Building Inspection Commission approves DBI budget submission, urges restoration of SRO/COP grant funding

San Francisco — The San Francisco Building Inspection Commission voted unanimously on Feb. 12 to approve the Department of Building Inspection's proposed budget submission to the mayor and Board of Supervisors, adding an amendment directing that community grant funding for SRO- and outreach programs be fully restored.

The amendment followed a departmental presentation that outlined proposed staffing additions, technical and policy budget changes, and three options to fund a $1,128,000 cut to community grant programs that support SRO (single-room occupancy) tenants and tenant outreach programs.

Deputy Director Alex Koskinen, Deputy Director, Administration for the Department of Building Inspection, presented the two-year budget and walked commissioners through updated figures, a set of 11 proposed new positions and changes to fee policy. "These are non-discretionary items," Koskinen said of many technical adjustments that simply realign job classes and reflect current staffing assignments. He described 11 new policy positions the department is requesting, including a business analyst for a proposed GIS unit, an HR staffer to internalize previously outsourced DHR services, administrative analysts to manage a vulnerable concrete building program and records cleanup, product/project manager staff for a permit-tracking transition, additional permit technicians for virtual plan review, an administrative engineer to align plan-review management ranks, and a legal affairs manager to coordinate city attorney services.

Koskinen told the commission the department is proposing to revive a technology fee (estimated as roughly 2–3 percent of existing fees) to create a technology reserve; he said the department is planning for a system replacement that could cost tens of millions of dollars and…