By Noah Baustin and Michael Barba : sfstandard – excerpt
Frank Chiu walked away from his job as San Francisco’s first director of the Department of Building Inspection nearly 20 years ago.
Since then, he has worked as a permit consultant on construction projects that his brother—and two nephews—later inspected in their roles as city building inspectors, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest in a department that has been dogged by ethical issues.
Chiu, 66, and his son, Chris, work with contractors and architects who renovate offices in downtown high-rises. He helps them save time and money by ensuring that their building plans comply with the city’s notoriously complex codes. Chiu says his job getting the permits is done by the time his family members inspect the construction work on the projects. But outside observers say the situation creates at least the appearance of a conflict of interest…(more)
It is the City Family Plan. Been working for decades. Squirreling away bucks to combat the negative feedback when the s**t hits the fan. Which it did recently.