Meanwhile at the Bureau of Building Inspection...

Saw this today over at the P-G:

Mr. Ravenstahl promoted Sergei Matveiev to take over the [Bureau of Building Inspection], which has been charged with one of the mayor's key initiatives, cleaning up neighborhood eyesores and improving problem properties. Mr. Matveiev has worked in the department for 4 1/2 years as a building plan examining engineer and has a master's degree in architecture.

So, good on Mr. Matveiev; glad to see that the Mayor's Office didn't screw around for months on end with an "Acting" Chief.

Although, I can't see how this position would be an enviable one. With all this political focus on "Redding Up" neighborhoods (not to mention the Mayoral "sweeps" with members of the Press in tow), I can only imagine that this is a heck of a lot of work for the folks in BBI. Considering that the department is widely known to be understaffed and (as indicated by the article) a bit antiquated, I would assume that the Mayor is having a hard time ramming projects through this department. And, of course, Mr. Matveiev is going to have to be the point person, taking calls from Luke at 2 AM, every time Hizzoner notices a pothole.

I wonder how many people in BBI turned down the offer before getting to Mr. Matveiev...