San Francisco Building Inspection Commission to ratify three senior hires as director reorganizes DBI

San Francisco — May 30, 2007 — The Building Inspection Commission clarified its limited role in the Department of Building Inspection—s reorganization on Wednesday, saying the charter requires the commission to ratify only three specific appointments even as the director moves to reorganize the department into seven managerial positions.

Director Issam Hassanin presented a memo describing seven proposed managerial slots for fiscal 2007-08: three deputy-director classifications and four manager classifications, all exempt from the city—s civil service process under the director—s plan. The memo said several appointments would be project-based, at-will positions limited to three years.

"In the coming year, there will be 7 positions that [are] exempt from the civil service provisions of the city charter," the director said in the presentation. He told commissioners he planned to advertise the openings widely and to bring the best candidates forward.

John Malamud of the city attorney—s office told the commission that, under the charter, the board must ratify specific individuals for three slots: the assistant director and up to two deputy directors. "For those specific three positions, the commission has to ratify those in terms of specific individuals," Malamud said.

Commissioners spent much of the meeting seeking clarity about the limits of that ratification: whether the commission could delegate broad authority to the director, whether the three-year, project-based appointments required any additional approvals, and whether ratification had to occur before new hires started work. Malamud said the charter—s ratification requirement applies to specific individuals and that timing is flexible but that bringing nominees to the commission sooner, rather than months later, would reduce uncertainty for appointees.

Several commissioners expressed support for giving the director latitude to organize his staff while reserving the commission—s formal right to ratify the three charter-defined appointments. "I think we should give the director the flexibility to work within the system to decide what is best for the department," one commissioner said. Another commissioner said the commission could not legally grant blanket authority to the director to bypass the ratification requirement.

Members of the public and industry groups made lengthy comments during the public-comment period, overwhelmingly urging the commission to support the director—s effort to speed permitting and improve department performance. Dennis Carlin, vice president of the Building Inspectors Association, said the union had an open dialogue with the director and expressed conditional support while seeking assurances on how inspectors and plan-check staff would be affected.

"He's got an open door policy to us," Carlin said. "We want to work with him and we hope we'll have some hires within our department that'll fill some of these manager positions." Several contractors and business owners also urged faster permit turnaround and better coordination between building and planning.

The director told commissioners he would bring nominees for the three charter-defined slots for ratification, likely in closed session, and recommended the commission adopt criteria for ratification and evaluation. Commissioners agreed to place that work on the next agenda: they scheduled a follow-up for June 20 to set ratification criteria and performance benchmarks.

No formal appointments or votes on hiring were taken at Wednesday—s special meeting. A procedural motion to adjourn carried after a move and second.

What happens next: The commission will discuss and is expected to adopt criteria for ratifying the assistant director and deputy director nominations at its June 20 meeting. The director has said he will advertise openings broadly and return with names for ratification before new hires are treated as permanent under the charter process.