Civil Grand Jury report - Superior Court of California

City and County of San Francisco2012-2013 Civil Grand Juryvi. The Accumulation of Open ViolationsIn the process of examining NOVs issued in 2009 and 2010, the Jury observed that about4,400 NOVs were issued in a single year by DBI. About 56 percent of the NOVS wereclosed out in the year they were issued and another 22 percent were closed out in thefollowing year. About 78 percent of NOVs are closed out in the first two years and about11 percent of the NOVs are never closed out. The DBI is making an effort to reverse thistrend, and their annual reports reveal a net decrease in open NOVs from 2011 to 2012. 34Ten years of the NOV issuance and closure cycle, explained in the above paragraph, hasled to an estimated 6,000 open NOVs. Some of the factors that have contributed to thelarge number are:• reductions in the number of building inspectors• a code enforcement process that is poorly documented and inconsistently enforced• information technology systems that are not capable of managing the largenumbers of building code inspections that lead to NOVs• DBI’s belief that only half of every dollar spent on building code enforcement isrecovered• in some cases, the financial circumstances of the violatorAlthough members of the public affected by unsafe, blighted, and abandoned propertiesare frequent speakers at BIC hearings, 35 open building code violations are not apparent toresidents unless they have a blighted or abandoned building in their neighborhood or theysee a media story about an extreme case. Open code violations are a much moreimmediate problem for the estimated 30,000 low-income residents of San Francisco whoreside in more than 500 SRO residential hotels. Unfortunately, those who are mostvulnerable are often subject to prolonged delays in code enforcement.Located in the Tenderloin, 308 Turk Street is a two-story building with a restaurant onthe first floor. Tenants have complained about lack of heat, lack of security, mold,leaking pipes, broken windows, and rodent infested rooms. As of April 9, 2013, the dateof a San Francisco Chronicle story, there were more than 38 active NOVs issued by DBIon 308 Turk Street. 36 A Director’s Hearing has been held several times by DBI regardingthe property. The most recent was January 10, 2013, and an order requiring thatviolations be corrected within seven days was issued. The case was referred to theLitigation Committee on January 15, 2013, and the case was sent to the City Attorney forcivil action.The BIC requests that DBI provide regular updates on the status of open NOVs. 37 DBImanagers have increased their efforts to clean up the data and bring long-standingproblems to closure; however, lengthy delays continue. As a result of frustration with thecurrent level of code enforcement, a multi-department code enforcement task force hasbeen established by the City to address the most serious open NOVs. Task forceparticipants include DBI, CAO, the police, fire, public health, and public worksdepartments, and some Board of Supervisor offices. While the approach is commendableand the results are good, the task force process is very labor intensive, and the Jury foundBuilding a Better Future at the Department of Building Inspection20