04-06-2012, 02:12 PM
Aloha,
I have had the experience of running in the neighborhood of 50 building permits through the department when I was a licensed General Contractor. At times the process was easy and other times it was a horrible experience. I feel I have a good sense of what we need to do to improve the process of getting a building permit.
Here is what I plan to do to improve the building permit process. I will sit down with the administration and the department heads and with a plan that will change the culture and process of the permitting department. The two areas that will have a significant effect on getting a building permit are accountability and process. We need the permitting department to have an efficient process with time tables to meet and be accountable to those time tables. The culture needs to be transformed into a customer service and an efficiency mind set. While utilizing technology may improve the process I believe that the process starts with the people and technology can sometimes make it better.
As a former employer I realize that employees generally need clear guide lines and the tools to do their job in the best way possible. I think there are many good people in the department and they have the potential to do a job that will make the majority of us proud. Right now for the most part they are following the same process and engaged in the same culture as years gone past. It is time for us to move into an age of efficiency and accountability.
The key is how we approach this change, for all parties to buy-in it needs to be done with effective communication. With effective communication, cooperation and some compromise I believe we can make some lasting positive changes to the way OUR government works.
I have had the experience of running in the neighborhood of 50 building permits through the department when I was a licensed General Contractor. At times the process was easy and other times it was a horrible experience. I feel I have a good sense of what we need to do to improve the process of getting a building permit.
Here is what I plan to do to improve the building permit process. I will sit down with the administration and the department heads and with a plan that will change the culture and process of the permitting department. The two areas that will have a significant effect on getting a building permit are accountability and process. We need the permitting department to have an efficient process with time tables to meet and be accountable to those time tables. The culture needs to be transformed into a customer service and an efficiency mind set. While utilizing technology may improve the process I believe that the process starts with the people and technology can sometimes make it better.
As a former employer I realize that employees generally need clear guide lines and the tools to do their job in the best way possible. I think there are many good people in the department and they have the potential to do a job that will make the majority of us proud. Right now for the most part they are following the same process and engaged in the same culture as years gone past. It is time for us to move into an age of efficiency and accountability.
The key is how we approach this change, for all parties to buy-in it needs to be done with effective communication. With effective communication, cooperation and some compromise I believe we can make some lasting positive changes to the way OUR government works.