# Troubled school inspectors slip through state's oversight



## mark handler

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x529880857/Troubled-school-inspectors-slip-through-states-oversight

Troubled school inspectors slip through state's oversight

BY COREY G. JOHNSON AND ERICA PEREZ, California Watch | Saturday, Apr 09 2011 05:00 PM

Last Updated Saturday, Apr 09 2011 05:00 PM

As far as officials at Palo Verde College knew, Richard Vale had a reliable work history when they hired him to inspect construction of a new gym, locker room and swimming pool at the Riverside County community college campus.

The Division of the State Architect had approved Vale to inspect public school and community college projects in 2005, without ever checking his background. But Vale had been convicted of a felony in a construction safety case and fired from the inspector program in the city of Los Angeles.

Prosecutors had in the early 1990s accused Vale of accepting $100,000 from a building contractor for overlooking unsafe seismic anchors installed in the walls of numerous unreinforced masonry buildings throughout Los Angeles. He pleaded no contest to conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Despite this, the state architect's office approved Vale for the $10 million Palo Verde job and, in 2007, as the welding inspector on a $2 million renovation project at Needles High School in San Bernardino County.

"If they let this guy through, what else is going on out there that we don't know about?" said Doug Devine, an inspector with the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, who assisted in the criminal investigation of Vale. "What other corners are they cutting? What other safety issues are being ignored?"

Vale isn't the only school building inspector who has slipped through the state's loose system of oversight, a California Watch investigation has found.

Nearly 300 inspectors have been cited by the state for work-related deficiencies. But many of them were allowed to keep monitoring school construction jobs, a review of state performance ratings shows. For decades, the state kept these ratings confidential until California Watch fought for their release.

Internal emails, project records and other documents show inspectors working on multiple school construction jobs even after being accused of corruption and filing false reports with regulators. Some failed to identify safety defects. Others were absent from job sites during key moments of construction.

Unlike standard construction projects, which use city or county inspectors, public school and community college building sites are monitored by a special network of 1,700 inspectors who are trained in the Field Act, considered one of the premier building standards in the country.

School districts pay $70 to $100 an hour for the services of an inspector, and pay the state thousands of dollars for field engineers to make sure the inspectors are competently following the Field Act.

In an interview, acting State Architect Howard "Chip" Smith said there is "room for improvement" in the inspector oversight program, but he defended it as generally effective.

"The field engineers, by and large, know their inspectors and their territory," he said. "They work with them on a regular basis. They know their capabilities, strengths and weaknesses, and that has been predominantly how the system worked."

In the past three years, the state architect's office has revoked only a single inspector's license -- a whistleblower from Fresno who had admitted in a legislative hearing that he had overlooked potentially dangerous problems.

Some experts in seismic construction say this oversight system is broken.

Bruce Tyson-Flyn, a project inspector in San Jose for more than 20 years, said the division "shouldn't be afraid at all to come out here and say, 'This guy doesn't have a clue what he's doing. Get him off this job. Shut it down.' (That) doesn't happen."

The state has rated the performance of nearly 1,800 inspectors over the past three decades. Most received passing marks for attendance, record keeping, knowledge of building codes and plans, and communication with the state architect's office and with builders.

Records show that 293 inspectors were written up for poor performance -- either receiving "unsatisfactory" marks or having been told their work needed improvement. Yet most were approved for additional jobs.

Others have escaped any kind of formal scrutiny. On about 40 percent of the rating forms reviewed by California Watch, field engineers with the state architect's office stated they could not assess the performance of inspectors under their watch because of "insufficient contact."

All of the Division of the State Architect's regional offices are missing rating files on active inspectors. The Los Angeles office has not filed a single rating report since 2001 on inspectors working in that region, records show.

Smith, the acting state architect, downplayed the ratings' value.

"The rating form is simply a perfunctory role function at the end of the project," he said. "In the real world of interaction between DSA (the Division of the State Architect) and the inspectors, they are continuously rated through the entire process."

Without enough field engineers to monitor school inspectors, an important link in the system has been broken, records and interviews show.

According to a 2006 report written by the state architect's office, field engineers were not visiting school sites and therefore had "no knowledge of the projects." Some projects were being monitored by unqualified assistant inspectors and completed without adequate testing of concrete, masonry and soil, and with unspecified "dangerous construction flaws."

In one case, a dozen new classroom buildings constructed in 2004 at Anna Kyle Elementary School in Fairfield never received a visit from a field engineer. There is no evidence of shoddy construction or incompetent work by the inspector, but taxpayer money was wasted: the school district paid the state architect's office $5,850 for the field engineer who did not show up.

The problems have mounted without any official response or discipline.

In 2002, Robert Marquez was assigned to inspect a seismic upgrade to the auditorium building at Newhall Elementary School in the Santa Clarita Valley. According to Patel's notes, a contractor said Marquez was frequently absent and stayed for only an hour or so when he did appear.

In his review of Marquez's performance on another project in 2002, at Hart High School in Newhall, Patel wrote that Marquez appeared "unappreciative of code regulations" and did not inform the state architect's office when construction started or when concrete was to be poured, as the law requires.

Marquez continued to work on at least 20 more construction projects in Southern California over the next eight years.

In an interview, Marquez said he showed up at each job site whenever he was needed, and that his work was thorough and effective.

"I'm basically being judged on what one person said, and I never had a chance to rebut or discuss (what) that person wrote about me," Marquez said. "If this was so critical, he would have called me and shut the job down."

Under the state's Field Act, public school and community college inspectors must provide continuous inspection, sometimes working eight hours a day to make sure the construction conforms to approved plans.

But in January 2009, a state field engineer gave inspector Wayne Edgin an unsatisfactory grade on an inspection at Fischer Middle School in San Jose, saying Edgin's work schedule was "excessive."

That summer, the state architect's office denied approval to Edgin to inspect six more projects, because it was more work than Edgin could adequately handle. Edgin worked the jobs anyway. Rather than discipline him, a regional manager with the state architect's office had him sign a resolution agreeing to follow code requirements.

A year later, the state discovered Edgin was in the early stages of inspecting nine projects at schools stretching across a 60-mile swath of the Bay Area.

The state architect's office removed Edgin from three of the nine jobs. Edgin sued, saying the division's judgment of "too much work" was arbitrary and unscientific. The complaint alleges he had lost $180,000 in potential income as a result. Edgin remains an active, certified inspector.

In an interview, Edgin said he could have adequately inspected all nine of the school projects because the timing of construction on each varied. And he contended that the state architect's office gave him permission to inspect multiple jobs in 2009.

"They've never been in the (construction) field," Edgin said about the state's field engineers. "They're structural engineers. I know how long it takes."

This story was edited by Robert Salladay and Mark Katches. It was copy edited by Nikki Frick. Reporters Kendall Taggart, Anna Werner and Krissy Clark and contributed to this story.

California Watch, the state's largest investigative reporting team, is a project of the independent, nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting. Contact the reporter at cjohnson@californiawatch.org.


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## Mark K

DSA requires the architect and the structural engineer to sign off on the Inspector of Record yet they apparently do not share the evaluations.


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## mark handler

Senators want audit of school construction oversight failures

May 10, 2011 | Corey G. Johnson

Key members of the state Senate have asked for an audit of the office that oversees public school construction in response to a recent California Watch investigation that found systemic failures in the way earthquake safety laws are enforced.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett, Alan Lowenthal, Loni Han****, Julia Brownley and Michael Rubio are asking the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to launch an investigation of the Division of the State Architect, according to an April 25 letter.

The four-page letter, sent to audit committee chairman Ricardo Luna, asks for a two-part probe of the state architect's office focusing first on potential safety threats and next on the way the division carries out its work. The audit would be conducted by the State Auditor's Office. The senators say they want to ensure school projects comply with the Field Act – California's landmark earthquake safety law for public schools – and other safety requirements of the California Building Code.

The letter states:

 “

Recent investigative reports conducted by California Watch indicate that there are possible irregularities in the (state architect's) construction oversight and project closeout processes of school site construction that may not follow the protections put in law to ensure the safe construction of schools. ...

Attached please find a list of questions defining the scope of the two phases of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee audit request to determine whether (state architect) resources are being used efficiently, effectively and economically to ensure the construction of safe school facilities.

 ”

The first phase of the investigation, which the senators say should be given the highest priority, would probe any potential problems that jeopardize school safety. If approved by the committee, the review of safety issues would be done in five to six months.

The second phase of the investigation would look at how the state architect's office could become more efficient in approving building plans and managing its caseload.

Eric Lamoureux, spokesman for the state architect's office, said officials are aware of the audit request and will participate in the committee's 9 a.m. hearing tomorrow.

Lowenthal, who is slated to present the request at the hearing, said yesterday that California taxpayers have a multibillion dollar investment in schools and had a right to expect them to be safe.

“There are specific safeguards in law that are intended to insure the safety of our school buildings," he said. "It is of great concern to learn that some of these laws may be improperly administered. The state taxpayers have invested over $35 billion in school construction over the past decade and expect no less than safe buildings. Hopefully this state audit will help shed light on the problems in the current system so they can be addressed."

The audit request is the latest state response to the findings of California Watch's 19-month investigation. At last month's hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Earthquake and Disaster Preparedness, state officials pledged to loosen the criteria for schools to access millions in unspent seismic repair funds and examine ways to improve its oversight of school construction building inspectors.

The California Watch series, "On Shaky Ground," found state regulators had routinely failed to enforce the Field Act, allowing children and teachers to occupy buildings with structural flaws and potential safety hazards reported during construction. At least 20,000 projects – from minor fire alarm upgrades to major construction of new classrooms – were completed without receiving a final Field Act certification.

The state architect’s office has also allowed building inspectors hired by school districts to work on complex and expensive jobs despite complaints of incompetence. Inspectors have been missing from construction sites at key moments and have been accused of filing false reports – but that has not stopped them from getting more work.

In one case, the state architect's office had approved a construction inspector to work on school building projects even though he had a felony conviction in a construction safety-related case and had been kicked out of the city of Los Angeles inspector program.

http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/senators-want-audit-school-construction-oversight-failures-10206


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## cda

I hear the TERMINATOR has alittle extra time on his hands, maybe he can clear up the mess


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## texasbo

No, Troubled School Teachers

Heard about this on the radio on my way in to work this morning; figured she'd be hot. Pulled it up on the computer. One look at the moustache, and I almost blew my Wheaties.

The comments are priceless.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/05/16/kennedale-teacher-jailed-accused-of-having-sex-with-students/

I know it's OT, but it's been stagnant for a week...


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## conarb

Well she's hired to teach and somebody's got to train the boys, if not a teacher who?

Isn't a mustache on a female considered a disability and she can't be discriminated against?  After all we give obese people Handicap placards when many are obese due to their own behavior, the poor girl can't help the fact that she has a mustache,  it's probably disabling in her natural quest for sex.


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## texasbo

All good points.


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## KZQuixote

conarb said:
			
		

> Well she's hired to teach and somebody's got to train the boys, if not a teacher who?Isn't a mustache on a female considered a disability and she can't be discriminated against?  After all we give obese people Handicap placards when many are obese due to their own behavior, the poor girl can't help the fact that she has a mustache,  it's probably disabling in her natural quest for sex.


I have no doubt! Somebody's got to look out for her future. We certainly can't expect her to dig in and make it happen. Course, this can only be an opening for a new type of state sponsored counselor/therapist.

Are you willing to forge ahead with this newest vocation, Conarb?

Bill


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## Mule

Saw a picture on the news last night. Make-up did wonders for her...and she has a "smokin" body.....Of course after looking at my exes picture a bull moose has a smokin body!


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## texasbo

Sorry, I don't care how smokin' the body is, the 'stache is a deal killer. For me anyway.

Did the makeup cover the scabs, or whatever the hell those are all over her face?


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## Mule

Those aren't scabs..those are love molecules left over from previous STD's.


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## FM William Burns

I was away for so long now I see why.  Just saw that mug shot and mug is being nice......thanks


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## texasbo

I will say that I wonder where these teachers were when I was in junior high. Maybe it's just that times have changed. or maybe it was just me...


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## mtlogcabin

A real winner

A teacher has been jailed after being accused of having sex with five of her teenage students during an orgy at her home

Brittni Colleps, a married mother of three, invited the boys to her Texas home for the sex romp and the encounter was filmed on their cell phones.

The 27-year-old's husband was away overseas duty serving with the US military.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1388017/Brittni-Nicole-Colleps-Teacher-arrested-sex-FIVE-students-home-orgy.html#ixzz1MiUkykfm


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## Examiner

Teacher joke

Joke my mother heard in Teachers lounge many years ago.

Some people were to open a house of ill repute.

It had three stories.

The owners want their clients not over work themselves too much prior to any activities by climbing stairs, so they put selected professional entertainers on different floors.

1st floor entertainers; telephone operators.

2nd floor entertainers; secretaries

3th floor entertainers; teachers

After a time they noticed that everyone was going to the third floor.

So they decide to inquire with one of the clients as to why the clients were frequently going to the third floor’s entertainment.

The client replied;

Well those telephone operators say “YOUR THREE MINUTES ARE UP”

The secretaries say ‘I DO NOT WORK OVERTIME”

But those teachers say “WE ARE GOING TO DO IT OVER AGAIN UNTIL WE GET IT RIGHT”


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## beach

I'm sure that teacher looks a lot better at 2:00 AM in a dim bar


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## texasbo

She still has a moustache.

And love barnacles.


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## Mule

a wax job wouldn't take care of!


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## FM William Burns

Yep.....2's at 10 and 10's at 2.  Had to chew off the arm a couple of times myself


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## texasbo

FM William Burns said:
			
		

> Had to chew off the arm a couple of times myself


With your teachers?


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## High Desert

"drink til they're cute." My philosophy before I quit drinking 25 years ago.


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## FM William Burns

TxBo,

Not with any teachers but I did have a couple of hot ones in the 70's but never heard of any doing things like this.....I would not have complained though  

I did marry a teacher 21 years ago if that tells you anything     The arms grew back


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## texasbo

High Desert said:
			
		

> My philosophy before I quit drinking 25 years ago.


You don't drink? How the hell do you throw up in the morning?


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## texasbo

FM William Burns said:
			
		

> TxBo,  The arms grew back


That's more than a medical miracle; it's two more opportunities. I hope you took advantage of the blessing you were given.


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## conarb

Marshal Burns, he married a teacher?  Good God, just think of the pension he's going to get, a fireman's and a teacher's pensions combined? He's going to singlehandedly bankrupt the state.


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## FM William Burns

Con,

No pensions here ....defined cont    suffering like most who are doing or have been doing something to plan for retirement     She's not public school teacher anymore (over 17 years)  

It's all a matter how one looks at retirement.....I'm simply planning on resigning from here soon and doing something part-time. 30 years in the business is enough!

BTW...say hello to Bob!


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## conarb

Awww Marshal Burns, I had you pegged at a million a year pension, when I read that your wife was a school teacher I had you far, far north of that, I always wanted a millionaire friend, before it's too late why don't you move to California where fire marshals are millionairs?


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## beach

You know what happens when you assume.........


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## conarb

Geeeze Beach, we can't beat you guys, poor San Carlos voted to disband their fire department then start a new one with reasonable salaries and benefits, now they've got to pay their retiring chief $300,000.



			
				Contra Costa Times said:
			
		

> *Retiring fire chief has $300K in unused sick pay*
> 
> SAN  CARLOS, Calif.—The retiring chief of the Belmont-San Carlos Fire  Department is eligible for more than $300,000 worth of unused sick pay  when he leaves next month.     Chief Doug Fry says he's only been sick for three days during his 36 years on the force.
> 
> Fry  officially retires in mid-June, but he's asked to take unused  administrative leave time so he can stop working this week.
> 
> The Palo Alto Daily News says Belmont-San Carlos fire commissioners consider that request Tuesday.
> 
> The  Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department is scheduled to dissolve in October.  Belmont and San Carlos will have separate fire agencies.
> 
> The  San Carlos City Council last week approved a reduced salary and  benefits baseline for firefighters who will be hired for the city's new  department.¹


¹ http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_18078812?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com


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## beach

See Conarb! The Chief stayed healthy and not used sick days by working out all day and polishing his big shiny pickup truck, not sitting around in a lazy boy!! I'm sure he invested his money in real estate like most of the smart firefighters in California. :cheers


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## texasbo

Jesus Christ, unused sick leave?

Please tell me that administrative leave is the same as vacation time.


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## mtlogcabin

In my state maximum payout at time of of retirement or leave of employment is 250 hours of vacation and 25% of accrued sick leave at a maximum of 250 hours. Sick leave is a benefit to be used when a person is truly sick. It should not be used as a savings account to be cashed in as a big payment on some future date.


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## texasbo

mtlogcabin said:
			
		

> In my state maximum payout at time of of retirement or leave of employment is 250 hours of vacation and 25% of accrued sick leave at a maximum of 250 hours. Sick leave is a benefit to be used when a person is truly sick. It should not be used as a savings account to be cashed in as a big payment on some future date.


Ya, but even the 25% or 250 hrs is a great perk. We get to sell a week of vacation each year...


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## FM William Burns

MT,

Our policy is similar to yours but 50% max on accrued sick leave.  I feel the same way about accrurals and why I use it as necessary.  Some days I just don't feel like going into work and I call those stress leave since it would make me sick to be that stressed.


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## beach

Our sick leave was based on years of service: 0% for 0-9 years, 25% for 10-14 years, 37.5% for 15-19 years, and 50% for 20 or more......12 sick days accrued per year if you worked 4 years and over. Now it's just called "Flex leave" and you use it for vacation or sick leave.


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## FM William Burns

Using some tomorrow Beach 1/2 day since the Crappies are on the beds.  Caught 12 last Friday afternoon with the smallest 10" up to 18".  Reminded me of catching red snapper back on the Atlantic     The weather has been crappy but should be warmer tomorrow with water temps up to the mid 60's.


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## conarb

So the taxpayers pay you to go fishing?


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## FM William Burns

Nope....they pay for me to be there from 0800 to 1200 then I pay myself with time earned in 17 years of service to those including myself who pay my wages


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