In the aftermath of the fatal Salvation Army Thrift Store
collapse at 22nd and Market, Mayor Nutter has created two groups to put in
place recommendations from a commission that faulted the city's oversight of
building safety.
The Building Safety Oversight Board, which will be led by
former deputy Mayor Michael Nadol, will decide which of the 37 recommendations
made in October by the Mayor's special independent advisory commission have
most merit. An internal city working group will support the board in how to
make the suggested changes to the Department of Licensing & Inspections.
Nutter commissioned the panel in response to the 2013
building collapse that killed six people and injured 13. Following a 10-month
review, the panel said that L&I was underfunded, had too many
responsibilities, and would better operate as two agencies: a Department of
Buildings and a Department of Business Compliance. That would require a city
charter change.
Everett Gillison, the deputy mayor for public safety, had
suggested that the decision to split the agency might not be made until the end
of 2015. A new mayor takes office in January 2016.
The day that Nutter said he received the special
commission's recommendations, Council President Darrell L. Clarke introduced
his own plan for L&I. Clarke's bill would create a cabinet-level Department
of Planning and Development to take over functions now handled by seven
entities, including L&I. That, too, would require a City Charter change.
Clarke previously said he believes L&I belongs under
a development umbrella, something the special commission is against.
Nutter said in a statement Tuesday that after the
collapse, "I vowed that we as a City would do all we could to prevent
these tragedies in the future. The formation of the Building Safety Oversight
Board is one step in a deliberate, structured plan to bring meaningful
operational changes, which will ensure that public safety is paramount in
everything L&I does."
Source: Philly.com
No comments:
Post a Comment