Controller's Office finds L&I documents lacking
The Department of Licenses and Inspections delivered three pages of demolition information Tuesday to the Controller's Office, but a deputy controller said the material did not represent much progress in the controller's bid to audit city demolition procedures.
The Department of Licenses and Inspections delivered three pages of demolition information Tuesday to the Controller's Office, but a deputy controller said the material did not represent much progress in the controller's bid to audit city demolition procedures.
"They sent a letter and attached was a three-page document, and that's it," said Harvey Rice, the top deputy to Controller Alan Butkovitz. "I don't know what to call it. . . . It makes reference to a 3,000-page report available on their website, but that's not what we want."
"Basically, what they did is evasive, which raises even more questions about their inspections and the work of L&I on demolitions and other matters," Rice said.
After the June 5 collapse that killed six people inside the Salvation Army store at 22d and Market Streets adjacent to a building being razed, Butkovitz announced plans in July to audit L&I's handling of demolition jobs.
On Friday, he complained that the department was "stonewalling" numerous requests for L&I records and threatened to hold up paychecks of L&I officials if the requested material was not delivered by Tuesday.
Rice said the Controller's Office would evaluate the new material, reassess the situation, and try to decide Wednesday on a course of action.
The Nutter administration said last week that Butkovitz had asked for some records that were not readily available and others that required review by the city Law Department.
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