Building Inspection Commission
BUILDING INSPECTION COMMISSION (BIC)
Department of Building Inspection (DBI)
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, May 2, 2005 at 9:00 a.m.
City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 400
Aired Live on SFGTV Channel 26
ADOPTED OCTOBER 3, 2005
MINUTES
The regular meeting of the Building Inspection Commission was called to order at 9:13 a.m. by Vice-President Hanrahan.
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1. |
Call to Order and Roll Call – Roll call was taken and a quorum was certified. Vice-President Hanrahan chaired the meeting as President Hirsch was excused. |
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COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENTS: |
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Ephraim Hirsch, President, excused |
Noelle Hanrahan, Vice-President |
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Ann Aherne, Commission Secretary |
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D.B.I. REPRESENTATIVES: |
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Amy Lee, Acting Director Sonya Harris, Secretary |
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CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE REPRESENTATIVES: Judy Boyajian, Deputy City Attorney |
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2. |
President’s Announcements. |
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3. |
Director’s Report. [Acting Director] – continued from April 4, 2005 |
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a. |
Report on Code Enforcement to protect historic buildings.
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Acting Director Lee reported that this item had been mentioned at a previous BIC meeting and stated that the deterioration of the historic Hibernia Bank was brought to the attention of the Department by a writer from Beyond Chron. Ms. Lee said that DBI was now working with the Planning Department to come up with legislation to address this issue and said that a policy would be coming before the Commission for input in one or two months to help protect historical buildings in San Francisco. |
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b. |
Report on the Permit Processing Priority Guidelines.
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Acting Director Lee said that this item had also come before the Commission previously as a preliminary draft and stated that she had received no feedback from the Commissioners. Ms. Lee said that DBI was working with DPW and Planning on this issue, as neither DPW nor Planning had done anything to implement this policy. Ms. Lee said the Department was looking for more public feedback and would probably go back to the project sponsor to explain how difficult this policy would be for DBI to implement and still continue with the Department’s day-to-day business. |
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c. |
Update on the status of DBI’s supplemental appropriation request.
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Acting Director Lee stated that for several months the Department had been trying to get a supplemental appropriations request calendared by the Board of Supervisors; the Department was requesting 30+ positions, cars and upgrades to the computer system at DBI. Ms. Lee said that the President of the Board was now going to calendar this item and said that she hoped the Department would be able to obtain these items within the next month. Ms. Lee said that it would not be prudent to wait for the budget process because DBI wanted to hire for these positions as soon as possible.
Commissioner Guinnane asked how the hiring for Inspectors was progressing as there was a hold on the Housing Inspectors, but the Building Inspectors selection should be moving forward. Ms. Lee said that there was some discussions with the Commission about changing the MQs and it was discovered that the Department could not change them. Ms. Lee said that perhaps at the next meeting the Commission could discuss the Housing Inspectors as the Commission’s concerns could be addressed during the interviewing process rather than trying to change the MQs because that is a lengthy process.
Commissioner Guinnane asked if the supplemental was for Hunters Point. Ms. Lee said that the supplemental was for the new positions, a total of 32, some being for Hunters Point, but others to address the new workload, other City projects and the backlog. Commissioner Guinnane asked if there was much work coming into the Department attributed to Hunters Point. Ms. Lee said that the Department has not had many requests for service, but said that she would follow up on that.
Mr. Randy Shaw of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic said that he was very concerned about Item #3a and the preservation of historic buildings. Mr. Shaw urged the Department and the Commission to move quickly as the Hibernia Bank which was once considered a prize building in San Francisco has now become a haven for drug dealing. Mr. Shaw said that pressure from the City to maintain these historic buildings might at least help move the owners to sell the property to someone who would restore and reopen them. Mr. Shaw said that these once historic buildings are now becoming a blight on the City.
Mr. Henry Karnilowitz said that he wanted to say that DBI staff is dedicated, fabulous and loyal people. Mr. Karnilowitz gave two examples of excellent service that he received from Ms. Anita Lee in Central Permit Bureau and David Green who is a Senior Electrical Inspector. Mr. Karnilowitz stated that everyone is always complaining about the backlog in Planning and how bad it is, but said that there is a very real backlog in DBI and Mr. Karnilowitz urged the Commission to get things moving with hiring more employees for DBI for the better of the whole City.
Mr. O’Donoghue said that on Item #3c regarding employment in the Housing Department he wanted to remind the Commissioners that the process that was being recommended was discriminating strongly against women, women of color, of Hispanic and African American dissent. Mr. O’Donoghue said that the union representative on the Commission nor any women’s group did not bring this to the attention of the Commission, but it was the Residential Builders who protested that the process of hiring inspectors was favorable to people in the construction industry, namely white males.
Mr. O’Donoghue spoke on Item #3b saying that DPW and Planning did not move forward with implementing the recommendations of the Board of Supervisors or the Ethics Department. Mr. O’Donoghue said that DBI and the Commission needed to take a better look at this legislation because it would be a complete disaster for the Department to give priority over the private sector to public projects or green buildings. Mr. O’Donoghue stated that DBI would end up in bankruptcy just like the Planning Department.
Ms. Lee said that she wanted to comment on the comments made regarding Item #’s 3b and 3c. Ms. Lee stated that the Department did not receive any comments on Item #3b when it was presented before the Commission and said that she would encourage the Commissioners to review this document because it is so important to the running of the Department. Ms. Lee stated that a public member mentioned Item #3c and in particular the hiring of Housing Inspectors. Ms. Lee asked that this item be agendized for the next meeting, as DBI needs to implement the Lead ordinance and hire more Housing Inspectors. Ms. Lee said that she would be happy to invite someone from the Department of Human Resourced (DHR) to a future meeting.
Vice-President Hanrahan asked why some of the appointments or interviews were delayed. Ms. Lee said that there were concerns from the Commissioners that the qualification requirements might limit the applicant pools. Ms. Lee said that Commissioner Guinnane could better articulate the concerns that were raised.
Commissioner Guinnane said that at the time this issue came up he thought that there were two parts of the inspection qualifications that were flawed. Commissioner Guinnane stated that in order for a general Contractor who is licensed in the State of California to qualify for a Building Inspector’s job, that Contractor would have had to have made $500,000 gross per year for five years, but an Engineer or an Architect, as long as they held the license, did not fall into that rule of $500,000. Commissioner Guinnane said that the Contractor should not be singled out; it should be the same qualifications for everyone.
Commissioner Guinnane said that with the Housing Inspectors there was a freeze put on 2 ½ years ago because of concerns that the people that were being hired came from the Department of Public Health and did not have any field experience or experience in construction; it was the Commission’s desire to have more people from the trades take those positions, but apparently the job qualification was not changed. Commissioner Guinnane said that there were issues about minorities also because minorities were being excluded.
Vice-President Hanrahan asked if this would take time to change. Acting Director Lee said that there is a lengthy union process involved, but said that she would seek the help of Commissioner Romero and a representative from the Department of Human Resources (DHR). Ms. Lee stated that Mr. Hutchinson had previously reported as to the diversity in the applicants. Ms. Lee said that the Department needed to fill these positions as they represented 11 or 12 vacancies and said that there is a need in Housing and the Building Inspection Division to respond to the backlog and other City services
Commissioner Guinnane said that a public member had spoken about the backlog and said that DBI was starting to follow the same issues as those in Planning. Commissioner Guinnane stated that he wanted a report on accountability to show how much work each Plan Checker is doing because this was a really big issue, plans not being checked. Acting Director Lee said that she would agree with Commissioner Guinnane and said that part of the problem was lack of staffing. Ms. Lee said that she was looking for better accountability from the Managers and was looking at the makeup of the Permit Services Program and One-Stop. Ms. Lee said that she would be dealing with these issues in the next few weeks and would report back to the Commission.
Mr. Joe O’Donoghue of the Residential Builders Association said that the Commission should not have any discussion after public comment has been received on an issue because public comment had now been diluted. Mr. O’Donoghue said that the procedure had been violated and stated that there was now more information that had gone into the record that he could have addressed in his public comments. Mr. O’Donoghue suggested having Deputy City Attorney Buck Deventhal come to a BIC meeting to instruct the Commission as to procedure.
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4. |
Public Comment: The BIC will take public comment on matters within the Commission’s jurisdiction that are not part of this agenda.
Ms. Jakkee Bryson thanked Mr. O’Donoghue for his comments. Ms. Bryson said that the BIC should have a special meeting or at least agendize the issue of shelters, “defacto” shelter and drop-in shelters that have exceeded their maximum occupancy load. Ms. Bryson stated that the Commission also needed to deal with disabled access in these shelters. Ms. Bryson spoke about the lack of disabled access to 150 Otis Street, which is the City’s official homeless storage facility. Ms. Bryson said that she was person number 376 to sleep at MSC South, which is 525 – 5th Street, which should have an occupancy load of 205. Ms. Bryson said that she would give documentation to the Commission about these shelters and the resource centers where people are sleeping. Commissioner Fillon said that Ms. Bryson could submit her materials to the Commission and this item could be talked about at a later meeting.
Mr. David Sasoon said that he was a sponsor for immigrants seeking amnesty in the United States. Mr. Sasoon spoke about converting residential garages into commercial space to provide jobs for people coming from the Pacific Coast countries like Thailand and China and from Iraq. Vice-President Hanrahan said that the Commission would take Mr. Sasoon’s comments into consideration.
Mr. Joe O’Donoghue of the Residential Builders said that he was speaking about the April 4th BIC hearing, which had now been taken off of the air and off of the Internet. Mr. O’Donoghue stated that his organization have always advocated dissent, disputes and controversy and have the conviction to speak out regardless of the subject. Mr. O’Donoghue said that the April 4th hearing in which he and his association were loudly condemned for misogynic and homophobic remarks is now off the air. Mr. O’Donoghue said that his organization strongly protested the censorship and said that it is absolutely shocking that in an arbitrary fashion, a public hearing cannot only be taken off of the air, but there is not even access to it on the Internet. Mr. O’Donoghue stated that this was censorship in its most despicable form. Mr. O’Donoghue said that this action was nothing short of arbitrary and capricious. Mr. O’Donoghue said that the net effect is that the Mayor is now embarrassed because of his campaign of vilification in which he stated was full of innuendos and direct statements and implied that there was nothing only anti-feminist remarks made at this hearing. Mr. O’Donoghue said that he would be bringing this matter forward at other Commissions and other departments in terms of what is absolutely an unjust and wrongful action.
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5. |
Discussion and possible action to form a Building Inspection Commission Committee for the purpose of hiring a Director for the Department of Building Inspection.
Vice-President Hanrahan suggested that the Commission form a Committee of three and asked for a motion and for Commissioners to volunteer.
Commissioner Romero made a motion, seconded by Vice-President Hanrahan, that the Commission for a Committee of three to begin the search for a permanent Director for the Department of Building Inspection.
Commissioners Romero, Lee and Guinnane volunteered to be on the Committee.
Mr. Joe O’Donoghue of the Residential Builders said that the Committee should go to the Planning Department because there was already a process set up there to hire a new Director. Mr. O’Donoghue said that it was a well thought out process that involved public input and said that the BIC could just plagiarize this system.
Ms. Jakkee Bryson said that she wanted to congratulate the people on this newly formed Committee and said that she hoped the Committee would open up the application process for this Directorship to those inside the Department of Building Inspection as well as looking into other places including galaxies far, far away.
Mr. David Sasoon asked about “no trespassing signs” in the City. Vice-President Hanrahan informed Mr. Sasoon that this was not an item on the agenda.
Commissioner Fillon said that he thought the first task of the Committee would be to come up with a process for selection that would have a timeline attached to it.
Vice-President Hanrahan called the question. The motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 021-05
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Review of Communication Items. At this time, the Commission may discuss or take possible action to respond to communication items received since the last meeting. – items 6a thru 6d continued from April 4, 2005; items 6b thru 6m continued from April 18, 2005
Mr. Joe O’Donoghue of the Residential Builders Association asked if three minutes of public comment would be allowed for each communication item. Deputy City Attorney Judy Boyajian said that if the Commission were to pull an item off for discussion then three minutes would be allowed on that item, but otherwise there would be three minutes allowed on all of the communication items. Ms. Boyajian said that it would be up to the Chair to give more time if appropriate. Vice-President Hanrahan said given the amount of people in the audience she would allow three minutes per communication item and asked that the public be respectful of the opening up of the time.
Mr. O’Donoghue said that he appreciated the Chair’s ruling, but asked about the City Attorney’s ruling and what part of Robert’s Rules of Order it was based on. Deputy City Attorney Judy Boyajian said that it was not based on Robert’s Rules, but was based on the Sunshine Ordinance and the Brown Act. Mr. O’Donoghue said that the standard should be three minutes for each item and said that the City Attorney’s ruling, in all due respects, was erroneous. Mr. O’Donoghue said that since many of the Commissioners were new to the Commission he would ask that a written opinion regarding this matter be obtained from Buck Delventhal so that this Commission starts off on the right foot.
Mr. O’Donoghue stated that he wanted to talk about communication item #e, a letter from the Tenderloin Housing Clinic written by Randy Shaw. Mr. O’Donoghue said that there were a number of errors and omissions that Mr. Shaw did not address properly. Mr. O’Donoghue said that Mr. Shaw was advocating why Amy Lee should be the Director and gave several reasons for his decision. Mr. O’Donoghue said that Mr. Shaw said that Amy Lee was the co-Director with Frank Chiu and said that on the organizational charts from the Department there was actually three Deputy or Assistant Directors unilaterally reporting to Frank Chiu. Mr. O’Donoghue said that it was a fact that each Director in their own way communicated directly with Frank Chiu. Mr. O’Donoghue spoke of a draft organizational chart that showed that Amy Lee was actually given a promotion over Deputy Director’s Jim Hutchinson and William Wong. Mr. O’Donoghue said that he believed there was some malfeasance with this draft chart and said that it was fiction and that a wrong impression went out to the public. Mr. O’Donoghue stated that none of the functions under either the Inspection or the Plan Check ever reported to the Administrative Assistant Director Amy Lee and said that he would like this matter addressed at the next meeting. Mr. O’Donoghue stated that this draft chart should be of enormous interest to the public, the Department and the Commission.
Mr. O’Donoghue referred to communication item #i which was a letter addressed to Vice-President Hanrahan. Mr. O’Donoghue said that at a Commission meeting three professional women addressed this Commission and when their three minutes were up sat down as is consistent with Robert’s Rules of Order. Mr. O’Donoghue said that their comments were then addressed by Vice-President Hanrahan who was following the new order of the Rule of the Chair and said that this was improper. Mr. O’Donoghue said that after a member of the public gives public comment the Commission has the right to address the public member only when they are at the podium. Mr. O’Donoghue stated that Commissioner Guinnane had asked questions of the representative of the Grand Jury when he appeared before this Commission while he was at the podium and said this is the proper procedure. Mr. O’Donoghue stated that if Commissioners comment on the public comment after the public member sits down then it dilutes their comments so the public should get the change to come back up. Mr. O’Donoghue stated that this was the case when Sherrie Matza came up to speak and when she sought to address the comments made about her public testimony the sheriff was called, which showed again a further dilution of the process. Mr. O’Donoghue stated that Judy Boyajian should have given the Commissioners advice at that time rather than calling the sheriff.
Mr. O’Donoghue moved on to communication item #j, a letter from Mr. Phillip Ginsburg. Mr. O’Donoghue said that Mr. Ginsburg arbitrarily, without coming to this Commission, took the April 4th meeting off the air. Mr. O’Donoghue stated that this was truly censorship ad was truly shocking and said that he would be bringing this before the Board of Supervisors and the Ethics Commission. Mr. O’Donoghue said that this hearing was pulled off the air so the public is being misled. Mr. O’Donoghue said that this is not the standard that is going to be tolerated in this or any other city. Mr. O’Donoghue stated that his organization was asking that this tape be put back on the air.
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Review and approval of the minutes of the November 15, 2004 meeting. – continued from April 4, 2005
Commissioner Fillon made a motion, seconded by Vice-President Hanrahan, that the minutes by approved. The motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 022-05
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Review and approval of the minutes of the December 6, 2004 meeting. – continued from April 4, 2005
Vice-President Hanrahan made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Lee, that the minutes be approved. The motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 023-05
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Review and approval of the minutes of the December 20, 2004 meeting. – continued from April 4, 2005
Vice-President Hanrahan made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Ting, that the minutes be approved. The motion carried unanimously. RESOLUTION NO. BIC 024-05
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Review and approval of the minutes of the January 24, 2005 meeting. – continued from April 4, 2005
Vice-President Hanrahan made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Guinnane, that the minutes by approved.
Mr. John Kelly said that he had a request for clarification on the January 24, 2005 minutes. Mr. Kelly referred to page 15 of the minutes where a motion was made in regards to the matters that he had before the Commission on that date. Mr. Kelly said that a motion was made by Commissioner Romero that Mr. Kelly’s interpretation of the law was not correct and his motion said that the Department’s interpretation of the law was correct as far as the Commission was concerned so the matter was closed. Mr. Kelly said that the minutes state that Mr. Kelly asked if Commissioner Romero’s motion included all of Mr. Kelly’s letters and Commissioner Romero said that it did. Mr. Kelly asked the Commission to refer to page 11 of the minutes and said that although the matters he had before the Commission were related they were completely separate. Mr. Kelly said that Commission Romero’s motion may have adequately covered Item 6c relating to decisions of the Department of Building Inspection, but it did not relate to Items 6a and 6b which concerned Mr. Kelly’s complaints of bias and unprofessional treatment in the processing of his complaints. Mr. Kelly said that his letter dated November 10 in item 6b was regarding the Department of Building Inspection’s responsibility for Homeless Shelters. Mr. Kelly stated that he was asking for clarification of Commissioner Romero’s motion because it did not seem to adequately cover items 6a and 6b. Commissioner Romero said that he believed that the motion he made was to accept the findings of the inspectors and that was what the Commission would go by. Secretary Aherne said that on January 24, Mr. Kelly asked Commissioner Romero if his motion covered all three letters and Commissioner Romero said that it did. Mr. Kelly said that it did not appear as though Commission Romero’s motion addressed items 6a and 6b, but if he is now saying his motion adequately covered those items then that is fine because that is a decision the Commission has to make. Mr. Kelly stated that he just wanted to bring this to the Commissions attention because the motion by its own words did not cover items 61 and 6b.
Vice-President Hanrahan said that there would be no changes to the minutes.
Mr. David Sasoon said that Mr. Kelly mentioned homeless shelters and asked if there was a price that the City pays per person per night for a shelter. Vice-President Hanrahan said that currently the Commission was reviewing the agenda item for approval of minutes and thanked Mr. Sasoon for his comments.
The motion to approve the minutes of the January 24, 2005 meeting passed unanimously.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 025-05
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Review and approval of the minutes of the February 7, 2005 meeting.
Vice-President Hanrahan made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Guinnane, that the minutes by approved. The motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 026-05
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Review and approval of the minutes of the February 14, 2005 meeting.
Vice-President Hanrahan made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Guinnane, that the minutes by approved. The motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 027-05
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13. |
Review 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 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.
Commissioner Guinnane said that he had a few items for the next meeting. Commissioner Guinnane said that the Commission had talked about cars, the request for new cars and the actual cost. Commissioner Guinnane said that he asked about exploring the extended warranty on these cars versus shop bills for repairs as it seems that the Department is spending a lot of money for cars.
Commissioner Guinnane said that he wanted a future agenda item about DBI citing some sites for unlawful demolition and that decision being overturned by the Board of Permit Appeals. Commissioner Guinnane said that these are buildings where 98% of the house has been removed and mentioned one particular case on the 300 block of 26th Avenue. Commissioner Guinnane said that the Board of Permit Appeals overturned the decision by the DBI hearing officer and did not follow the law. Commissioner Guinnane stated that the Board of Permit Appeals talked about the penalties and leaving the property sit for five years. Commissioner Guinnane said that the Commission needs to look at these issues that are being decided by the Board of Permit Appeals and needs to move forward to file a law suit to reverse the Board of Permit Appeals which Larry Litchfield used to do before. Commissioner Guinnane said that he would come up with language for the agenda and said that he was particularly concerned about the decision on the 300 block of he thought 26th Avenue.
Commissioner Guinnane said that another issue he was concerned about was the James Li Engineering Firm and the defective foundations. Commissioner Guinnane said that he wanted the Commission to review that issue again and said that it was his position, and that he thought it should be the Department’s position that the owners of buildings that were remodeled with defective foundations should be notifies that their foundation is defective and not in compliance.
Vice-President Hanrahan said that she believed she asked Jim Hutchinson to look into this same item, but to report to the BIC on what the mitigation would be for those homeowners.
Commissioner Guinnane stated that he wanted an item on the agenda about the accountability of Plan Checkers and Engineers because there seems to be a huge backlog in that department.
Commissioner Guinnane said that one of the speakers spoke about the draft chart on leadership and the chain of command and said that was another item he wanted to agendize.
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Public Comment: The BIC will take public comment on matters within the Commission’s jurisdiction that are not part of this agenda.
Acting Director Lee said that she wanted to bring a report to the Commission’s attention about 215 Leisdorf Street. Ms. Lee said that the Department went out on the weekend to this property and found out there was no permit issued, but the contractor was upgrading the foundation on this UMB building. Ms. Lee reported that the contractor dug too deep and this affected the foundation for over six inches. Ms. Lee said that the site was now barricaded, but windows have been shattered and there are significant cracks in the building. Ms. Lee stated that she thought that the restaurant next door had some wine stored in this building, but said that otherwise it was a vacant building. Ms. Lee said that the Department had issued several Notices of Violation and had asked PG&E to disconnect the power. Ms. Lee said that she would keep the Commission informed as the Department monitored this building. Vice-President Hanrahan asked what UMB meant. Ms. Lee stated that it meant unreinforced masonry building.
Commissioner Guinnane asked what made this building so important that it would come to the Commission as there are other jobs out in other areas that are just as important. Ms. Lee said that she wanted to let the Commission know because this was in such a public area and wanted to let everyone know that this issue was under control. Ms. Lee said that she did not want any member of the Commission to be blindsided by a question regarding this property so she wanted to make them aware of the situation. Ms. Lee said that Canning Construction did some emergency shoring work and poured flooring. Commissioner Guinnane asked if the Department was paying for this work. Ms. Lee said that the Department was not paying for the work, just monitoring it and said that she believed that penalties would be assessed because the contractor was doing work beyond a minor permit that had already expired.
Mr. Joe O’Donoghue of the Residential Builders Association said that years ago there was 24 hour, 7 days a week monitoring of projects. Mr. O’Donoghue stated that it was Inspector Sweeney who was designated over the weekend and said that the industry’s input is that there should be inspectors out on the weekends because of illegal work. Mr. O’Donoghue said that this system of having Inspector’s out on the weekend guarantees the safety of this City and its residents. Mr. O’Donoghue said that during the Mayor’s chagrin at this Department when the Mayor unilaterally over the opposition of the Board of Supervisors decided not to give the proper staffing to DBI the Mayor compromised the safety of residents of this City by not allowing the jobs to be filled. Mr. O’Donoghue said that fortunately the Department was able to make the choice to keep the inspectors monitoring on the weekends. Mr. O’Donoghue said that when the inspector jobs are not being filled there is a reason why the Commissioners should appear before the Board of Supervisors and strongly protest the political actions that actually could again jeopardize the safety of citizens. Mr. O’Donoghue said that if Inspector Sweeney did not go out to that job site and the building came down the Mayor would have liable for criminal prosecution. Mr. O’Donoghue stated that there are a number of such cases in the community and said that Commissioner Guinnane should bring the issue of faulty foundations back to the Commission because if there is an earthquake there will be deaths in those buildings.
Mr. John Kelly said that almost two years ago the Civil Grand Jury issued a critical report concerning the Department of Building Inspection. Mr. Kelly said that the report criticized the Department for preferential treatment in an atmosphere where employees feared retaliation for reporting misconduct. Mr. Kelly stated that in their reply, the Department and this Commission criticized the report because it was not substantiated and lacked specifics; however this past November and January, Mr. Kelly said he presented to this Commission specific and detailed complaints concerning biased and unprofessional treatment by the Department. Mr. Kelly stated that despite this fact the Commission dismissed his complaints with either no consideration of those facts or with very little consideration. Mr. Kelly said that in fact, at the November meeting Commissioner Ting asked the Department to submit a response to his complaints, but no response was ever forthcoming. Mr. Kelly stated that it seems to him that the Commission wants to have it both ways and said that if the complaints are made without specifics, the Commission dismissed the complaints for those reasons. Mr. Kelly said that if complaints are made with specifics, the Commission dismissed the complaint anyway, with little or no discussion of those specifics. Mr. Kelly said that he would suggest that this is hypocritical and unworthy of a Department as important as DBI, as important as this Department and the Commission.
Ms. Jakkee Bryson said that she needed to bring to the Commission’s attention an exemption that she does not understand that the Department of Building Inspection has granted to the emergency winter shelters for the homeless in the City and County of San Francisco. Ms. Bryson said that Americans with Disabilities Act asks for a federal mandate and said that she did not understand how the City and County of San Francisco could exempt itself from a federal mandate. Ms. Bryson said that emergency winter shelters in this county do not have to be accessible and said that she would strongly urge this Commission to agendize this matter so there would be a discussion as to why that is. Ms. Bryson stated that the City would be going into discussions for the 2005/2006 budget with the Board of Supervisors and the emergency winter shelters are part of the budget for the Department of Human Services, even those with the San Francisco Interfaith Council. Ms. Bryson said that she was at the illegal shelter, Providence that went first from a shelter for men only, which did not have any licensing whatsoever. Ms. Bryson said that she started filing complaints regarding these various shelters, which were at the choir room at St. Mary’s, the social hall at Providence, etc. Ms. Bryson stated that the next thing that happened was that the shelters received permits, but disabled access was something that was no longer required. Ms. Bryson said that she would like this matter handled locally and urged the Commission to agendize this issue as soon as possible so there could be a full discussion. Ms. Bryson said that she knew she had a Federal option and said she would not be afraid to use the Feds.
Mr. David Sasoon said that he was a member of the U.S. Navy for the United States, not for San Francisco and said that he was wondering if the San Francisco Building Inspection is aware that the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange had an equinox gymnasium and said that people need to do business with the Pacific Coast and it is under a gymnasium. Mr. Sasoon said that this was a very important, political question with the men in Iraq and asked if the Commission was aware of this. Vice-President Hanrahan said that she was not aware of it, but that the Commission was now aware of it.
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15. |
Adjournment.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 028-05
The meeting adjourned at 10.30 a.m. |
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Respectfully Submitted, ________________________ |
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SUMMARY OF REQUESTS BY COMMISSIONERS |
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Future Item – Legislation to address Code Enforcement to protect historical buildings in San Francisco – (1 to 2 months) – Acting Director Lee |
Pages 1 & 2 |
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Future Item – Hiring of Housing Inspectors – (next meeting) Acting Director Lee |
Pages 2 & 3 |
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Follow-up with number of projects submitted to DBI for Hunters Point – Commissioner Guinnane |
Page 2 |
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Report on the accountability of Plan Checkers & Engineers – Commissioner Guinnane |
Page 4 & 11 |
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Homeless shelters that have exceeded occupancy load – Commissioner Fillon |
Page 4 |
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Issue of obtaining extended warranties for vehicles purchased by DBI – Commissioner Guinnane |
Page 10 |
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Issue of Board of Permit Appeals overturning decision by DBI hearing officer – Commissioner Guinnane |
Pages 10 & 11 |
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James Lee & defective foundations – Commissioner Guinnane Mitigation for homeowners – Vice-President Hanrahan |
Page 11 |
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DBI organizational chart – Chain of Command – Commissioner Guinnane |
Page 11 |