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tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
 Posted - 04/20/2009 : 09:34:20 AM
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Because I haven't been able to find a copy of them anywhere else, I transcribed the proposed new ordinances for the establishment of the ISD from the ECTV bulletin board. I tried to be as careful and accurate as I could in reproducing what I read from the screens without "cleaning up" any of what I perceived to be errors or inconsistencies in these ordinances. But, I did add blank lines where I thought appropriate to improve readabiliity. That said, although I put a great deal of effort into it, I can't guarantee 100% accuracy of my transcription either. Some of the type was awful small and my eyes aren't what they used to be.
One interesting thing that I noted from performing this exercise, it appears that facilities maintenace will also fall under the juridiction of this new department. I hadn't realized that before. Maybe that's part of the reason how a cost savings of $200,000 can be achieved by this consolidation even with the creation of a new director's position. I'd love to get my hands on the packet of information provided to the city council for these proposed changes to be able to evaluate the all of the information throughly.
Here are the proposed ordinances:
Chapter 2A Inspectional Services Department
Section 2A-1 Mission
In accordance with M.G.L. c43, there is established a department of municipal inspections which shall be responsible for the coordination and management of the inspection-related activities of the city assigned by this chapter and for the coordination of all activities of all other city agencies in relation to any inspection services. The department of municipal inspections enforces laws, state codes and reasonable rules and regulations of the city as they relate to budding construction, zoning enforcement, health and sanitation, and weights and measures for the purpose of protecting public health and safety. The department coordinates the various jurisdictions to simplify public access to these services and streamline the permitting process. The purpose of coordinated inspections to make each inspector aware of the various activities being performed, thus improving consistency of enforcement. Specifically the department coordinates all inspection functions which are to be carried out by any municipal officer or agent under this section; maintains in a central location and recorded in a common index all the record keeping functions relating to all municipal inspections, which shall be under the supervision and control of, the director; provides a single application process, which would record all inspections which might be necessary, including, but need not be limited to, any inspections under the zoning law or zoning ordinances, the state building code, wire code, plumbing and gas code, state sanitary code, and any other local inspections as may be otherwise authorized
Section 2A-2 Authorities and Responsibilities
The department of municipal inspections shall oversee and coordinate all inspections performed by or under the authority of the building inspector, board of health, inspector of of gas piping and gas/mechanical appliances, plumbing inspector, wire inspector, sealer of weights and measure, zoning enforcement officer and every other local inspector as may be authorized. The department of municipal inspections shall consist of the following divisions all under the supervision of a director of municipal inspections who shall serve as the inspector of building in accordance with sections 2-116 and 2-117:
A. The division of building inspection and maintenance, which shall be responsible for the enforcement of the State Building Code pertaining to buildings and other structures and shall be responsible for the ordinary maintenance of all city buildings;
B. The division of health and sanitation, which shall be responsible for enforcement of all provisions of the State Sanitary Code and the city's health code and any other health regulations as are adopted from time to time by the board of health;
C. The division of Code Enforcement, which shall be responsible for enforcing compliance with the ordinances of the City of Everett and the Building and Safety Codes of the City and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and other state laws to promote and protect the general public health safety and environment of city residents.
D. The division of gas, plumbing and mechanical, which shall be responsible for the enforcement of all provisions of the State Building Code applicable to gas, plumbing and mechanical fittings as well as water cross-connection
E. The division of wire inspections and maintenance, which shall be responsible for the enforcement of all of the provisions of the State Building Code and other laws applicable to electric wires and electrical fixtures in the city.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with the foregoing are hereby repealed.
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socks
Member
39 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2009 : 6:23:43 PM
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| Thanks for the info Tetris. Although it sounds like a good idea, one can only hope that the ISD Director will not be looking for new employees in the near future. I also hope that the members of R&O do a complete study of the dollars involved prior to the meeting. This would mean comparisons to the previous years budgets in addition to leaving things the way they are today. Saving $200,000 sounds wonderful, but is it real?? |
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tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2009 : 8:37:14 PM
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Some additional information on this consolidation. Section 13 of MGL Chapter 43C (included below) actually allows for just this type of consolidation. One somewhat glaring omission from the city's new proposed ordinances would seem to be the setting of the length of the term of the appointment for the director of municipal inspections; the state law only specifies the minimum and maximum allowable terms.
Also of interest is Section 10 of MGL Chapter 43C (also included below). If I'm reading this section correctly, in condolidations done under the authority of this chapter, personnel reductions can only be done thru attrition. It's really hard to see where the $200,000 savings is going to come from without being privy to all of the additional data that the the city council received.
Chapter 43C: Section 13. Consolidated department of municipal inspections; petition summary; ordinance or by-law
Section 13. (a) The following shall be the summary to be inserted in the petition described in section five:
“Section thirteen of chapter forty-three C of the General Laws authorizes the legislative body to provide, by ordinance or by-law, for a consolidated department of municipal inspections which may include the inspections currently being made by the building inspector, wire inspector, plumbing inspector, gas fitting inspector, health agent and others as the ordinance or by-law may specify.”
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, in any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section by vote of the people, the legislative body, subject to all applicable provisions of the city or town charter, shall have the authority to adopt an ordinance or by-law providing for a consolidated department of municipal inspections.
(c) Any ordinance or by-law adopted pursuant to this section shall provide for (i) a director of municipal inspections who shall be appointed by and shall be responsible to the chief executive officer or the chief administrative officer of the city or town as the ordinance or by-law shall specify, (ii) the term of office of the director of municipal inspections which shall be not less than three nor more than five years, subject to removal as may be otherwise provided in the charter of the city or town.
(d) Any ordinance or by-law adopted pursuant to this section may include, but need not be limited to, the following: (i) coordination of all inspection functions carried out by any municipal officer or agent, (ii) maintenance of all records relating to inspections in a central place through a common index, (iii) a single application process which would indicate all inspections which might be necessary, including, but need not be limited to, any inspections under the zoning and other local ordinance or by-law, building code, wire code, plumbing and gas code, state sanitary code, board of health rules and regulations, fire code, conservation commission, historic districts commission and any other local inspections as may be otherwise authorized. Any ordinance or by-law adopted pursuant to this section may provide that any agency performing an inspection function shall be continued but that for administrative purposes all personnel performing inspection functions for the existing agency shall, when performing such inspection services, be subject to the administrative control and direction of the director of municipal inspections, but not otherwise.
(e) Any ordinance or by-law adopted pursuant to this section shall provide for the appointment of all other personnel necessary to staff the department as constituted in the ordinance or by-law. Unless some other provision is made in the city or town charter for the appointment of officers and employees the director of municipal inspections shall appoint all personnel under his direction and control subject to the approval of the appointing authority as provided for his office.
Chapter 43C: Section 10. Effect of adoption; employee transfer; consolidation of agencies
Section 10. Any person holding any office or position in the service of a city or town which accepts one of the optional forms of administration provided in this chapter and who is employed in an office or agency which is merged with another or abolished or otherwise constituted shall be transferred to the department or agency thereby created without reduction in compensation, or impairment of any civil service, retirement, pension, seniority, vacation, sick leave or other rights or benefits to which then entitled. Any reduction in force which is to result from the new form of administration shall be accomplished through attrition, or other reassignment and not by dismissal.
All books, papers, documents, equipment, building facilities, land and other property, both real and personal, which are in the custody and control of any agency affected by a consolidation under the provisions of this chapter shall forthwith upon the establishment of any new agency be transferred by the former agency to such new agency.
All monies which have been appropriated to any department or agency which is included in any consolidation under the provisions of this chapter shall, upon the establishment of the new agency, be credited to the account of such new agency. All contracts in force at the time any new agency is created in which any department or agency whose powers or functions are being assumed by the new agency is a party shall be continued in force by such new agency until they otherwise expire or are cancelled. Any judicial proceeding in which any agency affected by any consolidation under this chapter is a party shall not be affected by the consolidation but any such successor agency shall stand in the place of the former agency. |
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tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2009 : 9:15:25 PM
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I guess that the news from tonight's Rules and Ordinances Committee Meeting wasn't very good for the DeMaria administration. It seems that the authority that they are using to implement the ISD (MGL Chapter 43C) requires that it be done by putting it on the ballot or by home rule petition. If you read that section of MGL, it says that pretty clearly. I had read that before but I thought there might have been something else that I wasn't aware of that would allow the city of bypass that requirement. Guess I need to trust my gut more.
According to my source, the administration still plans on going ahead with the plan via the home rule petition route but we know how long that could take. We'll have to wait and see (that phrase gets a lot of use, doesn't it?) if they go thru with the same budget cuts that they were planning for in the consolidated structure using the current department structure. |
Edited by - tetris on 04/22/2009 9:18:19 PM |
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Marie
Senior Member
114 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2009 : 9:25:00 PM
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| Why doesn't the administration check things out thoroughly before they plow ahead with things? His track record with consolidations hasn't been terrific. |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2009 : 9:32:19 PM
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| OMG.........what a black eye on the lawyers. All the legalities should have been researched before bringing this to the council. That's just common practice. |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2009 : 10:18:03 PM
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It seems like the city lawyers are not earning the big bucks they are making. I can't imagine the mayor is too happy with this latest miss step from his legal department.
"Deb" |
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n/a
deleted
25 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2009 : 10:59:36 PM
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| Facebook- Thibeault- Clayton Carlisle- State Ethics Commission- The Solicitor combining Chief of Staff debacle- The Current Bidding debacle- Police Fire and Unions all unhappy-while friends are all happy with fat salaries- and now ISD. One Word- INCOMPETENT leadership. |
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tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2009 : 08:07:23 AM
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One additional item from last night's R&O meeting. The line "and shall be responsible for the ordinary maintenance of all city buildings;" in the proposed ordinances had led me to believe that facilities maintenance would fall under the jurisdiction of the ISD department. My source said that from the handouts available last night, that was clearly not the case. They actually had a brief discussion about that line of the ordinance but my source had a hard time understanding exactly what the bottom line to that discussion was.
Sorry for the incorrect conclusion. But I hope you can see how I got the wrong impression. |
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ISD
