DBI and Housing Authority formalize complaint protocol; DBI reports 56 complaints in two years

Rosemarie Boske, chief housing inspector for the Department of Building Inspection, told the Building Inspection Commission on Aug. 20 that a memorandum of understanding with the San Francisco Housing Authority has clarified how DBI forwards occupant complaints and tracks remediation.

"As soon as a complaint comes in, [we] send it via email as an attachment," Boske said, describing a standardized form sent to the housing authority's director of management, manager of maintenance and general counsel. She said the MOU distinguishes non-life-safety complaints (forwarded within two business days) from life-safety hazards (forwarded within one business day).

The presentation gave commissioners a two-year tally of activity under the agreement: 56 complaints in total (33 in the first year and 23 so far this calendar year), about 96 alleged violation items across those complaints because a single complaint can include multiple issues, and 11 cases still outstanding, Boske said. She characterized most outstanding items as requiring major renovation rather than immediate life-safety abatement.

"This system works a lot better than what we had before," Boske said, adding that the housing authority has generally been responsive when DBI provides information. She described the MOU as a protocol for complaint handling rather than a mandate for routine inspections of all public-housing units.

Kyle Peterson, government liaison for the Housing Authority, told the commission the agreement is timely during the agency's leadership transition and urged clearer public messaging and technical integration with the city's 311 call center so residents know where to report problems. "One way of doing that was to ensure 26#8212; and to improve upon 26#8212; by connecting it to 311," Peterson said.

Commissioners questioned staffing and resources. Boske said DBI currently assigns roughly one inspector to the MOU workload and has logged about 50 to 64 staff hours on the program over two years; she cautioned that an onslaught of complaints would require reassessing staffing and that DBI does not currently receive Housing Authority funding for the service.

Commissioners also pressed whether the MOU duplicates federal HUD inspections; Boske said the two systems use different standards and that the MOU is aimed at complaint response, not replacing HUD's annual inspections. She recommended continued tracking and a potential pilot study of one or two buildings if routine inspections are later considered.

Next steps discussed included DBI staff reporting back on 311 call-routing details and a meeting among the commission president, the acting director and the Housing Authority director to refine messaging and identify possible efficiencies.

Provenance: Topic begins with the MOU introduction and Boske's presentation and discussion (transcript SEG 55626#8211;SEG 786) and continues through Housing Authority remarks and follow-up questions (SEG 107926#8211;SEG 1290).