on permit tracking system. >> i was hired 2.5 years ago -- 2.5 weeks ago for the permit tracking system. my background is in program management. 20 years i tieck, business, and quality assurance program management. -- i.p., business, and quality assurance program management. the ceo from excelia moaurie blackmen. we provided you a project -- -- projects thastatus. i would like to walk through the status.

we find a contract of that debt on september 12. -- we signed a contract on september 12. we are finalizing the relationship. we are beginning the initiation stage, and that includes a work chart, project charter in the draft, we are preparing for a kickoff meeting presentation for next week, and we have a system staging environment ready. we have had meetings with dbi in

terms of discussing the liberals and time lines. our kickoff meeting for the internal stop is on october 26 from 10:00 until 11:30. we have provided excerpts of the statement of work. we have begun the status meeting on reporting, and our next steps are to complete the initial phase 1 deliverable next thought. commissioner hechanova: item #6 -- >> yes. i would like to walk you through the time line.

hit no. 5 on the computer so you can get a full page. we have the project laid out in stages. right now we're in the initiation phase, and that is also preparations. the project charter, which is in

progress, the project plan with a draft of and finalizing, and the kickoff meeting next week. we also set up the staging environment, which is being tested. the next page is the analysis. we will be looking at the business process reengineering that already occurred, and identifying any changes. that is looking at the as is and to be processes that were already analyze, bringing in subject matters to determine if there are any changes. stage three, configuration. that is where we go through the records system and determine how we need to configure it for our needs in terms of workflow, data, displays. stage four, that is where the system actually gets built. we have a core system we build in. data conversion reports, add-on

projects and user interfaces. stage five, that is where we get ready for production, do their training. stage six, we deploy, system goes live, production support. we prepare for transitions, and excel has helped us. stage seven of final transition and move over to the crc help desk. the schedule is to be done with everything by december 1. questions? >> on this 24 months, i have sat here for six years to get to this stage, and so have some of the commissioners here.

we supposedly signed a contract in august, and really nothing has happened since august. a beautiful way out by the way. first of all-- layout, by the w. first of all, it is the citizens of san francisco better when to pay for it, so we need to show them value. stage two and three, why can't that be implemented by november 2011 or december 2011? >> what we need is to work with the resources. >> one more question. how many people are on your team? >> 20 subject matter experts, three directors.

>> you are on the city side? >> yes. 20 subject matter. project managers and directors, planning side, about 20 subject matter as well. we will review with the subject matter experts all the business processes and work flows. >> on the facilitators side, they were candid and with you guys? >> yes, they will partner with us closely. >> i really think we have been through the caps and a lot and this commission, and we tend to procrastinate a lot, and i would like someone to tell me why this will take 24 months.

>> we want to make sure we do it with quality. it is really important to the citizens. this is a good opportunity to do high-quality, provide transparency, mobile access. we want to make sure the resources are available so that business as usual can take place. there is configuration of the system. and it was planned out very closely with the planning department, dbi and excelia in terms of what it would take. if we can move any faster, we definitely will. we are driving this thing forward. we have done major progress in the past two weeks in terms of the liberals, partnering with all the different groups. we have a strong team. i feel good we can move it forward quickly. >> is there an overview group?

we have a pack group that meets once a month. do we have an oversight -- >> yes. we have -- >> not the commission, someone from the stakeholders that understands the ins and outs of dbi. dbi is quite specialized. a lot of people know a lot about certain items, but they do not see the overall picture. we need people that can see the whole field. you say your that person, i hope yourself with people that understand that. what i would really like to see here is the jump to #six. when did we expect the first

permits being issued? there is no system, as far as i know, no system that is going to be perfect right off the bat. we're for to put a system in place, and we will be working out the kinks for years, which is fine. but to get a system up and running, we need to start now and start doing it right. i am doing all the talking. i want to hear what the other commissioners think about it. i would like to hear from everybody involved on your team. you know, i do not want to hear it will take 24 months. it will not be perfect at the end of 24 months. maybe we could get it to 12 months or something like that. at that time we can have an overview, and it is also very important that this committee

comes from the stakeholders, guys that are writing the checks that have input. i do not mind that sitting in one of those committee meetings. i want to see a move forward. i think the commission should get support on doing that. >> we have a steering committee of directors around the city, on the planning side. office of the mayor, comptroller's, etc.. we have a governing committee that will be the chief of staff of planning, the deputy director. we have management and actual desk people involved from the whole building. we have been having meetings walking through work clothes. lots of resources and teamwork. commissioner hechnoanova: the

other thing is you are the quarterback in this. if you decide to take a vacation, will someone be able to run with this? i would hate to see that happen. >> we are partnering very closely. everyone knows what everyone else is doing. we will stick to this time line. that is my job. we will be giving you statices every month. commissioner a cahechanova: i understand that. we have a lot of people drawing big salaries. we all want this to happen, happen tomorrow. it would seem the taxes an area where the interface with the public could readily happened between those departments or department representatives, and also from within.

>> i will be starting that process next week with the demo and the entire pack community. commissioner lee i ame: i am also disappointed to hear that will take two years to go live. to propose these stages? -- who proposed these stages? is this dbi? >> it was the city, dbi, and excelia. commissioner lee: what do you feel about these deadlines. do you feel they are could deadlines? >> yes, i think it is laid out well. this is our opportunity to do the things right, to show their

community how valuable this is. we want to make sure it is quality. once again, if we can move forward more quickly, we definitely will. >> commissioner lee: i understand you will want to do quality work, but we need to move things along quicker. we need to get something running, it may be bareboned system to get the system running, and then maybe adding on improvements as you go, and maybe in two years' time it would be perfect, but i would like to see something that can be implemented soon and we get a little if you can. i see this all the time in the food industry. why can't we do this here? commissioner walker: we have been discussing this project for six years, and maybe longer,

but i would remind commissioners that the rfp that went out actually included the discussion of how it was going to be implemented, and those are things that have led to this. every conversation we have had on this project informed us it was going to take a two-year project to years once we chose a vendor. i am a little bit confused as to why there is consternation on the part of my fellow commissioners, but the amount of data, the amount of interface, the amount of -- lack of coordinated effort between planning and building at this point really complicates this process. we also have old data that needs to be transferred into the new system. i think that putting pressure on

this, understanding that the public is going to be better served once we have this in place is a good thing, but i think impatience could lead to mistakes in the system that we are investing a lot of money in, and i think the ultimate goal is to have a great system that provides good public service, transparent information, and secure information. i think that we would do good to not micromanage this project when we really do not know about computer systems. is my 2 cents. good to meet you. i welcome you into this process that will really change about how the public is served and how quickly we can get project approved and built. i think we're all really interested in doing that, but i just warn commissioners to put the pressure in a realistic way,

and not create problems by accelerating a process to be more carefully positioned. >> i would say it is a very good team working collaborative way, and now the contract is signed and have resources on board, we are moving ahead quickly. we keep getting new status is. commissioner murphy: i wanted to hear from the other side. the facilitators. whoever is representing. >> good morning. i and the ceo om the ceo of exc. thank you for having me. i have had the pleasure of living here for a few years and one of my goals to be able to help the city provide a great

service that improves the relationship between the city and its citizens and other parts of the construction community, as well as provide a system that provides more transparency and leads to more accountability. i will answer any questions that you have about the project. commissioner hechanova: my question to you would be is there any way we can get this system up and running before that? why it should take so long? >> let me reiterate our commitment to getting this done as fast as possible. i think we will work very closely with the project team to condense this project down and to squeeze every ounce of efficiency out of our team and the department as possible. i was delighted to hear there are 20 subject matter experts

that are going to be tasked to this project. one of the things we've seen in the past is project it slowed down when the vendor and consultants who are working on the project are unable to extract information from staff, so having that amount of people is actually a very good thing. when i look at the project plan myself to answer your specific question, where do i see, using my background, potential to squeeze in save time? i think -- when the power point was put up, there was a blue area around stage three that really marked the disembarking point where we will get to a stage and try to recap the timeline to see where we work, so we could potentially work very diligently in stage two and three.

my goal is the same as yours, and the same as staff, to show value for the citizens so that they can realize the value of this investment, and we will make the best efforts to make sure that is done. >> you are sayicommissioner hecg stage two and three could be done by december? >> yes, we will work with the teams to make sure we squeeze every ounce of efficiency out of our staff to make sure that happens. commissioner hechanova: how do you feel about us getting a system up and running fast and then working out of the kinks? >> one thing, and i will listen to what commissioner walker said, and i agree with certain

parts of that, because this is a very complex system. it is a complex city. there are regulations that apply here but do not apply everywhere else, primarily because of where we live in the earthquake zone. i am not sure putting a bare bone system oup is needed, but e need to make sure whatever we put up serves the public to the full extent. does that make sense? is>> is this system so unique that it will take that long to address the key issues the department needs? >> we have clients all around the world. we're based in the bay area. we provide a software package

that is tailored specifically to meet the needs of government agencies. dbi and planning primarily. what is unique, of course, is the size of the scope of the project. this is a project that is very complex because of the number of people but will be interacting with this system, not just on the city side, but the customer side. we have very small accounts and have very large accounts, new york city, mel bourne, australia. when you have a very large audience you have to serve, both on the government side as well as customers, the margin of error is very narrow, because the last thing we want to happen is for customer to get online and not get the right information. i have heard the presentations

before about mistakes and this got deleted and that got deleted. we need to make sure when we put the system up, that everything is as accurate as possible. >> we will have certain interfaces. will our equipment and current technical capability be sufficient to run this system, or do we need some server upgrades that we know are really reaching their life cycle use, will we need to really implement that also? >> there are two parts to the question. i will address the server question first. the contract between excelia and the city is we will provide all the infrastructure for you. all of this server capabilities,

everything is done through us. very similar to what you see with salesforce.com and other vendors to twho sell use softwa. as far as the technical capability, part of the contract is to provide training to staff to empower them with the capability so they can manage the system, so our trainers from our company will come in and teach them how to maintain the system, so that when we leave it will be empowered to basically take care of it themselves. commissioner lee: could you mention what you did for do or new york and other cities? >> we have an implementation

going on there that a similar size to this with the department of health to do restaurant inspections. it is an 18-month project i believe that. i guess the interesting thing from there is it took a lot of political effort to get to the start right. i think that if i were to think about your question -- i think what you are leading to is is this a typical implementation time line? i would say that it is a conservative plan that will get us where we need to be. to the extent that we can do things faster and better, we will most certainly do that. commissioner lee: ok, and maybe we should get an update in march or april something like that to see how things are going and see if there is a new proposed

timeline. >> absolutely. i live here in the bay area, and i am happy to come to any one of them. thank you. commissioner lee: presumably were operating on a fixed income feet. presumably it is on your best interest to act quickly. i think we recognize that. commissioner hechanova: on the other side, there is no incentive. >> item 5d, an update on that

major projects. -- update on major projects. >> good morning, commissioners. in your package you have a paper telling you how many high- profile projects we have currently in store or maybe in the future, and also those mou projects. the biggest part is the public safety buildings. the public safety building is the future of of police headquarters, and also the fire house.

currently the whole block of buildings in the area, and it has been filed already in the course of that. friday is the $164 million. the next four projects are lincoln hill, and also trinity plaza, and 45 lansing street. those are the projects on the high rise. those projects we have been planning for a long time, but due to the economic downturn, it is on holding status. right now those projects came back. the new project we have on that is 184 chanel's street.

you have $104 million. we also will embark on the mta project, the subway projects. as you know, the total cost right now projecting is about $1.7 billion, and we expect three projects. the smithsonian station, union station and [inaudible] . that amounts to $520 million and projects. our mou project, the biggest project we have, the high-speed project we have, the high-speed rail is undergoing the perm