the award to san francisco for the green building policy that was awarded last fall in south africa that we passed almost two years ago. from that green building policy, san francisco was awarded by the world green building counsel at a meeting in south africa as the best green building city in its policy in the world. i would also like to extend a tremendous thank you to the fellow commissioners and city administration, dbi staff, who have helped make these achievements achievable, and also to get into the category of not resting on our laurels, but to continue forward to carry the mantle that pass on -- that i

pass on the baton to the commissioners and staff, that this is a great city, and that one of my objectives was to also help make this great city even better, but not rest on our laurels and continue to make this great city of san francisco even better. aside from that, are there other opinions or comments the other commissioners would like to do during my present statement here? commissioner murphy: i would like to make a few comments. i have had a wonderful six years on this commission. parting can be such a sweet sorrow. two years as president, and long before i was appointed as a dbi commissioner, my business took

me to the building department very often, and i always felt like i too was very comfortable. it was like being around family, and i knew everybody. notwithstanding, i had many ups and downs and many ros -- rows. becoming a commissioner was exciting, and i was delighted to serve. so many dbi they that easy for me. i want to pay special tribute to ed sweeney, who has always stepped up when asked to. -- so many in dbi made that easy for me.

joe duffy, tom huey, niel free -- neil freeman. they've contributed so much to making changes that make it easy or easier for the stakeholders to do business. when i started, i had this notion that i would get things done quickly. little did i know that what i considered a six-month project would take six years and had been in the pipeline for, i believe -- one public speaker used to come in here early on when i was first commissioner,

and he would say, "we started this conversation when i was 63. i am now 73." if you do that math, we are talking about 16, 17 years. now, i know for sure that the wheels turn slowly, but when they do, they grind. the commission secretaries' managed to buck that trend, and i would like to thank ann, now retired, and sony up for their tireless work and keeping the officially connected -- and sonya for their tireless work and keeping me connected. frank was here when i got here. he was just a wonderful commissioner, wonderful friend, and also reuben.

reuben was my vice-president for a couple of years, and i enjoyed working with him. kevin. enjoyed working with him. also warren mar. i have a lot of great memories. i remember when president who was president -- he was on the commission for two or three years, and when he left -- i remember him saying to me, "i have been on this commission for four years, and you know what? i feel like i have not achieved a god-damned thing." i could not relate to that kind of statement. i think we have made some remarkable achievements. commissioner walker deserves a special mention because we were

at loggerheads so often. however, as you all know, i prefer to look them in the eye. if i had anything to say -- she is not here today, so i will leave that alone. the sweetness in parting is the extra time i will have to be with my wife, my daughter and my new chocolate lab. there are no shortcuts to any place worth going. you make a difference. i want to thank you all so much. commissioner hechanova: thank you, commissioner murphy. commissioner lee commissioner lee: -- commissioner lee. commissioner lee: i want to comment on something

commissioner murphy just said. please do not feel things have not been accomplished. we have accomplished a lot since you joined us. in and out probably the longest continuing survey member. commissioner walker may have more time based on her prior service, but when i got here, i was working with commissioner rivera -- romero. i want to thank him for his service in this commission. at that time, when i joined -- we will just say there were issues with the department, with the commission. we saw what it should be like. we knew what good government should be. we are good government people. we like to keep things transparent, open, have proper debate without intimidation, without any negativity, that

sort of thing. we started it, and it really got going when you, commissioner murphy, got on board. we now have the department working properly. we have things like incompatible activities for our employees to follow. we have rules that our commission should follow. what is compatible with us, what we should not be doing and so on and so forth. things are a lot better since six years ago. we are trying to move things forward now. we are trying to implement a permit tracking system. i know they do think -- they do seem like they are taking a long time, but we are trying to move forward to a better situation. i want to thank you, everybody,

for doing a good job. commissioner mar: i was before commissioner melgar the newest commissioner in this body. i wanted to just bank commissioner murphy -- sank commissioner murphy and -- thank commissioner murphy and hechanova for briefing me on what it would be like to sit on this commission. it is important for everyone to understand we are a citizen commission. some of us come from different places. some of us were landlords. some of us were in the professions, whether

architecture, engineering, and construction, and we bring some of those experiences with us, but it is different when you are up here. it is not your projectit is not. it is other people's projects. what commissioner lee said is a very important. we want to keep things open. i want to think three commissioners. romero, murphy, and hechanova. i think we have moved forward, because we have kept political debate open and honest. while we have not always agree, i really appreciate, especially commissioner murphy and hechanova, who brought me in and told me, like commissioner murphy said, tell us face-to- face in disagreements. sometimes we argue things out, sometimes in public. but that is part of the process.

that is part of the process of good government, which commissioner lee talked about. sometimes things are slow to get done in san francisco, but we are a very big city. we are a very crowded city. you know, people like to get involved. this is part of the process. i want to thank the commissioners who have served with us for that work. and hopefully we will continue to improve on things as we move ahead. commissioner hechanova: commissioner clinch. commissioner clinch: i would like to add my two sons, thank you to commissioner murphy, hechanova, and commissioner romero. in the words that you guys have said today, you did not allude to the time commitments involved and the work you have done. it has been enormous, and we

shall not go on without recognizing that it has taken a lot of work and time, and that should be appreciated. commissioner hechanova: thank you. commissioner murphy: in case anybody got the wrong message, yes, we achieved an awful lot in the last six years. i mean, i am personally very proud of the over-the-counter permit service, which i remember way back when i sat down with ed and jeremy, i want to say thanks to jeremy. we talked about how we could get that moving and get it on a different check -- track. tom stepped up, and he was relentless in getting that to work. we're probably going to talk a little bit of that -- about that in the budget. i also want to say to my to pam back there. her and i had disagreements over budget matters and stuff. nothing personal. i also want to say thanks to

john over here, who was always there if we ever had a legal question. i appreciate that also. thank you. >> as the new kid on the block, i am sorry that you are stepping off. i was looking forward to serving with you, but i have great hopes for the future. i come to this board as a longtime tenant and housing rights advocate. i have worked as a nonprofit developer. i am also homeowner and a landlord here in san francisco. i have been a longtime city employee and have worked in that program that have been jointly administered by dbi and the mayor's office of housing and i will try my best to keep that a civil discussion going on and things that we may not be agreeing on the always be respectful, and keep in mind what is in the best interest of

the people of san francisco. so thank you very much for being so gracious. an thank you to sonya for making the transition into the commission so seamless. thank you very much. commissioner hechanova: as a working body, as the complement's continue to really have this category of momentum, the wheels that are rolling forward, there is significantly more work to be done, and the category is not that we are missing, but the people that are now in the position to keep the wheels rolling. this also set the bar a little bit more higher where we have achieved and that category of how to achieve those is the transparency of making sure that the safety and welfare and health of our fair city is

really at the apex of our objectives, and the category here that the core value of those objectives are clear. and that's the way the permitting process is fair and transparent. last but not least, i would also like to extend my personal thank you to sonya, who has been terrific to step in and a step in boldly and more than adequately the wide and a big shoes of ann ahe andr also the strongestn directivee and i, opinion and the guidance that john malamut has provided me in my presidency and during my years as a commissioner and vice-president. thank you very much. in light of that, let's move on

and get back to business. thank you. >> first, and went to officially welcome commissioner melgar to the commission as well. and just to say thank you to commissioner hechanova, murphy, and commissioner roegner, though he is not here, and i thoroughly enjoyed working with you guys. you have been instrumental in getting me where i am and of the department. i am sure that ann sends your well wishes as well. next, any comments on item number two, the president's announcements? seeing nine, item number four, report, discussion, and possible action to approve the department of building inspections proposed budget for fiscal year 2012- 2013. commissioner hechanova: number 3, public comment. >> i am sorry. i moved on to quickly. item number 3 is public comment. the bic will take public comment

on matters within the commission's jurisdiction that are not part of this agenda. >> good morning, president hechanova and members of the building inspection commission. deputy director sweeney, deputy city attorney. my name is joseph butler, an architect in private practice in san francisco 24 years now. a member of the american institute of architects for the past 22 years. today, i am requesting that the building inspection commission convene a hearing next month on the failure of director day to make a determination about whether or not a permit application 2011 02250973 for 550 jersey street was issued in error. we believe it must be revoked, because the san francisco building code has not been upheld. the city charter grants commissions the power to hold hearings. this commission has a specific responsibility for the enforcement and administration,

and interpretation of the city's building mechanical, electrical and plumbing bills. the charter appendix describes the bic's powers and duties. shall inspect and recommend additions, alterations, and repairs covered by the san francisco code. the commission may reverse, a firm, or modify determinations made by the department of building inspection on all permits required for final certificate of completion. i wrote to director day on december 9, 2011, requesting that she investigate the 550 jersey street permit application for the numerous breakdowns in departmental procedures and practices intended to protect the health and safety of the public. i followed up on february 3 of this year, citing the sections of the building code that were violated. for a 10-year project where the construction had never begun, including the failure of the

central permit bureau to perform its duties on this application and the discovery of two different documents purporting to be the approved permits issued by dbi, i had requested the director provide me her determination on the errors after previously afforded her two months of time for investigation. i have not even had the courtesy of a reply from the director. i construe her of failure to act as an upholding of the permits issuance. in light of serious and numerous building code violations with respect to this application, i have identified to her in handling of the 550 jersey permit. i hereby challenge her determination that is the ballot, and in putting your commission on notice of my imminent appeal. departmental decisions on permits are subject to the building inspection commission review as authorized in the charter. [bell rings] therefore, i request that your commission act on my appeal on

or before your next regular meeting in march. i will submit the appeal in writing within the 15-day requirement on february 10. i will ask this commission in march to find that the facts of errors in the issuance of this permit are serious enough to order its revocation. i do not undertake this lightly and have afforded the director every opportunity to act in upholding the san francisco building co. thank you for your time and attention. [bell rings] commissioner hechanova: thank you. >> is there any additional public comment? ok, cnn, item number four, report, discussion, and possible action to approve the department of building inspections proposed budget for fiscal year 2012-2013 and of the proposed draft budget for fiscal year 2013-2014. >> good morning. pamela, department of building inspection. at your last meeting, you asked us to make several changes in

the budget, and i documented those in the report i gave you. specifically, we clarified that the new electrical inspector and won a new pulp -- plumbing inspector will be budgeted in their respective divisions, the inspection division. they will be working on an as- needed basis part time, doing plan review, as needed. and they will also be out in the field doing inspections. so it will be shared. then you wanted us to look again at the staff for plan checks, and we're proposing that add two new engineers and two new associate engineers to the staff. that brings permit services up to 74 positions at the end of

2013-2014. we funded those positions by looking at what the new rates that are rolled through by the comptroller's office through the budget system, which were less than they were originally loaded in it there, so there were some savings there. and we also increased revenues by a small percentage. we felt confident that the revenues are achievable. we looked at the current year's revenues that we have been reporting in terms of the financial report, looked at what has come in and reprojected, and this will be discussed when the finance reports are done in the meeting later. we have also gotten feedback from the municipal finance advisory committee, also known as mfac.

they had a meeting. that consists of several different departments. and a large part by the controller's office, and they meet with people in the city and the bay area at large. experts in the various fields that impact the city's revenue. so there is always a person from realty, you know, real-estate developers, and basically, they're all so seeing growth in revenues for the general fund. we are trying to be very conservative in making sure that we do not overestimate our revenues, as was done several years ago, so we do not have a situation where we have to cut staff. but we are recognizing that there are increases. we also know, and i think you're all fully aware, that filling positions does take a long time.

so, you know, not only do we have the normal attrition, we are forced into attrition by the fact that physicians do not get filled right away. so we feel pretty confident. on the subject of positions and representative positions, we were successful this last week in getting 15 requisitions through the mayor's office under the department of human resources. now the trick is going to be being able to actually being able to bring somebody on board through the recruitment process, including the eight clerks who have testing requirements. so we're doing everything we can dehere to make sure that we're being responsible in terms of what we're proposing in the budget, that we are being responsible to our customers in

providing services and working with others in the city family to try to keep our department moving along. the other change that we are making, we had a vehicle that was involved in a hit and run on city property. since we have gotten approval to replace vehicles and this of the gulf, the cost to fix it was roughly 50%, the cost to get a new one, and it is an old vehicle, we have gotten approval to add another vehicle. due to additional information we have gotten on with the actual cost of the vehicles would become a we have a benefit that within our budget that we have for the vehicles.

and i guess the last point i would like to make this that, you know, the budget gets submitted to the mayor's office next week. and then we have a long period of time where it moves through the mayor's process, and there are a lot of things that could occur during that time. french rates could change. salary rates could change based on the fact that we have 27 mou's, agreements with the unions, up for negotiation, including some of the large ones. so we will see some up and down as we go through the process. and we will report back to you when we can. commissioner hechanova: thank you, pam. commissioners, questions? >> the issue i had at the last commission meeting was stopping for certain services. since then, the president set

down with the director, and she assured us of the necessary funding. and for the fifth floor, the over-the-counter. she assured us that tom, who will run the department, will be adequately staffed. i just wanted to say that for the record. commissioner hechanova: commissioners, additional questions, comments? >> no, i do not have a question -- actually, i do not want to start by saying, thanks, pam, for clarifying the new staff persons in the budget for me. thank you. i appreciate that. you also mentioned that 15 have been approved. are those to fill the vacancies for this year or next year? >> yes, there is going to be a

challenge, especially with the clerk due to the testing process. but we are working through that throughdhr, human-resources department, and whenever we need to do to ensure that those are filled quickly. commissioner hechanova: i additional questions? commissioner mar: given how difficult it has been to fill positions in the past, have we also looked into bringing back some retirees through prop f, so we contemporary l-- we can temporarily fill some of the positions while we try to hire some prominent ones? >> you have to have a position vacant that is approved. now we have those approved. but the second issue is that, for the most part, the

individuals who have retired have gone out with very large salaries. and when they come back for prop f, they go to the lower salary. so to attract people, it is rather difficult. we continue to look at the feasibility of doing that. but if we can, especially with the engineers come and get those on board quickly, then in makes more sense -- and then if it makes more sense to keep pushing on at that. commissioner murphy: dbi is a real cash cow, as everybody knows. i brought up -- i urged the new commissioners to ask lots of questions regarding the budget, where the money goes. as far as