CALBO Member Highlights

Post

CALBO Member Highlight
The City of Citrus Heights Shares Online Success

CH

CALBO continues to share member’s stories and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing guidelines have forced most jurisdictions to adopt new processes, and more specifically, electronic review procedures in order to continue to serve their community. This week the Building Official from Citrus Heights, Greg Anderson, shares his experiences with electronic submittals for his jurisdiction:

Post

CALBO Member Highlight
Small Jurisdictions Making a Big Impact

Winters

As stay-at-home orders begin to lift around the state, many jurisdictions still face the hurdle of adapting to the new normal. During this time, it might be easy to forget smaller jurisdictions such as Winters – a small rural community Northwest of Sacramento. Local Building Official, Gene Ashdown, will tell you that smaller jurisdictions, such as his, face their own unique issues while also trying to adapt to new and changing regulations. 

Post

CALBO Listserve: Share What’s (Not) Working for Your Agency
We must learn from and lean on one another during this time.

Dear CALBO Colleague,

As the world continues to respond to the COVID-19 health emergency, California building departments will continue to be of vital importance to local economies and overall public safety. Governor Newsom has declared housing construction as an essential service that will continue during the Shelter in Place Order. We must remember to do all we can for our industry colleagues as we develop and operate with new, localized policies to continue to work with the public.

California Building Officials (CALBO) encourages you to share stories on the Building Department listserve (click here for directions and guidance) on how your agency is responding to this crisis, along with tips or strategies that you are finding that work (or don’t) for telecommuting, electronic processing and remote inspections.

Below are examples of what building departments are sharing with their peers. CALBO thanks all jurisdictions for their efforts on all fronts.

City of Stockton

City of Turlock

City of Carmel-by-the-Sea

We look forward to connecting with you in the digital realm as we face many new and upcoming challenges over the next months. We must learn from and lean on one another during this time.

If you have any questions or concerns at any time, please feel free to contact the CALBO Office at 916-457-1103 or info@calbo.org. We are open Monday-Friday from 8:30am-5:00pm.

Article

How is your department managing COVID-19?
City of Livermore shares lessons learned.

Building departments, their staff and leadership, are no strangers to emergency response; they are the silent heroes who ensure a safe built environment for communities year-round. The COVID-19 health pandemic is just one example where upholding building-safety is essential for the functioning of governments and economies across California.

To honor the work of the CALBO membership during this health pandemic, CALBO is highlighting building departments that go beyond the call of duty to ensure public safety and service.

This special series of articles is an effort to connect in the digital realm. We hope that membership will continue to learn from one another and move forward in unity as stay-at-home orders are modified or lifted. As always, thank you for all you do and stay strong!

City of Livermore, Building Division
Brent Smith, Chief Building Official

Article

How is your department managing COVID-19?
City of Montclair shares lessons learned.

Building departments, their staff and leadership, are no strangers to emergency response; they are the silent heroes who ensure a safe built environment for communities year-round. The COVID-19 health pandemic is just one example where upholding building-safety is essential for the functioning of governments and economies across California.

To honor the work of the CALBO membership during this health pandemic, CALBO is highlighting building departments that go beyond the call of duty to ensure public safety and service.

This special series of articles is an effort to connect in the digital realm. We hope that membership will continue to learn from one another and move forward in unity as stay-at-home orders are modified or lifted. As always, thank you for all you do and stay strong!

City of Montclair, Building & Safety Division
Merry Westerlin, Building Official

Article

How is your department managing COVID-19?
City of Irvine shares lessons learned.

Building departments, their staff and leadership, are no strangers to emergency response; they are the silent heroes who ensure a safe built environment for communities year-round. The COVID-19 health pandemic is just one example where upholding building-safety is essential for the functioning of governments and economies across California.

To honor the work of the CALBO membership during this health pandemic, CALBO is highlighting building departments that go beyond the call of duty to ensure public safety and service.

This special series of articles is an effort to connect in the digital realm. We hope that membership will continue to learn from one another and move forward in unity as stay-at-home orders are modified or lifted. As always, thank you for all you do and stay strong!

City of Irvine, Building & Safety Division
Kamlesh Chitalia, Chief Building Official

Article

How is your department managing COVID-19?
City of Stockton shares lessons learned.

Building departments, their staff and leadership, are no strangers to emergency response; they are the silent heroes who ensure a safe built environment for communities year-round. The COVID-19 health pandemic is just one example where upholding building-safety is essential for the functioning of governments and economies across California.

To honor the work of the CALBO membership during this health pandemic, CALBO is highlighting building departments that go beyond the call of duty to ensure public safety and service.

This special series of articles is an effort to connect in the digital realm. We hope that membership will continue to learn from one another and move forward in unity as stay-at-home orders are modified or lifted. As always, thank you for all you do and stay strong!

City of Stockton, Building & Life Safety Division
John Schweigerdt, Deputy Building Official

Article

How is your department managing COVID-19?
City of Santa Paula shares lessons learned.

Building departments, their staff and leadership, are no strangers to emergency response; they are the silent heroes who ensure a safe built environment for communities year-round. The COVID-19 health pandemic is just one example where upholding building-safety is essential for the functioning of governments and economies across California.

To honor the work of the CALBO membership during this health pandemic, CALBO is highlighting building departments that go beyond the call of duty to ensure public safety and service.

This special series of articles is an effort to connect in the digital realm. We hope that membership will continue to learn from one another and move forward in unity as stay-at-home orders are modified or lifted. As always, thank you for all you do and stay strong!

City of Santa Paula, Building & Safety
Michael Leach, Chief Building Official

Article

How is your department managing COVID-19?
City of Santa Monica shares lessons learned.

Building departments, their staff and leadership, are no strangers to emergency response; they are the silent heroes who ensure a safe built environment for communities year-round. The COVID-19 health pandemic is just one example where upholding building-safety is essential for the functioning of governments and economies across California.

To honor the work of the CALBO membership during this health pandemic, CALBO is highlighting building departments that go beyond the call of duty to ensure public safety and service.

This special series of articles is an effort to connect in the digital realm. We hope that membership will continue to learn from one another and move forward in unity as stay-at-home orders are modified or lifted. As always, thank you for all you do and stay strong!

City of Santa Monica, Building & Safety Division
Ara Sargsyan, Building Official

Article

How is your department managing COVID-19?
City of Santa Clarita shares lessons learned.

Building departments, their staff and leadership, are no strangers to emergency response; they are the silent heroes who ensure a safe built environment for communities year-round. The COVID-19 health pandemic is just one example where upholding building-safety is essential for the functioning of governments and economies across California.

To honor the work of the CALBO membership during this health pandemic, CALBO is highlighting building departments that go beyond the call of duty to ensure public safety and service.

This special series of articles is an effort to connect in the digital realm. We hope that membership will continue to learn from one another and move forward in unity as stay-at-home orders are modified or lifted. As always, thank you for all you do and stay strong!

City of Santa Clarita, Building & Safety Division
John Caprarelli, City Building Official

Post

CALBO Member Highlight
Central Valley Adopts Electronic Platforms

We cannot deny that COVID-19 has changed the way we conduct everyday tasks in both our personal and professional lives. Building Departments are not immune to this ever-changing landscape, and many jurisdictions are developing new processes in order to accommodate their communities. In addition to keeping our members updated on current events, CALBO wants to bring positive stories of local accomplishments and news of members working together to overcome some of these new challenges.

Article

State Statutes and the Funding of Essential Services of Local Building Departments

Author: Andrew Stuffler, Chief Building Official, City of Santa Barbara

These are strenuous times for local government. Unprecedented. As the Building Official of a community of 100,000 people, the challenges and competing priorities that are coming across my desk may be similar to yours. Like many cities and counties, our Building & Safety program is a General Fund program. After the Great Recession, our City worked hard and made difficult decisions each year to be good stewards and restore our General Fund reserve account. None of us imagined that a pandemic would create the current and forecasted shortfalls in sales tax and transient occupancy tax (hotel tax) revenues that could potentially consume our entire reserve account before the end of 2020. This may sound all too familiar to you and your community.