Doesn't seem so complicated in the CITY of Santa Cruz- Maybe they should get a good talking to from Rahn Garcia and Dana McRea Santa Cruz
CITY Board of Building Appeals ....so why then is Burns, Big Sue's Board of Supervisors Uniting Against Due Process and Transparency in Government- Leopole Insults Volunteers- OFFICIALLY ONE OF THEM confirms SEIU SPENT WELL For HIS ELECTION. Board of Supervisors FIRES ALL PROFESSIONAL MEMBERS AND APPOINTS ITSELF  Tom Burns and His Santa Cruz County Planning
Department Staff and Their Abuse of the Chairman of the long
hidden- Building, Accessibility and Fire Code Appeals Board- KSBW TV IS GETTING IT- COVER YOUR EYES & EARS (as usual) KURTIS ALEXANDER |
Whose Expertise and Proven Commitment to PUBLIC Service Better Serves Our Community, Tom Burns, Neil Connerty, Dana McRae, Susan Muariello and her Board of Supervisors or Mr. Micheal Bethke? Guess Which Ones We Got? Yep- We Lose Again.
HONESTY AND HARD WORK.
SLATTER CONSTRUCTION AND SANTA CRUZ IS FORTUNATE TO HAVE YOU.
BE WARNED MR. BETHKE
IF YOU KEEP UP YOUR DEDICATION AND COMMITMENT TO OUR COMMUNITY, AS YOU SURLY WILL, YOU MAY JUST GET DRAFTED TO BE A COUNTY SUPERVISOR DESPITE YOUR COMMON COMMON SENSE, HONESTY, DIGNITY, RESPECT AND COURTESY, IMAGINE SANTA CRUZ WITH MICHEAL BETHKE INSTEAD OF NEIL CONNERTY-
WHAT GREAT START THAT WOULD BE...
Read What the Local Land Use Professionals Including: Architect Cove Brittan and Geologist Eric Zinn have to say about the corruption of The Board of Supervisors and the County Planning Department
Click here to read what the Locals are saying-
http://www.topix.net/forum/source/santa-cruz-sentinel/TFD2R7L13SBJPPBPN
Below are some samples-
In fact county staff blocked legitimate appeals that clearly involved building standards.
The county has been contacted by the state to indicate that the “gate keeper” concept is unacceptable. In addition, county counsel has been provided with recent legal documentation that confirms that continued effort by county staff to hold the position of “gate keeper” would not survive a legal challenge.
Essentially the appeals board members have been proven to be correct in their attempts to address appeals presented to them. They may or may not of supported those appeals, may even decided not to take jurisdiction over those appeals…but they were clearly correct in following state code on these issues versus county staffs’ specious arguments that they should not.
Once it became obvious to senior county staff that a well qualified appeals board would fulfill their duties as required of them under state law, county staff recommended disbandment.
What are they so afraid of? Most likely that it is becoming more and more obvious that senior county staff has been making serious errors and are continuing to do so? That county staff have opened the county and the public to serious threats to their life safety due these errors?
The question now is whether the Board of Supervisors represents the interests of senior county staff…or of the public.
It is going to be difficult for the Supervisors, the board members work with county staff virtually every day, probably socialize with county staff…
I hope the Board has moral integrity to do what is right.
Cove Brittan Architect
http://www.aascc.org/sites05/matsonBrittonB.htmlread about Mr.Brittan
That Must Be one BIG curtain:
Susan Mauriello the Wizard of Odd
Serf City has already posted some verbage from the 2007 California Building Code [CBC]. If you start from the very beginning of the CBC and work your way through the different sections, the train of logic in the code is as follows: 1. Counties and cities can make amendments, additions or deletions to the CBC that are more restrictive, provided that make the proper EXPRESS findings and filings, based upon climatic, topographical or geological conditions (CBC Section 101.8 and 101.8.1). 2. An appeals board must be assembled, and must consist of at least five members whom are not employees of the city or county, are knowledgeable in the California Building Standards Codes and applicable local ordinances, that serve at the pleasure of the county or city.(CBC Section 108.8.1) 3. Except as otherwise provided by law, any person or entity adversely affected by a decision, order or determination by a city or county relating to the application of building standards published in the California Building Standards Code or any other applicable rule or regulation adopted by the Department of Housing and Community Development, or any lawfully enacted ordinance by a city or county can appeal the issue for resolution to the appeals board.(CBC Section 108.8.3)
I am pretty sure that there is nothing about the climate, topography or geology of Santa Cruz County that allows for a citizen of this state to be stripped of their due process rights to have a properly prepared and filed appeal heard by the appeals board. But that is exactly what the County of Santa Cruz has done by deleting section 108.8 of the CBC without the proper findings, and by allowing the very department whose decision you are appealing (the Planning Department) to decide if your appeal will be heard.
There is clearly a conflict between the County Code and the California Buiding Code on this matter. This issue has been brought up repeatedly to the Planning Department and by County Counsel. Their response, over and over again, has been that "they are following County Code". If you threw in a pair of red shoes and a dog named Toto, I would swear I was watching a scene from the Wizard of Oz. Only this time I don't think they are going to find that this is a dream, and I don't think they will be going home.
If the Board of Supervisors abolishes the Appeals Board, who will hear properly prepared and filed appeals? The Board of Supervisors? That would also be in conflict with the CBC, since you can't hear an appeal if you are employed by the jurisdiction where the appeal is filed.
This is nasty ugly lawsuit fodder. As a County resident, I fear that what little of my property taxes are returned from the state will be spent by the County defending themselves from the wave of litigation their actions are going to generate.
On a final note, and in keeping with the Wizard of Oz theme, who will we find behind the curtain when someone finally digs to the bottom of all this and exposes the individual that is supposed to be responsible for making sure that the County Codes are in line with the CBC and that proper findings and filings have been made?
ERIC ZINN Geologist read about Mr.Zinn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/erik-zinn/11/2ba/a87
Smarmy Bureaucrat Neal Connerty Knew
Please Help stop these criminals!
I spoke at the Democratic Central Committee meeting about the Board on Wed of Last week. Seem like very good people, very involved, very concerned and active. Mr. Connerty was also there.
After my short talk Mr Connerty walked up to me and with a horribly smarmy grin, and now I know why, and spoke to me for the first time saying "See you June 2"
He also asked for the Democratic Central Committee endorsement- Please NO! Please No!
RECALL NOW!!
I WORKED INSIDE- I know these characters.
Feel free to email me felton95018@yahoo.com
Vincent John LoFranco
Bureaucrat/ "Businessman" Connerty works around rules for profit at any cost-
What is the cost of one employee's life?
And by the way, Mr. Coonerty really does already know something about building codes. This I know for a fact. For example, in the year 1974 I worked after closing hours helping to open up the basement of the old Bookshop Santa Cruz so that Mr. Coonerty could sell textbooks (to his future constituents no less!!!). We cut a whole in the middle of the main floor and installed stairs with nice oak treads. We cleaned out that dirty old basement, sprayed it all white and in came all those overpriced textbooks. And while we were at it, we installed a number of large REDWOOD posts throughout the main floor - their purpose you ask? was to support the two upper floors so they wouldn't collapse onto the floor below - you see, the top two floors of Mr. Lau's old building that he rented to Mr. Coonerty had been condemned and the city wouldn't let the basement be opened up unless the dangerous upper floors were shored up. So that's why some of you old timers might remember those old resawn redwood posts scattered throughout the main floor area - they weren't there just for their groovy looks. Years later, when Mr. Coonerty was on the City Counsel and the chief bldg inspector, David Steeves issued his report of the likelihood that various reinforced masonry buildings downtown such as the Cooperhouse would likely not be able to withstand a major earthquake, guess which building was also included in that report - you guessed right if you said Ron Lau's building that he rented to Neil Coonerty. So when the earthquake came, and the building collapsed onto itself, every body just looked the other way, except for the one Bookshop employee who died beneath the rubble -her poor crushed body could no longer look the other way, not anymore and not ever again. So as I was saying, Neil Coonerty does indeed know at least a little something about building codes, like at least when to look the other way.
BuilderBob
http://www.topix.net/forum/source/santa-cruz-sentinel/TFD2R7L13SBJPPBPN/p2
via FireCountyStaff in TOPIX.net Forum
And on goes the County Planning Industrial Complex. They have gotten so drunk with power that they try to smash any democratic challenge to their power! It's also part of a bigger overall Government Industrial Complex statewide and nationwide.
While things hummed along in the last 30 years or so, tax revenues were pretty healthy for the most part, and government grew unchecked all over, especially locally. Government workers also set their own salary and benefits...imagine a company where the managers can set their own wages, only limited by the revenues they can bring in...no worry about pesky profits to pay, all revenue is spent!
So now if you look at the admin structure of any local government, especially the County of Santa Cruz, you'll see layers of department heads, directors, managers, supervisors, etc...each layer just delegates actual work down to the layer below, until you get to the actual workers, who probably work at 50% or less of capacity. So you can see that we can easily cut 50% or more of the county headcount and get the same work done.
Let's form a citizens review committee and reorganize the entire structure of the county, eliminating layers of management and redundant bureaucracy...just like a private corporation would do...and shoot for a goal of a 50% reduction in County Payroll.
Police and Fire would be off limits. No more scare tactics by fat cat County/City administrators who cut the highest paid/lowest seniority but the most critical workers we have. Shame on you greedy, lazy administrators...The first cuts should be non-critical, non-emergency worker positions who make the most money...the very last should be police and fire workers, if not at all. It's a crime against all citizens for the County/city to try to cut the most important workers to the citizens first before getting rid of some of the overpaid, underworked paper pusher upper management staff.
Let's start with cutting the upper management of the planning staff by at least 50%, then use the savings to keep or even hire more police and fire workers.
Read what the LOCALS are saying: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/santa-cruz-sentinel/TFD2R7L13SBJPPBPN
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY-BUREAUCRAT HEAVEN
What does Tom Burns Have onSusan Mauriello?
It has long been known down at 701 Ocean Street that the dramatic increase in County Sheriff's funding was guaranteed when a Deputy Sheriff discovered Mauriello's child unattended- in a vehicle.
Good Work Sheriffs Office saved a baby, saved your Boss a little embarrassment, and got guaranteed funding.
We all win, RIGHT?
...and yes this is the baby that was cared for by County staff in Susans' decorated private nursery IN THE COUNTY CAO OFFICE!
....and yes, now again completely true, as reported by one of Muarellio's bridge playing buddies- the same baby that
HER HUSBAND HAD NO IDEA SHE WAS HAVING!
Really, she even lied to her own husband-
When asked how did he not notice, it was related that he is blind. SERIOUSLY, she is even deceiving her BLIND HUSBAND-
She has NO PROBLEM LYING TO US-
TRUTH or Lawsuit!
Read the Propaganda
Scotts Valley's Own Sentinel and a Bureaucrats best friend Spin Story Again!
Kurtis Alexander Tainted Scotts Valley Sentinel Story
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_12483377?source=most_viewed
County administrators, in a proposal submitted late Friday to the Board of Supervisors, are calling for the elimination of the county's recently seated building appeals board.
The board, which was set up this spring to hear challenges to the Planning Department's permitting decisions, has been a subject of controversy as board appointees, joined by members of the public, have faced off with county leaders over what authority they should have.
"This board has taken actions in direct conflict with the existing law and the practices of the county, unnecessarily adding to county and appellant expenses, and has conducted itself in a manner that significantly exposes the county to litigation," reads the county Administrative Office's proposal.
Asked for further comment, county administrators responded in an e-mail Friday evening: "It is very unfortunate that this action is necessary, but this appears to be the only way the county can assure that these appeals will be heard in a timely manner."
The county's proposal suggests the Board of Supervisors assume the role of the appeals board and begin hearing challenges before the Planning Department.
At the heart of months of debate over the Building, Accessibility and Fire Code Appeals Board has been what appeals the panel -- made up of five volunteers from the building profession -- has the right to hear.
County planners have insisted that the board's purview is confined to technical
"The appeals board concept was created so that there would be qualified professionals to make decisions that were outside politics," said architect Cove Britton, who advocated for the board's creation and was disappointed to hear of its possible demise. "Senior county staff has apparently chose to protect their power structure and culture at the expense of the public."
Many county residents had hoped the appeals board would serve as a check on the notoriously rigid Planning Department.
But disputes over powers and procedures at the board's first three meetings prompted a strong rebuke of the board by county Supervisor Neal Coonerty last week, which was followed by this week's proposal to do away with the board altogether.
"The board has to follow the rules that the supervisors have set up for them," Coonerty said in a recent conversation with the Sentinel.
In the eyes of Coonerty and other county representatives, board members have tried to hear appeals of the Planning Department that go well beyond their authority and without the consent of the county.
The County Administrative Office, in the proposal submitted Friday, said the ongoing debates with the board has kept the board from doing its job of hearing appeals and should be shuttered.
Board member David Parks, an engineering contractor, said Friday he's disappointed but not surprised by the proposal.
"They never allowed the building appeals board to operate in the matter it's supposed to operate," said Parks.
"My reason for wanting to be on the board was to serve the public interest and give the public an opportunity to present their appeals," he said. "That's all I want to do."
Parks worries that county supervisors, who are not building professionals, wouldn't be able to make educated decisions about the building code if they take over the appeals board's responsibilities.
The Board of Supervisors will consider the proposal at its regular meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday at 701 Ocean St., Santa Cruz
Appeals Board Chairman Resigns
http://www.tpgonlinedaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=711:appeals-board-chairman-resigns&catid=1:community-news&Itemid=143
Appeals Board Power Struggle
http://www.tpgonlinedaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=681:appeals-board-power-struggle&catid=31:business-news&Itemid=136
Building Appeals Board Resurrected
http://www.tpgonlinedaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=591:building-appeals-board-resurrected&catid=31:business-news&Itemid=136
MORE Planning Department
WASTE FRAUD and ABUSE
Jennifer Hutchinson's Corruption and Poor Judgment present your Plan Checker for the evening-
Jim Heaney, Cocktails anyone?
Calling Code Compliance Management- Anybody Home?
They could be the WORST People in the World? David Lee, Tom Burns and County of Santa Cruz Attorneys Attempting to Embarass a County Employee to Settle their Worker Comp Case- TRUE and SICK SICK SICK
The UnOfficial Building Official- Tainting the Title with Incompetence, Jennifer Hutchinson
The Works and Musings of Planning Department Management Done On County Time With County Equipment- Or How Arrogant Do You Have to Be To Break the Rules You Enforce- Or What Happens When You Tell The Clerical Staff To Retreive Your "Work" from the Printer.