Columnist Jeff German: Hush about inspectors says a lot

Friday, Aug. 12, 2005 | 11:06 a.m.

It's not as if the county's push to give home builders the ability to hire their own inspectors is of little consequence to people buying new homes.

So why are county officials being less-than forthcoming in disclosing details about the proposal?

Jane McAlevey, the executive director of the local Service Employees International Union, which represents the county's building inspectors, said Thursday she knows the answer.

"This is a special-interest-driven plan," she said. "It's not in the public's interest."

In McAlevey's eyes the county is succumbing to pressure from the influential developers, who want to speed up an inspection logjam of new homes.

It's the only logical reason why the county would be so quick to make this happen and so slow to explain what it's all about.

Last week the County Commission was ready to vote on building code changes that would allow the hiring of the private, or "third party," inspectors.

But the vote was put off at the last minute after SEIU lawyers charged in a letter to the commissioners that the agenda item didn't properly disclose under the state's open meeting law what was up for a vote.

On Thursday, with another vote coming up in a few days, the commissioners received another letter critical of the disclosure process -- this time from the Nevada Carpenters Union, which also has a stake in the fight.

Union leaders charged that the proposed changes in the building code have been "hidden or made nearly inaccessible to the public."

The Carpenters asked the commissioners to delay Tuesday's vote for 90 days so that the impact of the changes on the homebuilding industry can be thoroughly debated.

Even the county building inspectors, who are adamantly opposed to giving the homebuilders free rein to police themselves, are being kept in the dark by higher-ups in the county.

"We're the professionals every day in the field, and they never consulted us before they decided to do this," said Zach Gharibian, a senior county building inspector and SEIU shop steward.

"And now they're not explaining to us how they're going to implement these changes."

Ron Lynn, the county's top building department official, has proposed the code revisions to help relieve a shortage of inspectors under his supervision. County employees would still do the first and last inspections, but the homebuilders would be able to hire the private contractors to do all of the inspections in between.

The building inspectors contend that the plan will never work and, worse, that it will lead to more home defects around the valley.

"This is an issue of life and safety for the citizens of this county," Gharibian said. "We're going to become monitors rather than inspectors if this happens."

To emphasize their concerns, building inspectors are wearing orange stickers on the job that say "third party unsafe."

With tempers flaring, County Commissioner Tom Collins has tried to broker a compromise behind the scenes.

Collins has proposed that the county, not the homebuilders, hire the private contractors. That, he said, would give the county more control over the inspection process.

County Manager Thom Reilly likes the idea.

But it hasn't hit home yet with Gharibian and his colleagues, who believe the only responsible way for the county to relieve the manpower shortage is to hire more full-time inspectors.

What everyone wants most right now, though, is for the county to stop the mad rush to give the homebuilders the upper hand.