INSPECTION CASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM EARNS MAYOR’S CIVIC INNOVATION AWARD FOR STREAMLINING PERMITTING AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES
ICM eases the process of doing business with the City of Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES – (RealEstateRama) — Mayor Eric Garcetti today presented the tenth Mayor’s Civic Innovation Award to members of the City’s Inspection Case Management (ICM) team, who work to ensure greater efficiency in construction inspections in Los Angeles.
“As part of my “Back to Basics” agenda, one of my top goals is to empower City employees to innovate and make city governments more user-friendly,” said Mayor Garcetti. “Our City’s Inspection Case Management team is on the front line of that mission. Thanks to their work, we have cut the red tape so construction and job growth can move full steam ahead in Los Angeles.”
The Inspection Case Management team works with contractors to prevent delays on qualified building projects — including restaurants and charter schools, as well as buildings valued at over $10 million, and those with 50 dwelling units or 50,000 square feet of non-residential floor area. Today, 95% of these building projects are on schedule, compared to 20% before the program launched in 2014. The program is staffed by representatives of the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, the Los Angeles Fire Department, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
At no additional cost to taxpayers, the program has assisted nearly 130 building projects, representing more than $6 billion in investment. Among its more recent successes: the Wilshire Grand Center, which is expected to open months ahead of schedule next year — saving the developer at least $1 million in construction costs and generating business tax revenue for the City sooner.
The Mayor’s Civic Innovation Award is presented to City employees who develop creative and common-sense solutions to everyday problems, in order to provide better customer service for residents.
The Mayor’s first Civic Innovation Award was awarded to the Bureau of Sanitation’s SAN STAR team, which replaced paper maps with a smartphone app. Now, sanitation workers complete their routes faster and can respond to requests in real-time.
Other award winners include:
Ednita Kelly, a librarian at the San Pedro library branch, who built a custom Book Bike that has delivered more than 3,500 books to Angelenos;
The Bureau of Engineering Survey team, which developed a faster, less expensive, technology-driven method to mark mile intervals and main entrances along a 7-mile stretch of the L.A. River bike path;
The Department of Building and Safety, for a concierge service that expedites the building permit process for homeowners and small business owners;
The Office of the City Clerk, for an app created by the Election and Systems Divisions to improve their process for designating polling places; and
Recreation and Parks electrician Paul Jewett, for cutting energy usage and costs with his innovative “red button” — a timer switch that automatically shuts off air conditioning if it is not used after two hours.
