HIGHLIGHTS OF
THE CONTRACTORS STATE LICENSE BOARD
BOARD MEETING
September 10, 2008
By Sam K. Abdulaziz
► JOHN HALL
► JOHN HALL
► JOHN HALL
The Highlights of this Board Meeting was with respect to
deceased former Board Member, John Hall. John passed away in February 2006. I
remember John as an outstanding father to his daughter, Katrina. He also was
outspoken and a fierce advocate for his position. John will be remembered for a
long period of time.
The Contractors' State License Board also honored Ed
Bakstrum, who was retiring and started with the CSLB in 1978, when gas was 63
cents a gallon.
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The Contractors’ State License Board then held a full Board
Meeting on Wednesday, September 10, 2008, in Sacramento, CA. Indeed, it was a
full Board Meeting in that all Board Members were present at the meeting and the
boardroom was full. The meeting was handled by Board Chair Jim Miller.
The following Board Members
were present:
Chair,
James Miller; Vice Chair, Cynthia Mitchell; Secretary, Edward “Eddie” Barnes;
Board Members Robert
Brown;
Joan Hancock;
Matthew Kelly;
Louise Kirkbride;
Robert Lamb;
Ed Lang;
Stephen Matich;
Bernedette Medrano;
Lisa Miller-Strunk;
Bruce Rust.
There are two vacant positions on the Board.
I.
LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY FOR YEAR 2007/2008
1.
Board Sponsored Bills
SB 963 (Ridley-Thomas)
Department of Consumer Affairs: regulatory boards. This is a bill that has been
sent to the Governor. It appears that it will be signed. However, it stood a
very good chance of not being signed.
The law deals with various
Boards and Bureaus and their Sunset (termination). As far as the Contractors'
State License Board is concerned, the efforts of Registrar Steve Sands, Board
Member, Steve Matich and CSLB Representative, Mike Brown, did a great job in a
very short time, to have the bill that would have been vetoed put in a very good
position where everyone believes it will be passed. A meeting with the
Governor’s staff leads everyone to believe that the bill would pass and that the
Contractors' State License Board and other Boards and Bureaus would not be
Sunsetted.
AB 2335 (Nakanishi)
Building Permits. This has already been signed by the Governor and will become
law at the end of this year. It requires that any city or county that requires
the issuance of a permit for the construction or repair of any structure to have
the owner complete specific forms and declarations that identify the property
and any agents or contractors performing the work and that the project complies
with various laws.
SB 1432 (Margett)
Contractors. This is another Board sponsored bill that has been chaptered and
requires that the contractors and qualifying individual’s bonds required by the
Contractors' State License Board be for the benefit of property owners
contracting for the construction of single family dwellings who is damaged to a
violation of the Contractors' State License Board.
AB 611 (Nakanishi)
Contractors: arbitration procedures. The bill died in the Senate. It would
have increased the maximum amount of damages in CSLB sponsored arbitrations from
$50,000.00 to $100,000.00.
2.
Other Bills Dealt with CSLB (Dead Bills are not reported here)
AB 2412 (Eng) Unlicensed
contractors. This bill was supported by the CSLB and establishes criminal
penalties for first, second, and third and subsequent convictions of engaging in
business or acting in the capacity of a contractor without a license. It is
going to the Governor but has not yet been Chaptered.
SB 797 (Ridley-Thomas)
Professions and vocations. This law has been Chaptered and amends a portion of
the Business and Professions Code to require more severe penalties for
contracting without a license if the individual is named on a revoked license
and is deemed to be responsible for the acts resulting in the revocation.
SB 1698 (Romero)
Contractors: public works. This amends the Contractors State License Law by
prohibiting a contractor from performing work as a contractor or subcontractor
on a public work, contracted for by the state or a state agency unless he or she
has obtained a Public Works Certification from the Contractors' State License
Board. This is on the Governor’s desk waiting for approval.
II.
ENFORCEMENT COMMITTEE REPORT
Because the Enforcement Committee submitted an
Enforcement Committee Report recently, this Enforcement Committee Report is
rather sparse.
Connie Trujillo, Supervisor of
the Sacramento Intake/Mediation Center was presented a certificate recognizing
her accomplishments including the unprecedented zero complaints pending over 60
days as of August 1, 2008.
The Investigative Center Staff’s
investigations are expanding to include worker’s compensation insurance
violations, which will be reported to the appropriate state agency, including
the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.
The Governor’s Executive Order is
having a detrimental affect on staff’s ability to meet compliant-handling cycle
time goals due to the inability to secure an industry expert to evaluate
workmanship complaints.
1.
Air Resources Board Presentation
Erik White made a rather lengthy presentation
dealing with the Air Resources Board and what they are trying to do.
2.
Enforcement Staffing
There is presently one enforcement vacancy as of
August 1, 2008. The Governor’s Executive Order resulted in a freeze on hiring
any new employees. This affected the staffing.
3.
Fresno SWIFT Unit
Recruitment is under way to fill
the seven Fresno SWIFT positions that were authorized as part of a budget change
proposal. Once the budget is signed and the positions become available to fill,
staff will move quickly to get the Central Valley SWIFT Unit up.
4.
SWIFT Update
SWIFT netted 40 unlicensed
operators in San Marco’s two-day sting. Two non-licensee citations were issued
and there are ten pending cases.
The CSLB and the California
Landscape Contractors Association teamed up to target unlicensed landscapers.
Twenty-seven unlicensed contractors were busted in the Pleasonton two-day
sting.
Acting on a tip from a concerned
licensed contractor, a Southern SWIFT Enforcement Representative visited a
senior citizen community in Lakeshore Gardens and nabbed an unlicensed
contractor who was praying on the elderly residents. A suspended pool plasterer
was caught and cited.
5.
Complaint Handling Statistics
Pending complaints have remained manageable and
constant throughout the 2008 calendar year.
III.
LICENSING COMMITTEE REPORT
Licensing Committee Chair Lang
recognized Eddie Barnes for his hard work in chairing the Licensing Committee
the last two years.
Chairman Lang reported that
Applications received during fiscal year 2007/08 are down about 7% over the
previous fiscal year. Staff has been able to maintain acceptable processing
times even though the Governor’s Executive Order eliminated temporary help and
overtime.
1.
Testing Division
Bob Porter reported that the
goal of scheduling exams with three weeks was finally met in July. The
Governor’s Executive Order impacted several areas. Staff continues to work on
relocating the Oxnard, Fresno and San Diego Offices.
2.
Discussion of Proposal to Establish a License Classification for
Installation of Interlocking Paving.
The Interlocking Concrete
Pavement Institute asked the License Board to investigate whether an additional
specialty classification should be created for their industry. There was a
great deal of discussion.
Initially, the Board had thought
not approve the request. However, after some period of time, they tabled the
matter rather than having it not approved.
3.
California Code of Regulations section 832.45 – Electrical Sign
Contractors.
Karen Ollinger reported that there are currently
two license classifications for sign contractors. Apparently cities and
counties are limiting C-45 contractors to “electric signs” and are not allowing
them to bid on public contracts for other types of signs. Staff suggested that
the Committee may want to consider recommending that the Board submit a
regulatory change to amend the title and description of the C-45 classification
and change the title and description of the C-61/D-42 classification. The
suggestions were approved.
A Sign contractor will be one who fabricates and
installs electric and non-electric signs including but not limited post or pole
supported signs, signs attached to structures, painted wall signs, and
modifications to existing signs.
A C-61/D-42 non-electrical sign installation
contractor fabricates and installs all types of non-electrical signs including
but not limited to post or pole supported signs, signs attached to the
structures, painted wall signs and modifications to existing signs. The
Contractors' State License Board approved that motion.
4.
Advertising Defined
The Board voted to repeal section 842 of the
California Code of Regulations dealing with re-examination and pass a new
“Advertising Defined” section with 861 as follows:
861. Advertising Defined. As used in section
7030.5 of the Code, the term advertising includes but is not limited to the
following: any card, contract proposal, sign, billboard, lettering on vehicles
operating in this state, brochure, pamphlet, circular, newspaper magazine,
airwave or any electronic transmission and any form of directory under any
listing denoting “contractor” or any word or words of similar import or meaning
requesting any work for which a license is required by the Contractors License
Law.
5.
Licensing Classification Workload
License classification workload has already been addressed.
IV.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE PROGRAM UPDATE
1.
Executive Order S-09-08
Executive Order S-09-08 has lead
to termination of an estimated 10,300 temporary employees. It also suspended
all contracts, banned overtime, froze state hiring and reduced pay of about
200,000 state workers to the Federal Minimum Wage of $6.55 per hour.
The Order is having significant
impact on the Public Affairs Department. Many programs have been suspended or
eliminated.
2.
CSLB Partnerships
The partnership with the American Association of
Retired Persons and the Contractors' State License Board has been expanded. The
CSLB will provide an article entitled “What You Should Know Before Hiring a
Contractor” for the AARP newsletter which will be distributed to 300,000 members
in Northern California.
Wells Fargo is going to include CSLB publications
with all home improvement loan applications.
Pacific Gas and Electric is revising various CSLB
educational materials with the goal of using it in various inserts included in
customer billing.
V.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT
1.
Administrative Program Updates
a.
Memorandum of Understanding
The Department of
Consumer Affairs has given approval to the Contractors' State License Board for
personnel management delegation of various personnel functions. There is
presently a Memorandum of Understanding and a delegation of authority has been
approved on a trial basis.
b.
Vacant Positions
As of August 27, 2008, there
were 28 vacant positions at the Board. Between May 19, 2008, and August 27,
2008, there were 7 new hires, 11 interdepartmental transfers, and 14 internal
transfers, 15 promotions, and 6 temporary/seasonal hires.
2.
Information Technology Division Update
a.
WEB Conversion to State’s New Look and Feel
The CSLB has converted roughly
70% of the Board’s web pages to the state’s new “look and feel”. They
anticipate total conversion, including ADA compliance changes, to be implemented
by October 2008.
b.
Desktop/Laptop Computers – Windows Upgrade
Within the next 8 months the
CSLB will upgrade to MS Office 2007. They will be conducting training for all
staff as they are upgraded.
c.
Server Virtualization and Storage Centralization
They CSLB is virtualizing the
majority of their servers. As servers are virtualized, files/data are being
moved to a centralized storage device.
d.
Infrastructure Upgrade for Disaster Recovery Site
They CSLB is working with the
State Data Center and AT&T to design and implement a disaster recovery site.
Originally the Fresno field office was identified to be the disaster recovery
site. However, due to the state of disrepair of the Fresno State Building, they
selected the Board’s Norwalk field office to become the disaster recovery site.
Phase I of this project will provide disaster recovery for email and network
files.
e.
Executive Order
The CSLB prepared a substantial
document dealing with the impact of the Governor’s Executive Order on the CSLB
Arbitrations. It is severe.
VI.
STRATEGIC PLAN
With respect to the Strategic
Plan, and taking into consideration the budget problems created by the
Legislature, Abdulaziz, Grossbart & Rudman have decided not to do an update on
the Strategic Plan as it is a oxymoron.
VII.
FUTURE BOARD MEETINGS
A full Board Meeting is scheduled for November
20, 2008, in Los Angeles.
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