Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the DBI Administration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DBI previews code‑enforcement fee, charter rename and May town hall
Summary
DBI Director Vivian Dade told the commission the department will reintroduce a code enforcement monitoring fee, seek charter changes to rename the Department of Building Inspection to the Department of Building Safety, and host a Building Safety Month town hall on May 14.
Vivian Dade, director of the Department of Building Inspection, briefed the commission on several administrative and legislative initiatives on April 21, including reintroducing a code‑enforcement monthly monitoring fee, pursuing a landscape water‑conservation ordinance with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and proposing charter changes to rebrand DBI.
Dade said the previously passed code‑enforcement monitoring fee has been reintroduced to the mayor’s office and will come before the Board of Supervisors for approval. She told commissioners that the department included additional expected revenue in its current budget on the basis that the fee would be approved. Dade said the department is also reviewing charter amendments to rename the Central Permit Bureau the Permit Center and to change the department name to "Department of Building Safety," which she said would better encompass energy, water and green‑building functions added to DBI’s responsibilities.
On outreach, Dade said DBI will mark May as Building Safety Month and host a public town hall on May 14, 1–5 p.m. at the public library theatre to explain department services to homeowners, contractors and property owners. Bill Strand, DBI’s legislative affairs manager, read the mayoral proclamation declaring May 2010 Building Safety Month and cited the department’s role inspecting and enforcing codes for the city’s nearly 200,000 buildings.
Dade described plans to consolidate permitting services across multiple departments in a single Permit Center, pursue combined IT contracting to lower costs for citywide projects and explore merging desktop support/help‑desk functions with the Human Services Agency. Commissioners asked about outreach at neighborhood festivals and suggested coordinated multi‑agency booths; Dade said DBI already budgets and attends multiple events and will work with other departments and the Small Business Association on a one‑stop permitting pilot.
Dade said some charter changes are administrative and would not require a voter referendum, and she indicated the department will work with budget analysts on staff and implementation timing.
