 |
| Bennett Levin |
for Bigtrial.net
Former L&I Commissioner Bennett Levin charges that Mayor Nutter is in the process of "tearing down" his former department. Along the way, Levin says, Nutter has de-emphasized public safety, as well as violated the city charter.
"During your campaign for mayor, you often expressed your disdain for the department," Levin wrote in an open letter to the mayor today that was circulated to the media. "In my humble but experienced opinion, the problem is not solved by tearing down the department, by slashing its workforce by 25 percent, or by providing it with a commissioner who, from all appearances, knew absolutely nothing about its core and basic public safety responsibility ..."
The City Council has been holding public hearings on the fatal Market Street building collapse June 5th that killed six people, injured 14, and prompted an L&I inspector to commit suicide. At an Aug. 1 hearing, City Councilwoman Cindy Bass asked Fran Burns, former L&I commissioner under Nutter, why the focus at L&I had switched from life safety to economic development. Burns, L&I commissioner from 2008 to 2012, claimed it wasn't true in testimony that underwhelmed council members and spectators.
A spokesman for Nutter could not be reached.
 |
| Mayor Nutter (right) |
Levin, L&I commissioner from 1992 to 1995, said that under the city charter, L&I is primarily responsible for building safety, not economic development. When the charter describes the duties of L&I, it doesn't say anything about economic development.
Under the charter, Levin says, L&I reports to the managing director. That's the way it worked when Levin was L&I commissioner under Mayor Ed Rendell.
But under Mayor Nutter, L&I reports to Alan Greenberger, who wears three hats, and is on the same level of the city's organizational chart as the managing director. Greenberger is executive director of the city planning commission, director of commerce, and deputy mayor for planning and economic development.
The city charter backs up Levin. Section 5-1002 states the functions of L&I. The first thing listed is "building safety and sanitation, signs and zoning." The charter says L&I shall "administer and enforce all statutes, ordiances and regulations for the protection of persons and property from hazards in the use, condition, erection, alteration, maintenance, repair, sanitation ... removal and demolition of buildings and structures ..."
Under the duties of the managing director, the charter spells out which departments report to the managing director, and L&I is listed as one of those departments.
"The fact that the department of licenses and inspections apparently reports to the commerce director who is also the deputy mayor for economic development, rather than the managing director, in direct contradiction of the city charter, is all one has to know as to where the priorities lie with respect to protection of the public's safety," Levin wrote.
Levin said when he has in office, L&I had 421 employees; now it has 308.
"L&I needs leadership that has the technical knowledge and core experience to direct its public safety responsibilities," Levin wrote. "It is not something solely gained from being a good tester or having obtained a masters in public administration."
Fran Burns is a former intramural director at Villanova University who holds a graduate degree in public administration. Before she was L&I commissioner, she worked for the city as an assistant managing director, and an assistant budget director.
Levin is a licensed engineer and a former chairman of the city's Board of Building Standards. He spoke in frustration about what's going on today at City Hall.
"They're violating the charter and nobody blows the whistle," Levin said in an interview. "Nobody says, what are we doing here? And then they bring in a Zumba teacher to run the department. That doesn't make you a commissioner."
"He [Nutter] stripped away the department," Levin said in an interview. "You can't bring back all of these skills that have been let loose. If you didn't learn from the Meridian fire, and you didn't learn from the pier collapse, and you didn't learn from the judge getting conked on the head, when are you going to learn?"
Levin was referring to a series of catastrophes that he has blamed on mismanagement at L&I, including the 1991 fire at One Meridian Plaza that killed three firefighters: a 1997 accident where falling debris from a building previously cited by L&I as having a weakened facade killed a judge; and the 2000 collapse of a Delaware River pier that killed three young women.
A longtime L&I employee who worked under both L&I commissioners Burns and Levin said that "Burns was there to be a bureaucrat. She was all about cutting costs ... She wanted to show an increase in revenues and a cut in costs."
Mayor Nutter's focus was on streamlining the permit process, the L&I employee said. "I don't think he [Nutter] cared about the inspections," the employee said. "I don’t think Nutter understood the system and hired the managers who should have been there."
Under Burns, the longtime L&I employee said, private demolitions such as the one that occurred on Market Street were viewed as the primary responsibility of the owner.
That's not how it worked when he was commissioner, Levin said.
Levin used to convene a meeting in his office every morning. "The first thing we talked about was dangerous buildings in the city," he said. "I had one inspector on call around the clock." If somebody made a complaint, the inspector on duty "got paid to go out at 2 o'clock in the morning" and check out a potentially dangerous building, Levin said.
In the Market Street collapse, complaints were first made a month before the tragedy. If complaints about the ongoing demolition on Market Street had happened on his watch, Levin said, "Somebody would have gone out immediately."
Regarding the L&I building inspector who committed suicide, the Market Street demolition was one of 700 jobs he had in his portfolio.
"It's not the fault of the guy who committed suicide," Levin said, "its the fault of the process."
In his open letter to Mayor Nutter, Levin asked, "who pays the price" for the incompetence of city government.
"As usual, it is the poorest among us who pay the price," Levin wrote. "The price is not only paid by those who were killed or injured, but the price for poor and ineffective governance in our city is paid by those who can least afford it."
"Mismanagement and ineffective leadership over the past years have burdened our citizens to the point where all Philadelphians, including the poor, are forced to pay a 33 percent surcharge on the state sales tax solely as the result of how the city has been managed," Levin wrote. "It is a self-inflicted burden and it is just one of the many burdens imposed as the result of poor political leadership."
"L&I needs to be fixed," Levin wrote Mayor Nutter. "It needs to overcome 15 years of decay. It needs your support, not your disdain."
The feud between Levin and Nutter was prompted by a statement released by a Nutter spokesman after Levin testified on Aug. 1 before City Council. The statement attributed to Nutter said that Levin was "out of touch," and charged that he had slandered current L&I employees, something that wasn't true.
"Rather than curse the darkness and slander the messenger, I would respectfully suggest you light a few candles and give the city a department that they can respect and have confidence in," Levin wrote Nutter.
In his open letter to Mayor Nutter, Levin asked, "who pays the price" for the incompetence of city government.
"As usual, it is the poorest among us who pay the price," Levin wrote. "The price is not only paid by those who were killed or injured, but the price for poor and ineffective governance in our city is paid by those who can least afford it."
"Mismanagement and ineffective leadership over the past years have burdened our citizens to the point where all Philadelphians, including the poor, are forced to pay a 33 percent surcharge on the state sales tax solely as the result of how the city has been managed," Levin wrote. "It is a self-inflicted burden and it is just one of the many burdens imposed as the result of poor political leadership."
"L&I needs to be fixed," Levin wrote Mayor Nutter. "It needs to overcome 15 years of decay. It needs your support, not your disdain."
The feud between Levin and Nutter was prompted by a statement released by a Nutter spokesman after Levin testified on Aug. 1 before City Council. The statement attributed to Nutter said that Levin was "out of touch," and charged that he had slandered current L&I employees, something that wasn't true.
"Rather than curse the darkness and slander the messenger, I would respectfully suggest you light a few candles and give the city a department that they can respect and have confidence in," Levin wrote Nutter.