With TV cameras rolling last week, Mayor Justin Bibb signed an executive order to overhaul how City Hall issues permits for new construction.
Armed with a nearly $116,000 consulting study, the administration is setting out to give people a simple way to pull permits and track them online, whether they’re building a skyscraper or a new garage.
The current system leaves applicants frustrated and confused, consultants from the firm Baker Tilly concluded. There are multiple ways to start a permit application, and staff vacancies gum up the works. The result is a “lengthy and unpredictable” review process, the study said.
An executive order isn’t legally necessary for getting things done inside City Hall. It’s really just a dressed-up – and publicized – memo from the boss. The permit system won’t automatically change with a pen stroke from the mayor.
Months of work remain. The building and housing platform known as Accela will serve as the backbone of the new system, but not all city departments are plugged into it yet. Plus, the city has to upgrade its labyrinthine Accela website.
City Hall hopes to start rolling out the changes next year. Ward 3 Council Member Kerry McCormack, a big advocate of the overhaul, acknowledged that hard work lies ahead.
“It’s going to take effort,” he said. “It’s going to take grind. It’s not going to make a headline every day, but it’s critically important for the well-being of our neighborhoods.”
Bibb dashed his initials onto the executive order after remarks by cabinet members and representatives from the real estate and construction industries. The pageantry of the media event looked almost presidential, or at least gubernatorial. The only thing missing was a set of pens to hand out to supporters as mementos.
The comparison apparently wasn’t lost on McCormack, who asked the mayor, “Do you have a different pen for each letter?”
“No,” Bibb replied. Then, with a grin, he added, “Maybe one day.”
