Building Department Director Tasked With Reforming Antiquated Permitting Process Quits Abruptly

San Francisco CA

26 February, 2021

5:38 PM

Description

By Joe Eskenazi, Mission Local February 25, 2021 In a blow for those hoping to streamline, modernize and cleanse the Department of Building Inspection's byzantine and hidebound permitting process, the director hired to oversee this move has abruptly resigned after just 2.5 months on the job. Issam Shahrouri was hired in late 2020 from Oakland, where he was deputy director of its building department. His status as an outsider in a department renowned for its insularity was a source of pride and hope for reformers, who looked to move the Department of Building Inspection past its reputation for scleroticism and corruption. Shahrouri also came to San Francisco in good estimation, and was accredited as a "Certified Building Official" — purportedly making him the only "CBO" in the department after the hasty March 2020 departure of former director Tom Hui in the wake of a corruption investigation. But department employees were on Tuesday stunned to receive a brief email from interim director Patrick O'Riordan announcing Shahrouri's sudden departure. "I regretfully share with you that Sam Shahrouri, Chief Administrative Officer for Permit Services, is leaving DBI at the end of this week," reads the message, sent at 5:10 p.m. "Sam has a family emergency and is moving to Southern California." Reached in his office, Shahrouri reiterated that an sudden family emergency is forcing him to leave his post. "It's a very abrupt personal issue I am experiencing great difficulty with. It really necessitates my presence in Southern California," he said. "I love this place, love the city, wish I could continue on. I have a lot of ideas to implement. But it's really unfortunate. A personal situation has developed in the past few weeks." Shahrouri denied that politics or pressure entered into the equation. "There has been a history of inappropriate things here in the past, but my values and Director O'Riordan's values are aligned," he said. "There is none of that." His departure, for whatever reason, was seen as a major loss for the department. "I am really sad he is leaving," said a colleague. "A lot of people had hope when he stepped on board about what he was going to bring to the department. Partly because he was an outside hire, and that inspired a lot of hope for people. Second, he seemed dedicated to improving customers' experience. When you watched him in Building Inspection Commission meetings, he did not seem dismissive when people were sharing their concerns." Despite efforts to overhaul the system, the department's permitting process is slow, archaic and has been beset with corruption favoring well-placed insiders. The vast majority of projects must still be submitted in person and on paper, which has led to crushing delays with the onset of a pandemic. The pitfalls of a slow and largely paper-based system have given rise to "permit expediters," hired by customers to guide their projects to completion. While some expediters merely understand a difficult and onerous process, others gamed the system to work for them — and only them, at the exclusion of others. Walter Wong, who last year pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiring to commit fraud and money-laundering, dominated the plan-check and permitting side of the department for years. He seeded it with his allies and their family members, who expediently processed his conveniently color-coded files. Before being named director of the entire department, the recently departed Hui was deputy director for plan review. Emails uncovered by the City Attorney reveal he continued his close relationship with Wong as department director. As such, a longtime building department official described Shahrouri's position as "head of what used to be the Walter Wong group." And "that is a tough job to take," the official continued, "especially if you don't know the politics of San Francisco. The politics of San Francisco will make quick work of you." Department sources, however, say Shahrouri made modest headway in his very brief tenure. A programmer in his own right, he helped craft and implement software that streamlined the permitting process and eased data entry. In the short-term, he took aim at easing the monstrous backlog of projects at the department. In the longer-term, he would have worked to improve the electronic permitting process — so online submissions would instantly generate a permit number. But neither of these goals could be accomplished in the scant 2.5 months Shahrouri spent on the job. Building Department officials say that, despite public talk that an over-the-counter project will be reviewed within 14 days of being submitted, in reality, it will be assigned within 15 days — which does not include review. On a large project, it may take a month for the department to send an email acknowledging the project has been received. Shahrouri said he hopes there's an opportunity in the future for him to continue his work. "If it wasn't for my personal issue," he says, "There is no way I would consider leaving San Francisco." SUPPORT MISSION LOCAL Mission Local covers San Francisco from the vantage point of the Mission, a neighborhood with all of the promise and problems of a major city. You can support Mission Local here.