2.

President’s Announcements.

President Walker announced that there was going to be an exhibit in photography hosted by Supervisor Mirkarimi entitled “Code Enforcement Outreach” that was coordinated by Housing Inspector James Sanbonmatsu. President Walker said that the exhibit would be in Supervisor Mirkarimi’s Office beginning Friday, July 21, 2006 and would run through August 16, 2006.  President Walker stated that this was a very good and smart way to get the message out about what the Department does in the Housing Division.  President Walker thanked Jamie Sanbonmatsu for his work.

President Walker said that she had the pleasure of attending DBI’s monthly “breakfast” last Friday and stated that it was a good way to meet staff.  President Walker encouraged all of the Commissioners to attend on a rotating basis so as not to violate the Brown Act.  Acting Director Lee said that she wanted to clarify that “breakfast” included coffee, muffins and fruit and was from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on the first Friday of each month.  President Walker said that she would like to have the Commission sponsor this get together periodically and said that she would look into that possibility with the Controller’s Office.

President Walker said that she has spoken with Acting Director Lee about having regular monthly updates about the IT System, the CAPSS Program and any Code Enforcement changes or updates on the agenda of the first meeting of every month.

Ms. Lee stated that after the exhibit of items dealing with the Housing Inspectors is finished at Supervisor Mirkirimi’s Office the Department is going to have a display on the first floor at 1660 Mission Street so the public can see what an important job the Housing Inspectors do on a daily basis.

3.

Director’s Report.

Acting Director Lee said that she had provided the handout that was distributed during the Mayor’s visit to DBI that captured what the Department had done in the past year.  Ms. Lee said that it was a very challenging year and said that she wanted to thank staff for their hard work and accomplishments.  Ms. Lee stated that the Department had issued some 60,500 permits and done over 125,000 inspections and reported that the total valuation was a significant increase from last year.   Ms. Lee said that the Department had hired 41 new employees to aid with the workload and it was now a challenge to get those new employees trained and up to speed.  Ms. Lee stated that the Department had approved 82% of the residential permits, 74% of commercial permits and 68% of mechanical permits over the counter.  Ms. Lee reported that the Department had reduced the backlog in residential by 37%, commercial by 30% and major projects by 40% which is a major milestone because this was done while there was an increasing workload.  Ms. Lee continued with data regarding turn around times for inspections.  Ms. Lee spoke about training and said that a great milestone for the Department was publishing an integrated Code of Conduct Manual that included staff, the Commission, Expediters and DBI’s customers.  Ms. Lee stated that the Department had hired a Communications Manager who was doing a fabulous job with the DBI newsletter.  Ms. Lee went on to report on the upgrading of the Department’s hardware and software, installing faster servers and desktops and working on the Permit Tracking System. 

Ms. Lee stated that the Department had moved forward on the CAPSS program and increased it significantly.  Ms. Lee said that the Department will be expanding the office space and the Planning Department will be moving to 1650 Mission Street, so that DBI will eventually occupy the fourth and fifth floors at 1660 Mission and give the staff more work space, absorb new employees and continue to train staff.  Ms. Lee said that DBI would be doing proactive outreach and education efforts to inform the public and will hold an education summit to work with the public.  Ms. Lee stated that the Department would be seeking input from staff, the Commission and customers to make the process at DBI a better one and would be submitting the five-year strategic plan to the Commission.  Ms. Lee reported that the Code would be changing in the next year or two with the International Building Code and said that there is training that will be done on that as well.  Ms. Lee said that there will continue to be public and agency scrutiny on permit activities and said that everyone was aware that the FBI has been at DBI and will continue to be at DBI but said that this is not just in San Francisco, but the FBI is at Building Departments all over the nation.  Ms. Lee said that DBI needs to recognize its challenges and rise to meet them.

Commissioner Hirsch asked if there were any plans for coordination with the Planning Department to obviate some of the issues that came up in the Civil Grand Jury report regarding cross-purposes between what Planning approves and what the Building Department will then approve when construction starts.  Ms. Lee said that this would be dealt with in the Permit Tracking System and the computer upgrades and said that DBI department heads and senior staff was meeting with Planning biweekly to discuss joint issues.  President Walker stated that she had been working with the new Planning Commission President to schedule a joint Commission meeting, which would probably take place some time in October.  

Commissioner Murphy asked when Planning would be moving out of 1660 Mission Street.  Ms. Lee said that DBI was hoping that it would be by October 2006 and that DBI staff would be moving into that space by January or February of 2007.  Ms. Lee said that the customer space for Planning and Fire would not change, but DBI staff would be taking over the space on the fourth and fifth floors. 

Commissioner Romero said that one item missing from the accomplishments, although hard to classify, would be to acknowledge the past amount of pressure on staff from outside forces.  Commissioner Romero stated that he would commend staff for performing under pressure from former Commissioners and said that Ms. Lee and staff deserved a great amount of credit for performing under such duress.  Commissioner Romero said that he wanted to say that DBI is one of the premier departments in the City that is dedicated to training staff as other departments tout training, but do not budget for it and do not give staff the time to avail of any training.

Acting Director Lee thanked all DBI staff for their efforts this past year.

Acting Director Lee reported that the budget went well at the Board level; two hearings took place and there is one more meeting with the entire Board of Supervisors.  Ms. Lee said that she expected no changes and the revenues are $59.3M with the expenditures equaling that amount.  Ms. Lee pointed out some of the highlights of the budget including:  an increase of $3M in the IT budget to move forward with the Permit Tracking System; six new positions; $6.4M in the capital budget which includes the monies to move Planning and to renovate the first, fourth and fifth floors at 1660 Mission Street. 

Ms. Lee reported that the Grand Jury Continuity Report had been issued two weeks ago and asked the Commissioners to look over the report and get back to her with comments so a response can be sent to the Grand Jury.  Ms. Lee said that some of the items listed on the report had already been taken care of in the Department such as the Code of Professional Conduct Manual. 

Ms. Lee stated that the Statement of Incompatible Activities is in the hands of the Ethics Commission and they are issuing another template for all departments to follow so there will be additional follow-up.  Ms. Lee stated that overall the Grand Jury Report was very positive. 

Acting Director Lee said that the Department was doing a fee quality control on building permits valued at over $100,000.  Ms. Lee said that letters had been sent out to customers primarily with large project between the time period of 2002 and May of 2005.  Ms. Lee stated that DBI thought that there were some errors resulting in some applications being undercharged and some overcharged.  Ms. Lee said that the Department would be foregoing those that were undercharged and refunding those that were overcharged. Ms. Lee said that in order to obtain a refund the customer would have to provide the Department with a general cost of the overall project and said that since many of those were very large projects most customers would not be willing to spend the time and money to provide that information. 

President Walker asked if there were any Commissioner comments on the Acting Director’s report.  Vice-President Lee said that one thing that was not mentioned in the Grand Jury’s report was that the morale of the employees at DBI has gotten a lot better.  Vice-President Lee said that he is receiving positive feedback from employees and said that he wanted to thank Amy and her staff for creating this atmosphere.

4.

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

Ms. Joanne Desmond said that she and her husband work together in a family owned real estate/construction firm and said that she was present to talk about the wrongful conduct of Amy Lee regarding 1169 – 1177 Tennessee Street.  Ms. Desmond stated that she was going to play a video clip from the April 18, 2005 Building Inspection Commission meeting after which Ms. Lee was retained as Acting Director.  Ms. Desmond played a video clip from the April 18, 2005 meeting for the Commission, which was testimony from her husband, Mr. Regan Carroll, regarding the qualifications required for the position of Director of Building Inspection.  In this portion of the meeting Mr. Carroll stated his reasons for believing that Ms. Lee did not qualify for the position of Director and asked that the Commission act accordingly.

Mr. Regan Carroll said that unfortunately the video machine was not operating properly and said that he had wanted to view video clips from the March 20, 2006 Building Inspection Commission meeting, but would not be able to do so. 

Mr. Carroll said that at the March 20, 2006 BIC meeting the Acting Director during testimony before the Commission indicated that she had knowledge that Mr. Carroll had begun demolition operations on the property (1169 – 1177 Tennessee Street) and said that the demolition permit was referenced in the site permit and that in itself started the beginning of work.  Mr. Carroll stated that Ms. Lee represented that she had been to the site in January and had seen no work started other than dirt being moved around and grass cleared off the top of the property.  Mr. Carroll showed pictures to the Commission and said that the pictures that were taken in January clearly showed that he was in the process of doing remediation work, which was required for the site being exposed for over six weeks.  Mr. Carroll asked the Commission to consider his evidence when going into Closed Session to discuss Ms. Lee’s performance.  Mr. Carroll said that he was currently researching the ethics for government employees and said that he saw a number of ethic’s violations by Ms. Lee and members of her staff and particularly Mr. Lau and Ms. Johnson.  Mr. Carroll stated that when he had the proper evidence he would be filing complaints with the Ethics Commission.

Secretary Aherne reminded everyone that this item was for public comment for items not on the agenda.

Mr. Henry Karnilowitz said that he believed that anywhere where there are inspectors involved, be it at DBI, DPW or the Health Department there is always going to be a public perception that somebody is getting paid off.  Mr. Karnilowitz said that he did not believe this to be true.  Mr. Karnilowitz stated that he had thought that it was great that the Structural Plan Checkers are working on the backlog, but said that there was still a tremendous backlog and long lines and urged the Department to hire more Structural Plan Checkers and have them available everyday for the customers.

Deputy Director Wing Lau explained that the Department was trying to take care of the backlog by hiring more engineers and said that 98% of the residential applications that come into the Department require both architectural plan check and structural plan check.  Mr. Lau stated that the Department would be hiring three new engineers in the next month.

5.

 6.

RESOLUTION NO. BIC 038-06

The Commission reconvened in Open Session at 11:56 a.m. Deputy City Attorney Catharine Barnes announced that Commissioner Romero left the Closed Session at 11:15 a.m. 

Commissioner Theriault made a motion, seconded by Vice-President Lee, not to disclose any or all discussion held in Closed Session.  The motion carried unanimously.

7.

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

Commissioner Hirsch made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Theriault to convene in Closed Session.  The motion carried unanimously.

RESOLUTION NO. BIC 040-06

The Commission reconvened in Open Session at 12: 52 p.m.

Commissioner Theriault made a motion, seconded by Commission Hirsch, not to disclose any or all discussion held in Closed Session. The motion carried unanimously. 

RESOLUTION NO. BIC 041-06

8.

Review and approval of the minutes of the June 5, 2006 meeting.

Commissioner Theriault made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Hirsch, that the minutes be approved.  The motion carried unanimously.

RESOLUTION NO. BIC 042-06

9.

Review and approval of the minutes of the June 19, 2006 meeting.

Commissioner Hirsch made a motion, seconded by Vice-President Lee, that the minutes be approved.  The motion carried unanimously.

RESOLUTION NO. BIC 043-06

10.

Review Commissioner’s Questions and Matters.

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 Walker said that she wanted to make a point that the new Planning Commission had been seated and said that a meeting would be set with the two Commissions.  President Walker asked the Commissioners and staff to think about items for that agenda.

11.

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

Mr. Regan Carroll said that he was coming before the Commission at this time to speak about the conduct of two DBI employees, Mr. Wing Lau and Ms. Carla Jean Johnson.  Mr. Carroll asked Ms. Lee if Mr. Lau accompanied her on a site visit to his property in January.  Ms. Lee said that was correct that she and Mr. Lau drove by the property.  Mr. Carroll said that Ms. Lee did not have the experience for the position of Acting Director, but said that Mr. Lau had significant experience.  Mr. Carroll referred to pictures he had shown to the Commission previously and said that Mr. Lau should have seen that there was more work involved than moving dirt around and clearing grass.  Mr. Carroll said that Mr. Lau did not correct this issue at his hearing and said that he believed it was a material omission. 

Mr. Carroll stated that he had dealt with Mr. Lau on another property that his family was involved in developing about a week and a half ago and Mr. Lau represented to Mr. Carroll that he would be providing the authority for why he was refusing to issue preparatory permits on that property.  Mr. Carroll said he had yet to hear from Mr. Lau and said he would have more information regarding this property at the August BIC meeting. 

Mr. Carroll said that relating to Ms. Johnson and the May 1^st meeting where the findings on his properties were adopted Commissioner Murphy was misinformed as he was under the assumption that Ms. Johnson had somehow been jammed into the middle of this issue by the Planning Department.  Mr. Carroll stated that Ms. Johnson had been actively involved in his project from its inception and said that he had met with Ms. Johnson in November regarding a complaint that no work had been started.  Mr. Carroll said that he had witnesses and payroll records that show that he had active work on this site prior to the expiration of the alleged site permit and said that if Ms. Johnson had done a site visit she would have seen that the demolition work was undertaken.  Mr. Carroll said that Ms. Johnson should not have acted on assumptions and should have made a site visit, but did not.

12.

Adjournment.

Commissioner Theriault made a motion, seconded by Vice-President Lee, that the meeting be adjourned.  The motion carried unanimously.

RESOLUTION NO. BIC 044-06

The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,


______________________

Ann Marie Aherne
Commission Secretary