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LORRI HELFANDCustomer service takes a hit as loads of openings in the community development department puts pressure on the few there to okay plans.
LARGO - It used to take Philip DeGeorge less than a day to get a building permit for driveway work in Largo. Now, it can take him longer than a month.
"I've been pulling contracts since the '70s, and I'm at my wits' end," said DeGeorge, 38, whose family business, Driveways by DeGeorge, installs five to 10 driveways a month in Largo alone.
DeGeorge is one of several residents and contractors who have experienced delays because of staff shortages in the community development department.
About two weeks ago, Largo hired a new building official, a position open since January. But as of Thursday, the department still has seven job openings, including a construction inspector, a design engineer, a planning manager, a program manager, a senior code compliance officer and two plans examiners.
Commissioner Pat Gerard links the shortage of employees directly to the numerous complaints she's received about long waits for permits.
"It slows things down and it annoys people. I'm concerned. It's taken so long to hire for these positions," Gerard said.
At Tuesday's meeting the department asked to raise fees to help offset the costs in hiring a construction inspector, planning technician and building inspector in fiscal 2005.
Gerard said she has serious concerns about raising fees to hire new staff when the department already had several vacancies.
One plans examiner position opened in January and the other plans examiner job is a new position since October. The senior code compliance position has been open since November.
City Manager Steve Stanton said a change in the composition of the department is one reason the city is having a tough time filling the positions.
Community Development Director Mike Staffopoulos, who worked as an assistant director in the Public Works Department and as a city engineer, formally took the helm more than a year ago. After the previous director, Ric Goss, left the department, several others followed.
"The city kind of cleaned house. We needed a change of direction," Stanton said. "It takes an appropriate amount of time if you want to rebuild a team and make sure they're energized professionals."
City leaders saw Staffopoulos as a good fit because of his knack for explaining complicated projects in basic terms and his ability to improve relationships with the public.
But Staffopoulos has been challenged to fulfill his department's customer-friendly mission, Stanton said.
"It's hard to give good customer service from a desk that no one's sitting at," he said.
Staffopoulos said the city has been approached by a few qualified candidates, but it's also re-evaluating salaries to see if they need to be updated to draw applicants. Listed starting salaries for the jobs are at a range of $14.46 to $20.45 an hour for a construction inspector, up to $43,514 to $54,413 annually for a planning manager.
Meanwhile, the city is using the services of M.T. Causley, a firm offering building services to government agencies.
Staffopoulos admitted that long-range planning has been slowed by the vacancies, but he said some complaints arise from miscommunication between contractors and homeowners.
One method of dealing with the workload is to classify and prioritize projects, he said.
"We're trying to streamline some of the larger residential projects and review and segregate small projects and try to get those out the door as quickly as we can," Staffopoulos said.
That approach seems to be working for some folks. Thursday, 63-year old Bolivar Ochoa said he received a permit to replace a wood fence at his home within two days.
DeGeorge says he plays by the rules because of his family's longstanding reputation in the community, but the situation in Largo is causing other contractors to shirk the process entirely.
"It's to the point where a lot of contractors out there are pressed and will take a chance and not get a permit," he said.
- Lorri Helfand can be reached at 445-4155 or at lorri@sptimes.com