Mayor Eric Garcetti is seeking a 6-month extension on the appointment of Raymond Chan as interim director of the Department of Building & Safety, one of the few department heads that hasn't either been re-appointed or removed since Garcetti was elected this summer.
The City Council is scheduled to vote Friday on Garcetti's recommendation. Chan's first temporary appointment expires Sunday.
Chan has brought stability to a department that was rocked by scandal both in the field and at the top. Earlier this year, a veteran building inspector plead guilty to federal charges of taking $30,000 in bribes for projects around Koreatown. He was the third building inspector charged with taking bribes since 2011.
And in 2009, former LADBS General Manager Andrew Adelman was forced out amidst accusations of rape and sexual abuse.
Chan is a 29-year veteran of the LADBS who has been in the department's executive offices since 2003.
"I am confident that Mr. Chan will continue to do an outstanding job as the Interim General Manager for the LADBS," Garcetti wrote in his recommendation letter to the City Council.
For most of the other 30-plus city departments, Garcetti has already either re-hired the department head or released them. The heads of the Planning, Animal Services and Sanitation - among others - will keep their jobs under the new city administration. But the departments of Fire, Cultural Affairs, Housing and Harbor - among others - will get new chiefs.
The Villaraigosa administration wanted to merge the departments of Planning and Building & Safety, but the plan ran into community and City Council opposition. Earlier this fall, Garcetti vowed to stop the merger. “I think that’s just rearranging the bureaucracy and not the systems,” Garcetti said.
Mayor Garcetti's Letter to the City Council Nominating Raymond Chan
http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2013/13-0754_rpt_mayor_10-31-2013.pdf
FBI: Former L.A. City Building Inspector Agrees to Plead Guilty to Federal Charges
http://www.fbi.gov/losangeles/press-releases/2013/former-l.a.-city-building-inspector-agrees-to-plead-guilty-to-federal-charges-of-taking-tens-of-thousands-of-dollars-in-bribe-payments
LA Weekly: Corrupton at LADBS
http://www.laweekly.com/2012-02-16/news/LA-building-and-safety-corruption/full/
LA Times: Garcetti keeping at least 5 Los Angeles department heads
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/01/local/la-me-mayor-managers-20131001
LA Weekly: Mayor Garcetti to replace Cultural Affairs chief
http://ourweekly.com/news/2013/nov/04/mayor-garcetti-replace-cultural-affairs-chief/
LandUseLA: Garcetti vows to stop Planning, LADBS merger
http://www.landusela.com/1/post/2013/10/update-garcetti-vows-to-stop-planning-ladbs-merger.html
The City Council is scheduled to vote Friday on Garcetti's recommendation. Chan's first temporary appointment expires Sunday.
Chan has brought stability to a department that was rocked by scandal both in the field and at the top. Earlier this year, a veteran building inspector plead guilty to federal charges of taking $30,000 in bribes for projects around Koreatown. He was the third building inspector charged with taking bribes since 2011.
And in 2009, former LADBS General Manager Andrew Adelman was forced out amidst accusations of rape and sexual abuse.
Chan is a 29-year veteran of the LADBS who has been in the department's executive offices since 2003.
"I am confident that Mr. Chan will continue to do an outstanding job as the Interim General Manager for the LADBS," Garcetti wrote in his recommendation letter to the City Council.
For most of the other 30-plus city departments, Garcetti has already either re-hired the department head or released them. The heads of the Planning, Animal Services and Sanitation - among others - will keep their jobs under the new city administration. But the departments of Fire, Cultural Affairs, Housing and Harbor - among others - will get new chiefs.
The Villaraigosa administration wanted to merge the departments of Planning and Building & Safety, but the plan ran into community and City Council opposition. Earlier this fall, Garcetti vowed to stop the merger. “I think that’s just rearranging the bureaucracy and not the systems,” Garcetti said.
Mayor Garcetti's Letter to the City Council Nominating Raymond Chan
http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2013/13-0754_rpt_mayor_10-31-2013.pdf
FBI: Former L.A. City Building Inspector Agrees to Plead Guilty to Federal Charges
http://www.fbi.gov/losangeles/press-releases/2013/former-l.a.-city-building-inspector-agrees-to-plead-guilty-to-federal-charges-of-taking-tens-of-thousands-of-dollars-in-bribe-payments
LA Weekly: Corrupton at LADBS
http://www.laweekly.com/2012-02-16/news/LA-building-and-safety-corruption/full/
LA Times: Garcetti keeping at least 5 Los Angeles department heads
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/01/local/la-me-mayor-managers-20131001
LA Weekly: Mayor Garcetti to replace Cultural Affairs chief
http://ourweekly.com/news/2013/nov/04/mayor-garcetti-replace-cultural-affairs-chief/
LandUseLA: Garcetti vows to stop Planning, LADBS merger
http://www.landusela.com/1/post/2013/10/update-garcetti-vows-to-stop-planning-ladbs-merger.html
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