasonable guidelines provided for the staff to follow. This is just the first attempt to address those issues. Director Chiu said this draft has been forwarded to other committees, particularly the AAC and Building Code Advisory Committee and also the community at large. Director Chiu said that the Department is waiting to get more feedback from these various groups, and that at a later date he wanted to have a continued discussion and seek the Commission’s advice as to how this particular bulletin should be finalized.






c. Update on proposed Ordinance regarding retroactive sprinkler ordinance for residential hotels.





Director Chiu stated that this was a follow-up item from the last Commission meeting when he reported that Supervisor Newsom was working on a retroactive sprinkler ordinance. Director Chiu said that he contacted the Supervisor’s office and they are not ready to introduce anything yet; it is still a working document. Director Chiu said that the Supervisor does not have a draft for the Commission’s discussion at this point. Director Chiu said that the Fire Department and DBI’s staff has been working with the Supervisor’s office to come up with a draft ordinance and it is too premature for the Commission to discuss this at this time. Director Chiu stated that as soon as he gets a draft from Supervisor Newsom’s office he would be happy to forward the ordinance to the Commissioners.





Director Chiu stated that this concluded his report.





President Fillon asked for public comment.





Ms. Anastasia Yovanopoulos spoke regarding the blight ordinance referring to page 7. Ms. Yovanopoulos said this is speaking about general conditions and it mentions any conditions that are detrimental to the public health safety or general welfare or which constitutes a public nuisance as defined in California Civil Code Section 3480. Ms. Yovanopoulos said that this definition of nuisance no longer appears in the Building Code and she feels this is a serious issue. Ms. Yovanopoulos said she has spoken about this issue before and said that since it is not in the Building Code, only in the Housing Code, there is a gap that needs to be filled. Ms. Yovanopoulos stated that this legislation does not fill it because it says that any City employees designated by the City Attorney are authorized to make such inspections and take action on behalf of the City Attorney as may be required to enforce the provisions of this chapter. Ms. Yovanopoulos said this is broad and doesn’t really say anything. Ms. Yovanopoulos said she did not see the point of this legislation.





Ms. Yovanopoulos said that as far as the sprinkler ordinance is concerned, it has taken a long time to get the ball rolling on this and it is frustrating because there were a couple of people who came to the meeting to make comments, but could not wait as they did not know the meeting was being rescheduled to 3:00 p.m. Ms. Yovanopoulos said that they were fire victims and she also heard of another fire that just happened in a commercial/residential building on Bush Street the past week. Ms. Yovanopoulos stated that this is a political issue and the Commission has to realize that the owners have commitments and there are serious repercussions on the people that are unprotected. Ms. Yovanopoulos said the Code needs to have something in it to address nuisance and also fire. Ms. Yovanopoulos thanked the Commission.





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

Ms. Yovanopoulos introduced herself as a member of Friends of NoeValley. Ms. Yovanopoulos said that construction of new condominiums on 29^th Street near Castro went to the Planning Commission. Ms. Yovanopoulos said these were two and three bedroom condominiums. Ms. Yovanopoulos said that the project was scaled back so that it would fit in with the neighborhood character. Ms. Yovanopoulos said she was concerned because of the fire regulations. Ms. Yovanopoulos said that a Mr. Badner said that a roof hatch is a permitted fire exit. Ms. Yovanopoulos said that she was concerned because she is a member of a community and the people who live in the community are homeowners with children and animals. Ms. Yovanopoulos said she is concerned about what would happen if that roof hatch that is open able with a key, is locked and this is in the Code as a permitted fire exit in new construction. Ms. Yovanopoulos said supposing a fire breaks out in these new condos and the neighbors at each side are affected because that roof hatch was locked. Ms. Yovanopoulos said that she really feels that the Code is missing something as far as fire safety and the administrative bulletins that were tacked on at the end need to be looked at carefully because they don’t really address the problem of how to exit in a fire.

President Fillon asked if the Commissioners would mind if item number 5 was switched to allow item numbers 6 and 7 to be heard first so they would be heard today. Vice-President Hood asked if there was anyone planning to attend for items 6 and 7 who might not be present. Commissioner Walker suggested that President Fillon call the Communication items and see if there is any discussion needed. President Fillon proceeded to read the Communication items.

1. Letter from Ms. Carolyn Colson to President Fillon regarding
   Permit #9811876 Fire Escape at Side of Building, 3250 Market Street, Chang
   Family Trust.


2. Memorandum from Senior Building Inspector Rafael Torres-Gil to Assistant
   Director Amy Lee regarding 1445 Selby Street.


3. Letters from Paul Weber regarding Board of Permit Appeal #00-099, Permit
   Application #200002232537 - 4390 26^th Street.


4. Letter to all Mayoral Commission and Advisory Board Members from
   Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. regarding Candidates for Public Office.


5. Announcement of Department of Building Inspection’s Brown Bag Lunch
   Talks.


6. Letter of commendation received from the public regarding DBI employee
   and Director Chiu’s letter of response to the public.


7. DBI Newsletter.


8. Building Inspection Division Report on fire at 225 Taylor Street.

President Fillon asked if there were any Commissioner’s comments on the Communication Items. There were none. President Fillon asked for Public Comment on Items 5a through 5g. There was no public comment.

1. Ms. Alyce G. Brown for the seat of person with physical disability, vice Ms. Terry Hogan whose term has expired and who has resigned.




President Fillon introduced the first nomination, Ms. Alyce Brown. Commissioner Walker stated that she thought there were other candidates that were being considered for this seat and thought that there was a least one other option that was going to be brought forward and looked at. Vice-President Hood said that that there was one person who she called that the Committee was very interested in, but it turned out that the person did not live in San Francisco. Vice-President Hood said this person had wonderful resume and she was very disappointed to find out that he had an office in San Francisco, but was a resident of Marin County. Commissioner Walker said that this person was Mr. Blackseth. President Fillon asked if this is what Commissioner Walker was asking about. Commissioner Walker said that she thought that there was at least one of the others to consider with these two. Commissioner Walker said that she believed the name was Bruckner. President Fillon said that from his conversations with Commissioner Walker, his understanding was that she did not have any problem with the nominations. Commissioner Walker said that she did not have any problem with bringing these forward for nomination, but thought that one of the other applicants was also going to be considered. Commissioner Walker said that it was up to President Fillon. President Fillon asked if any Commissioner would like to make a motion. Vice-President Hood said she would like to make a motion for item a. Vice-President Hood said she thought that Alyce G. Brown has a lot of experience in business and she is also a person with a physical disability who owns a jewelry store or retail business. Vice-President Hood said that Ms. Brown should have a very good appreciation for what physically disabled people need in retail establishments such as in the Mervyns and Macys cases that the Directors just referred to. Vice-President Hood said she would like to nominate her for that reason. Commissioner Walker said her only concern said that compared to some of the other resumes Ms. Brown does not have a lot of experience in working with the disabled community and she has concerns about that since this is the seat designated for somebody interfacing with that community. President Fillon said that since Ms. Brown is a disabled person she would have the same goals as that community. Commissioner Walker said she was concerned about the person knowing the law and the information coming before this Commission is very specific and one of the things that some of the other people had was experience with the Disabilities Act compliance, Employment and Disability, Disability Awareness and Diversity Training. Commissioner Walker said she thought that someone with those qualifications could advocate better for the community and she wanted the Commission to think about this before choosing somebody. President Fillon asked if there were a second for Vice-President Hood’s motion. Commissioner Santos seconded the motion. Commissioner Marks said she wanted to make a response to Commissioner Walker’s comments. Commissioner Marks said she sees this Commission making decisions about access issues rather than advocacy. Commissioner Marks said that, for her, it is not a concern that Ms. Brown has no advocacy experience or contact with other organizations. Vice-President Hood said she would like to second what Commissioner Marks just said. Vice-President Hood said that in the past there were people using the Commission as a platform for advocacy and often to the point where their opinions might not be completely unbiased in some cases. The Commission was being used as a forum when they are really supposed to be an appeal board that brings knowledge to the Commission, but they are not supposed to be advocating a platform in that particular position. Vice-President Hood said she agreed very much with what Commissioner Marks had just said. President Fillon said the main concern was that this Commission be fair. Commissioner Walker said that this was her concern as well. President Fillon said that Ms. Brown was chosen because she is a businesswoman so she can also see that side of an issue. The other candidates have more experience on the advocacy side and this will create a balance to give people a fair chance. President Fillon asked for any further comment. President Fillon called for a vote. Deputy City Attorney Judy Boyajian said that the BIC could vote on the motion for this one item 6a, or vote on item 6 a,b,c, and d as a whole at the end. President Fillon continued by reading the other nominations.





2. Ms. Roslyn Baltimore for the seat of member experienced in construction, vice herself whose term has expired.


3. Mr. Linton Stables for the seat of member experienced in construction, vice himself whose term has expired.


4. Mr. Francis K. Chatillon for the seat of person with physical disability, vice Mr. Walter Park whose term has expired.

Vice-President Hood asked what Mr. Chatillon’s background was. President Fillon said his resume was included in the package, but Mr. Chatillon now holds a new position. Deputy City Attorney Judy Boyajian said that Mr. Chatillon is now working with the Department of Public Health. His resume indicates that he was with the DA’s office in the Family Support Unit, but he is now with Public Health. Commissioner Marks said that he had background in Disability Rights education and Defense Fund. Vice-President Hood said that she did have concerns that someone on the Commission had this experience. Commissioner Walker said that this was absolutely necessary. Ms. Boyajian said that Mr. Chatillon is presently the ADA Coordinator for Public Health. Commissioner Guinanne asked what Mr. Chatillon’s disability was. Vice-President Hood said she did not know if this could be asked. Commissioner Walker said that it looks like Mr. Chatillon was working on behalf of deaf clientele, so that might be his disability.

President Fillon read Item #7 for consideration by the Commissioners. President Fillon asked for comments from the Commissioners. Commissioner Santos said that he knew three out of the five nominees. Commissioner Santos said that Mr. Daniel Shapiro is a structural engineer with a vast amount of experience and it would be an honor to have someone such as Mr. Shapiro on the Board of Examiners. Commissioner Santos said Mr. Shapiro is the President of SOHA Engineers, a large, respected, structural engineering group. Commissioner Santos said that he had nothing but praise for Mr. Shapiro. Commissioner Santos said it was the same thing with Mr. Joe Cassidy for General Contractor. Commissioner Santos said he has known Mr. Cassidy for 15 years or more and he is an extremely competent general contractor who would bring a tremendous amount of experience to the Board of Examiners. Commissioner Santos said he has worked with Anne Cervantes, who is a very talented architect. Commissioner Santos stated that he knows these three people are highly qualified.

Commissioner Walker said she had a question for the City Attorney. Commissioner Walker asked if there was any conflict rule about sitting members of the Board of Examiners taking City contracts. Commissioner Walker said that she noticed in Mr. Cassidy’s resume that he apparently gets City contracts. Deputy City Attorney Judy Boyajian said she did not know about the conflict rule and would have to check it out. Commissioner Walker said that if there is a restriction Mr. Cassidy should be notified. President Fillon said that at the Board of Supervisors when an item comes up where there is a conflict, the person involved recuses himself or herself from voting on that particular issue. Commissioner Walker said that she is talking about City contracts and that is different from financial interest. Vice-President Hood said this is an interesting question because for example, this particular Commission in exempt from that particular conflict. Ms. Boyajian said that the Commission is not exempt from the City contract conflict; it would be exempt from other types of conflict because the Commissioners are sitting on a special seat. Vice-President Hood suggested that item number 7 be held until the next meeting. Ms. Boyajian said that the Commission was only nominating these applicants and the issue could be clarified before the next meeting. Commissioner Walker said that the candidate has the right to know if there is a conflict before he accepts. Vice-President Hood said that some of the other people being nominated also do City work. President Fillon asked for a motion.

The motion carried 5 to 1 with Vice-President Hood being the opposing vote.

Ms. Boyajian said that she would check out the legal issue and get back to President Fillon. Commissioner Santos said that the issue would also apply to Daniel Shapiro and Anne Cervantes. Commissioner Walker said that she felt the applicants needed to know if there was a conflict before they accepted their nomination. Ms. Boyajian said that before these candidates would be appointed, the question would be answered. President Fillon said he did not think it was a conflict and that if an issue came up on a project that they were working on, they would just recuse themselves from that particular item. President Fillon said that when he first started on the BIC, he was working for the Redevelopment Agency and Redevelopment had a lot of projects going on; if one of those projects came up before the Commission he would recuse himself. Ms. Boyajian said that it would be better if she checked out what the current laws might be, or current policy from the Mayor’s office. President Fillon asked for public comment.

Mr. Dick Glumac introduced himself as the current President of the Board of Examiners and said that he knows from experience that in the City of San Francisco most contractors who sit on a board, such as architects, structural engineers or mechanical or electrical engineers all work for a living on projects in the City. Mr. Glumac said that if and when a code variance, application for variance, or hearing at the Board of Examiners comes up and one of the members works on that project, they simply excuse themselves and that is the rule of the Board of Examiners. Mr. Glumac said that the City Building Code, Section 306, he believed, stated that previously the Superintendent appointed the member of the BOE and now this board appoints the members. Mr. Glumac said that before these people come to the Board of Examiners, the Superintendent would make very detailed inquiries about the qualifications of the nominees from all aspects, not just if they are qualified, but if they have other conflicts and things like that. Mr. Glumac said that all board members fill out Form 707 or 702. Mr Glumac said that he believed that once these people come to the BIC, they are qualified and the Commission should accept them at face value.

Commissioner Walker said that she wanted to clarify that she was not speaking about people working on projects; she was talking about City contracts, which is different. Commissioner Walker said this is a different issue; it is not about working on projects. Commissioner Walker said she is just asking for reference.

8. Review and approval of the Minutes of the BIC Regular Meeting of July 19, 2000.

1. 
   
   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.




Vice-President Hood said that she had a request that might seem obscure, but it was important. Vice-President Hood said that several times when she comes to Commission meetings, she apologized for not leaving early enough, but she expects to find a parking space nearby. Vice-President Hood said that when she doesn’t find a parking space it delays her getting to the meeting on time and because of the increasing number of buildings around City Hall, the garage under Civic Center Plaza tends to fill up on many days. Vice-President Hood said that by the time she finds another garage that has open spaces it takes a long time. Vice-President Hood asked if any of the other Commissioners had this same problem. Many answered yes. Vice-President Hood said she noticed that there are many parking spaces around the building that have "permit only" on them and Vice-President Hood asked if the acting secretary could inquire if there are some of those empty permitted spaces that are not used on the first and third Wednesdays afternoons of the month. Vice-President Hood said it would be helpful if the Commissioners could get temporary cards for their windshields where the Commissioners could park if parking cannot be found in the adjacent buildings. Vice-President Hood said that it would be a very welcomed convenience if the Commissioners could do this on a regular basis. Vice-President Hood said that the parking situation is only going to get worse because right now the Asian Art Museum is not open and there are other facilities planned and under construction in this area. Vice-President Hood asked the acting Secretary to look into this.




2. Futures 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.

Commissioner Guinnane said that over the months he has had some discussions with the Commission and with Frank Chiu regarding Housing Inspectors and Building Inspectors and the different qualifications between the two. Commissioner Guinnane said he wanted to bring this issue up again and said that he was adamant about this issue this time because of the project on Fell Street. Commissioner Guinnane said that a Senior Housing Inspector went out and made an inspection and one of the violations was fungus and rot up in an attic. The inspector wanted the owner to hire an engineer or general contractor to go out there and inspect it. Commissioner Guinnane said that in this day and age it is expensive to hire both of those individuals and furthermore you can’t even get someone to go out because everyone is so busy. Commissioner Guinnane said that what he wants to do is set up the Housing Inspectors, who are being paid the same as Building Inspectors, in classes where they will go to classes and be taught on fungus and dry rot and what to look for when they go out to do inspections. Commissioner Guinnane said that furthermore if they go out and site a building today, and the owner gets a building permit to repair it, the Housing Inspector cannot sign off on it. They have to go out with a Building Inspector, so that means two inspectors are being sent out to do one person’s job. Commissioner Guinnane said that he wanted to set up these classes and get some ideas where these inspectors in housing, start taking classes and get certified like the rest of the inspectors and engineers. Commissioner Guinnane said he believed most of the Housing Inspectors came from the Health Department. Commissioner Guinnane said that the Housing Inspectors are making the same money as the Building Inspectors and they are not qualified to make these inspections and are making wrong calls. Commissioner Guinnane said that he wanted this to be an agenda item.

Commissioner Marks asked what the qualifications for a Housing Inspector are. Director Chiu said that Commissioner Guinnane is correct in that the Housing Inspector’s qualifications could be very varied. At one time, in the past, a realtor or property appraiser would be accepted as qualifying as a Housing Inspector. The Health Department experience was also accepted as a qualification requirement. Director Chiu said that recently the Department has been hiring more people with technical experience. Director Chiu said that Commissioner Guinnane was correct in that in the past most people came from the Health Department and he agreed that their experience was not technical oriented. Director Chiu said that he agrees that the Department needs to look at a policy as to how it best uses the Housing Inspectors in certain situations. Director Chiu said that more training would be helpful, but the Department needs to look at a policy as to why the Department needs to send two inspectors to resolve a complaint or any other inspection. Director Chiu said he was looking forward to working with the Commission to find a way to make the plan more efficient. Commissioner Guinnane asked what were the qualifications to come on as a Housing Inspector today. Director Chiu said that this was discussed about two years ago, and the Department no longer accepts the qualifications of a property appraiser or a realtor. The Department is looking for more people with construction experience or architects, engineers or some kind of technical experience. Commissioner Guinnane asked why this couldn’t be tied into the same requirement as a Building Inspector since they are doing the same functions. Director Chiu said that newly recruited people are coming in with more technical experience. Director Chiu said that Commissioner Guinnane was correct in that in the past the Department had brought in a lot of people from the Health Department. Director Chiu said that since he took over the Department he has been gradually trying to get more people with technical experience. Recent hires have more technical experience and the Department is making good progress on new recruitment. Director Chiu said that there are still some people who have been with the Department for a long time who came from the Health Department. Director Chiu said he would be happy to work with the Commission on training and setting guidelines or policy as to how to make Housing Inspection Services work more efficiently. Commissioner Guinnane said he couldn’t understand how the Housing Inspectors are exempt from being certified like Building Inspectors or engineers or plan checkers or even the Director. Commissioner Guinnane asked how they could escape without being certified or going through some courses every two or three years. Director Chiu said that Commissioner Guinnane was correct. Currently most technical people are certified, but because the Housing Inspector position is more unique, these certification people do not have a separate category for Housing Inspectors. President Fillon said that this item would be put on a future agenda. Vice-President Hood said that this is a very interesting question. Vice-President Hood asked if the Director could comment on how this is affected by labor contracts as the Housing and Building Inspectors are represented by different labor unions and a lot of this has to do with labor negotiations. Director Chiu said that Vice-President Hood was correct.

Commissioner Guinnane said that at the last meeting he had asked for some information on Park Merced on violations, as there are some 700 units out there. Director Chiu said he had directed Deputy Director Wong to compile a report to be presented to the Commission at the next meeting.

Ms. Anastasia Yovanopoulos said that she would like to address the last remarks by Commissioner Guinnane who has a gripe about how a certain condition in a building was handled by the Housing Inspector. Ms. Yovanopoulos said that the Housing Inspector goes out there and has a certain set of codes that he applies and these are Housing Codes. Ms. Yovanopoulos said that mold and mildew is something that is only narrowly defined at this point in the Housing Code. Ms. Yovanopoulos said she did not know if this was one of the things that was in the Building Code, mold and mildew, but it seems more like a Housing Code issue. Ms. Yovanopoulos said that if he is telling you to seek more technical assistance from a building person, the only thing that the housing person can do is look at the condition, note it and site it if it is a code violation. Ms. Yovanopoulos said if he is asking for a technical reference or more involvement in the building than that is the way he handled it. Ms. Yovanopoulos said that if Mr. Guinnane didn’t like the way he handled that, he could always take it up with the Supervisor of that person and negotiate and work out something so that the condition gets abated. Ms. Yovanopoulos said if there is an issue then it gets abated. If someone has a gripe with the guy who did it then go to his Supervisor and make sure that the condition is abated. Ms. Yovanopoulos said maybe he made the wrong call. Ms. Yovanopoulos said you could always say to somebody, I think you’re wrong and work it out some other way.

Commissioner Guinnane said that if himself and Commissioner Santos did not go out and look at the building, that owner would have been subjected to hiring a structural engineer and a general contractor and spending who knows how many dollars trying to get something squared away that was a wrong call by the Inspector. Commissioner Guinnane said that there was not rot and no fungus or any sign of damage there at all. Commissioner Guinnane said he did not know how the Inspector arrived at a structural problem with the building. Commissioner Guinnane said the Inspector made a bad call and did not know what he was looking at and that was the upshot. Deputy City Attorney Judy Boyajian stated that the Commissioners could not talk to Supervisors directly. Commissioners may only speak with the Director.

[RESOLUTION NO. BIC-044-00]

The meeting was adjourned at 4:05 p.m.

_______________________

Ann Marie Aherne

Interim Commission Secretary