The Sacramento City Council soon may be asked to amend city code to legalize a longtime practice that helped bring about the suspension of the Facilities Permit Program. In the next few weeks, city staff want to ask the council to allow FPP construction projects to start before building permits are issued — as long as a business has a written start-work authorization from the building division, said David Kwong, the city's Planning Division director. Staff is working with the city attorney's... Suzanne Marion Millin comment-17688 2009-11-12T19:45:20Z 2009-11-12T19:45:20Z Thanks Shawn. I guess you really CAN "seriously claim to be unaware of how much, how often and how flagrantly the process is violated by those who already have their wheels greased because of who they know. They ARE the problem." That level of denial isn't believable. The public is much more aware and the public records are available. The current scandal PROVES the system is corrupt and not serving the best interests of the community as a whole. It's enabled and enriched those developers who think rules are for suckers. Marion Millin 2009-11-12T19:45:20Z Shawn Eldredge comment-17645 2009-11-12T04:21:16Z 2009-11-12T04:21:16Z so many topics mentioned above,, i am sorry i havent checked back on this thread sooner. I assume everyone knows who i am ( should never assume) I also do not see where i have taken a shot at a candidate (being one myself) . I have built two small projects myself under the FPP program . It allows builders to proceed without waiting for the long plan review process which if youve been to city hall recently you would know is taking forever . Under the fpp project you still have to meet state code requirements , you still fall under normal inspection schedules and the city bills you not only based on standard permit fees but also for inspector and plan review time .If it is a long project with lots of changes etc. the builder pays .If you build something that the city decides through their wisdom is outside code limits then you have to fix it at your expense etc. ( it is an "at risk process" to proceed prior to final plan review). I also know the city actually gleans their records and will re bill if they find hours they may have missed etc. . I also know staff notified Mr Mc Carty of the project early on .(months prior to the council mtg) This is mostly politics goin on here not developer & staff corruption.! please see this. I am not aware of projects too large slipping through (facilities permit program is intended for large projects with on going smaller projects within them ). All the projects i am aware of have had to meet all state building codes and have to pay all the many appropriate fees. I want all of you to know that when a permit is not issued or the city drags a project through weeks of beauracracy . People are not working . Money is not being spent but lost. Peoples lives are affected. Our city was getting people to success as the sign says . This is not the case today. Today people are getting angry and losing precious dollars. The staff is short handed (thus,my wanting dan and bill to get back to work ,they are getting paid they should be working) and afraid to make a decision . We need to make things happen (nothing to do with nestle) in this city not find ways to stop things . What we need to do is stop playing politics and start running the city !! Politicians are playing games at the expense of the city .. Shawn ( still in need of spell check) Eldredge Shawn Eldredge 2009-11-12T04:21:16Z ewhalen comment-17642 2009-11-12T02:41:48Z 2009-11-12T02:41:48Z Great reporting Suzanne. Keep up the good work! ewhalen 2009-11-12T02:41:48Z Stella M. comment-17619 2009-11-11T15:34:55Z 2009-11-11T15:34:55Z Actually, r8rs1, I didn't say I thought they should be "back on the job." I think they need to be put on unpaid leave while the investigation is going on. We're rewarding people for poor performance (or worse, depending on the outcome of the investigation). Stella M. 2009-11-11T15:34:55Z Marion Millin comment-17612 2009-11-11T03:21:07Z 2009-11-11T03:21:07Z r8rs1, can you support this statement? Since you have worked on various projects, you may have some substantiation for your certainty? "Its not as if anyone gets to subvert code or fees under the FPP program " That's exactly what the Nestle project did. And reportedly, many of the projects slid through FPP are too big to meet the requirements. You're not aware that the development community in Sacramento has a long history of evading permits, fees and code compliance, which has been enhanced by Matrix and turbocharged under FPP? You're unaware of projects that have not been in compliance, up to and including opening for business and beyond, remaining resistant to codes, fees and compliance? You're unaware of the scofflaw environment cultivated by exactly this sort of quasi legal program? Now that it's been exposed as corrupt, the City is coming back to try to make it legit? That's what all the permit/planning/code violators do, if and when they get caught. This is the game of the well connected. The little guy who does things on the up and up is held to the fire every step of the way. The legit folks who you may relate to would like the process more streamlined. But you can't seriously claim to be unaware of how much, how often and how flagrantly the process is violated by those who already have their wheels greased because of who they know. They ARE the problem. The collusion with the City does NOT deserve to be rewarded and made legitimate AFTER the fact. The Nestle Water Diversion is bad enough monument to this wink-and-a-handshake level of Sacramento corruption. And, if you are going to take shots at a candidate on SacPress, with all due respect, when will you comment with your own name? Marion Millin 2009-11-11T03:21:07Z bbbbmer comment-17597 2009-11-10T21:29:06Z 2009-11-10T21:29:06Z I believe the staff did NOT inform Council of Nestle's project or intentions, and at least four council members have confirmed this. I agree that future projects should be handled more effectively and more consistently with code requirements than this one was -- but that was the domain of the very people you cite as being 'needed on the job'... And this time, they kind of screwed things up... Where's THEIR 'accountability'??? and was the mayor involved in any of this??? bbbbmer 2009-11-10T21:29:06Z savemidtown comment-17594 2009-11-10T21:03:45Z 2009-11-10T21:03:45Z I would much rather have Bill Thomas out of the office until until he is hopefully fired. Agreed, he shouldn't get his pay but that is how the system works - innocent until proven guilty so for now his guilt is only alleged. I do hope this is resolved soon and we have a new director of development services / community development.. savemidtown 2009-11-10T21:03:45Z Shawn Eldredge comment-17593 2009-11-10T19:54:42Z 2009-11-10T19:54:42Z As someone who has built projects under the FPP program i hope it is re instated quickly . Its not as if anyone gets to subvert code or fees under the FPP program . It just assists in avoiding long expensive delays during the plan review process. As well I agree Stella we need Dan and Mr. Thomas back on the job. Additionally the council was briefed on the FPP program by the Development Oversight Commission aprox two years ago. ( were hey not paying attention then ?) Also it is my understanding staff brought the nestle project to the attention of Kevin Mc Carty months ago.. (must be an election cycle). I hope any future developers or other fortune 500 companies arent running away from sacramento as we speak.. We have to get better. Please dont mis construe.. Sacramento should also implement a bottling company ordinace of some sort to protect both our city resources as well our environmnet. However , it should not be handled as poorly as this event was. Shawn Eldredge 2009-11-10T19:54:42Z Stella M. comment-17561 2009-11-10T15:38:43Z 2009-11-10T15:38:43Z Good reporting, Suzanne. I love that SacPress is following these issues. Personally, I'm a little frustrated that we've got senior city employees on *paid* leave while they're being investigated. So much for our tax dollars at work. More like our tax dollars paying for somebody's vacation. Stella M. 2009-11-10T15:38:43Z bbbbmer comment-17537 2009-11-10T13:21:26Z 2009-11-10T13:21:26Z Buzz Oates and Panattoni may qualify, or be 'vested', under the FPP, but what is at question is the USE by Nestle -- NOT the permits for construction -- which would have, even under FPP, had the City applied their own past practices, required CEQA conformance of Nestle, including an extensive EIR regarding the impact of the municipal water used in its bottling operations. Had this been done properly, as acknowledged two weeks ago by the City Attorney, Nestle's proposed operations would have been precluded until completion of this process, and Sacramentans would have learned of the corporation's intent and history and cozy agreements with the Mayor's office long prior to their having been 'vested' in this project. THIS is what would/could happen routinely under the SMI -- covert insider deals with absolutely no public vetting or hearing -- to the detriment, in Nestle's case, of our municipal water supply, and potentially worse... Let's hope the City Attorney keeps a good tight watch over the FPP process in the future so that these type of abuses can be avoided... bbbbmer 2009-11-10T13:21:26Z