HIGHLIGHTS OF
THE CONTRACTORS STATE LICENSE BOARD
BOARD / STRATEGIC PLANNING MEETING
MONTEREY, CA
April 23, 2008
By Sharice Baboumian
►•
ONE STAFF
MEMBER LEAVES THE CSLB
►•
NEW BOARD
MEMBER
►•
GOODBYE TO MAUREEN ABBOTT
►•
HELLO TO BRUCE RUST
On
Wednesday, April 23, 2008, the Contractors' State License Board held a full
Board Meeting focusing primarily on Strategic Planning.
The
following Board Members were present:
Chair,
James Miller; Vice Chair, Donald Zampa; Secretary, Cynthia Mitchell; Board
Members
Edward “Eddie” Barnes;
Robert Brown;
Joan Hancock;
Matthew Kelly;
Louise Kirkbride;
Ed Lang;
Bernedette Medrano;
Lisa Miller-Strunk,
and Bruce Rust (new
member).
Board
Members that were absent were:
Robert
Lamb and Stephen Matich.
There is one vacant position on
the Board.
I.
CHAIR’S REMARKS AND BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS
The Board recognized Stephen Matich’s
excused absence, as his father has just passed away. Our deepest condolences go
to Stephen and his family.
The Registrar of Contractors, Steve
Sands, presented staff member Maureen Abbott, Executive Assistant, with a plaque
as she will be leaving the Contractors' State License Board. We are sad to see
her leave, as she was the “go-to” person for clerical matters.
The Board welcomed new member, Bruce
Rust. He has a labor union background in Washington D.C. many years ago.
Welcome!
II.
PUBLIC COMMENT SESSION
Greg Schwartz, a consumer, spoke about a
complaint he had filed with the Board. He had come to voice his dissatisfaction
with the handling of his case and the mandatory settlement conference program.
William E. Carter, Vice-President of
National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), introduced himself and
said he looks forward to working with the Board.
III.
CONSENT CALENDAR
The minutes and reports of the following
meetings were approved:
1.
The February 7, 2008 Board Meeting Minutes
2.
The April 3, 2008 Legislative Committee Meeting
Summary Report
3.
The April 3, 2008 Enforcement Committee Meeting
Summary Report
4.
The April 3, 2008 Licensing Committee Meeting
Summary Report
5.
The April 3, 2008 Communication & Education
Committee Meeting Summary Report
IV.
REVIEW AND ADOPT POSITIONS ON LEGISLATION,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO AB2224, AB2326, AB2412, AB2479, AB2603, SB1337,
SB1362, SB1402, SB1494, SB1581, SB1698
Members of
the Board and Staff members spoke about various pending legislation. Noteworthy
is AB 2288. AB 2288 is the Automatic Fire Extinguising Systems: Registration
bill by Torrico which requires the State Fire Marshal to expand regulations and
building standards to include the installation of automatic fire extinguishing
systems, and no longer require consideration of the voluntary standards. It
prohibits any person from installing or modifying a fire sprinkler, a fire
sprinkler system, a wet standpipe system, or an engineered fixed automatic fire
extinguishing system without a certification of registration. It relates to
contractors who service, maintain and test extinguishers. The Staff holds the
position that the Board should “oppose unless amended” AB 2288. A motion was
made and the motion was carried to adopt the Staff’s position on this bill.
V.
STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION
The Board engaged in a Strategic Planning
Session facilitated by an outside consultant.
1.
2007-8 Plan Review: Progress and Accomplishments
The Board and Staff members talked about the
various goals they had set at the last Strategic Planning session. Some made
comments about the media’s involvement particularly in televising the “sting”
operations across the state. Also, members commented on the effectiveness of
the testing improvements and scoring system. The Board now offers computerized
testing which is a great advancement.
The Board has established the following five
goals, which provide the framework for the results it wants to achieve in
furtherance of its mission. Under each goal, are some notable objectives and
actions that have been taken:
1)
Enforcement
Reduce,
eliminate, or prevent unlicensed activity and unprofessional conduct that pose a
threat to public health, safety, and welfare.
Objective:
Develop criteria and implement a program to conduct office audits of all
Enforcement operations. Action – Office audit criteria were developed for the
four Enforcement divisions: Intake and Mediation Centers, Investigative Centers,
SWIFT, and Case Management. All audits were complete April 10, 2008.
Objective:
Enhance cooperation with district attorneys. Action – Enforcement management
met with numerous consumer protection prosecutors during 2007 and 2008. This
strategic objective will be ongoing with management routinely attending consumer
protection prosecutor roundtable meetings. In addition outreach performed has
resulted in significantly higher number of criminal referrals being prosecuted
throughout the State.
2)
Licensing
Ensure that all
applicant and licensees are qualified to provide construction services.
Objective:
Create a photo ID pocket license for Home Improvement Salespersons. Action – The
Board’s legal counsel believes the CSLB has the legal authority to require a
photo identification providing there is no cost to the licensee. Staff is
collecting information and data associated with the implementation of this
objective to determine its feasibility.
Objective:
Conduct a study on a one-step, comprehensive license check system. Action –
Phase One of the new CSLB Website was launched in November 2007. Further
enhancements are scheduled in 2008 during Phase Two of this project.
3)
Legislation
Ensure that
statutes, regulations, policies, and procedure protect consumers, and provide
adequate remedies to resolve disputes.
4)
Communication & Education
Educate
consumers to make informed choices about construction services, and ensure that
licensed contractors strengthen their technical management and service skills.
Objective:
Translate remaining major CSLB publications into Spanish. Action – Translations
by an outside vendor have been completed. CSLB Spanish-speaking staff are
finishing up their review of the translations, while layout phase continues.
New deadline is May 2008.
Objective:
Define Phase Two of CSLB Website Update Project, including the “Find a
Contractor” feature for Website. Action – Completed.
5)
Organizational Development
Enhance
organizational effectiveness, and improve the quality of customer service in all
programs.
Objective:
Develop enforcement representative/supervisor specification revisions to address
pay and classification disparities. Action – The Department of Personnel
Administration approved a 4% salary increase for the supervisory classes of
Enforcement Supervisor I and II. Complete.
Objective:
Develop expanded metrics in each division. Action – Each committee reviewed
available and desirable measurements the members felt would be beneficial for
the Board. Complete.
2.
Achieving the Mission: Challenges and
Opportunities
The Board discussed various challenges
they have been facing in achieving their mission through their goals. For each
challenge posed, the Board discussed opportunities or ways to solve the
problem. Some of the key Directions and Themes are as follows:
Ø
Creating Educated
Consumers
Ø
Equipping consumers
with tools
Ø
Building consumer
awareness by informing them of:
§
Benefits of hiring
licensed contractors; and
§
Risks of hiring
unlicensed contractors – telling consumers “You are responsible” if you hire
unlicensed contractors
Ø
Expanding overall
awareness in consumers, contractors, the legislature, and partnering agencies.
Ø
Expanding
partnerships
Ø
Advancing licensure
process in terms of technology, access, and staffing
Ø
Ensuring workforce
competencies as it relates to staff succession, hiring criteria, and education
levels
Ø
Enhancing
contractor skill levels by focusing on demands
Ø
Focus on “Small
Jobs”
3.
Resource Allocation: Priorities for 2008-9 and
Beyond
i.
Priorities
The Board and Staff were given “Hammer
Bucks” to put toward the following three priorities and each were explored a
little further:
a.
Media
and Communications (1st Place)
The Board suggested sharing information with
partner agencies and increase public awareness of CSLB, which supports
long-term growth, targeted at injured victims and/or seniors. The Board also
recognized that it is costly to communicate, and suggest a new internet focus.
They also noted that it would be best to utilize high impact media but that they
should continue to measure all modes of communication and media.
b.
Staffing
(2nd Place)
The Board recognized the need to reach
seniors but that they need people to do the work. They mentioned the need for
new or revised skill sets, which supports growth in public awareness, which may,
in turn, lead to increased work. However, filling positions also supports
growth.
c.
Information Technology (3rd Place)
The Board noted that consistency in
infrastructure and process are needed. In that there is a growing Internet
presence, the CSLB must also keep up, which could translate into getting more
work with same people.
ii.
Staff
Opportunities
The following staff opportunities were
visited:
a.
Web unit
b.
Email
team
c.
Investigative
d.
Regional
offices
e.
Multilingual workers at call centers
iii.
Staff
outreach
The Board mentioned the need to reach out
to California high schools and universities in an effort to achieve their goals
and educate future members of the construction industry.
4.
Goals and
Directions
The Board
turned its focus on the following areas and began to discuss some specific
directions toward achievement of those goals:
i.
Educated and informed consumer page
to, in essence, “help consumers help themselves”
Some
suggestions included partnering with and educating construction – related
agencies (e.g. water, parks, etc.). Also, by identify criteria, specifications
and measures, this goal can become more achievable. For example, having a “What
does this mean” button on the website would give consumers more information on
what they see on the CSLB website. Lastly, educating the consumer on costs of
contractor choices (what the consumer will save, but what they’re risking by
hiring an unlicensed contractor). The public might be seeing more expansion of
the media campaign
ii.
Awareness of CSLB
Engaging
the industry in supporting outreach to legislators is a good start.
iii.
Advanced licensure process
The Board
may focus more on technology, increased access, and staffing.
iv.
Skilled contractor force
Through
education and currency of skills, the Board will be able to keep the California
contractors’ force skilled with the latest information.
v.
Workforce for the future
There is a
need for future members. There will be an emphasis on needed competencies,
hiring and recruitment.
vi.
Expanded
enforcement network through partnerships
To achieve this, the Board explored ideas
such as developing criteria for reactive consumer complaints enforcement and
assessing and prioritizing desired referrals and partners. They also want to be
able to go public about how they prioritize proactive enforcement within the
Board, so that outside agencies are not overwhelming the Board with referrals.
Developing a multi-agency template for complaint reporting and feedback, is
another tool the Board may use.
VI.
REVIEW OF TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
The tentative schedule for Board Meetings for 2008:
June 19, 2008 – Big Bear Lake (includes Annual Election of Officers)
Committee meetings will be scheduled on an as needed basis.
Abdulaziz, Grossbart & Rudman provides this information as a
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transpired. The presentation and/or documents are of a general nature and are
intended to highlight areas of the subject matter and should not be used as a
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attorney-client relationship, or protect any confidential information until a
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Grossbart & Rudman, P.O. Box 15458, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5458; (818)
760-2000,
Facsimile (818) 760-3908.
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