The Bureaucracy Strikes Again
There has been a lot of debate as to whether or not the federal stimulus package passed last year has actually contributed to job creation. After reading dozens of article, there is no doubt that the funds that went back to states for education did help reduce the number of teacher layoffs--or at least put them off for a year.
On the other hand, there has been a dearth of "bricks and mortar" type projects due to the feds insisting on adding their own layer of red tape to every construction project that they have touched across the country. Locally, the Atherton Gap closure project will be delayed by at least 6 months due to the additional red tape and the state's inability to handle all of the addtional red tape imposed by our friends in Washington D.C. All of the additional paperwork is completely duplicative to processes already required by our state government. Thus, while the government is insisting that these projects be fast-tracked in order to help the economy--the same legislation that insisted on speed also imposed an additional layer of duplicative review.
One of the many ridiculous requirements that come with "federalizing" a project is historic review. The feds require projects as insignificant as replacing an air conditioner to go through the state's Office of Historic Preservation to make sure that historic resources are not at risk in the subject project. Those of us that have dealt with federal programs over the years have seen this requirement stall and often kill great projects. The Office of Historic Preservation is not only slow, but incredibly subjective when it comes to determining what is historic.
A recent in the Sacramento Bee (click here) has exposed the Office's role in helping to gum up the process of getting projects approved and getting people back to work. The article notes:
As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger prepares to emphasize job creation as his top priority in his State of the State address, his watchdog for federal stimulus dollars says a tiny state office is delaying hundreds of projects that could employ out-of-work Californians.
Laura Chick, state inspector general for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, said Monday that the California Office of Historic Preservation has a two-month backlog in approving federal stimulus projects, some as small as installing a heating and air conditioning unit.
Chick said state-mandated furloughs have contributed to the backlog, and she suggested that the state should allow historians to delay taking furloughs.
She also said the Schwarzenegger administration could shift other state workers as needed to the Office of Historic Preservation to reduce the backlog.
"There are human beings standing on the street, waiting for an employer to say, 'OK, I need you to work, I'm ready to pay you,' " Chick said. "If there's a bunch of paper sitting on somebody's desk, and the review could be 15 days instead of 60 days, that's 45 days of holding up jobs from being created."
Under federal law, the office must review federally funded construction projects to ensure they do not adversely affect historic sites.
Chick estimated that hundreds of projects are awaiting review by the Office of Historic Preservation, many of which she suggested would have no significant consequences on historic properties.
Those of us who work at the local level are finding that the furloughs are becoming the excuse for state agencies not getting back to us in a timely manner. Frankly, most the agencies using this excuse were just as slow prior to the furloughs. After this article appeared in the Bee, a follow up blog was post about a week ago:
The Office of Historic Preservation is quickly clearing an application backlog that delayed billions of dollars in federally-funded stimulus projects, according to California Recovery Task Force Director Cynthia Bryant .
Capitol Bureau colleague Kevin Yamamura last week reported on the backlog of hundreds of applications made worse by furloughs at the OHP. The office has to sign off on federally funded construction projects to ensure the projects don't mess up historic sites. Delayed reviews had stalled billions of federal stimulus dollars. Click here for that story.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gave the office 30 days to clean things up and sent over extra employees to help. Bryant said in this press release that six projects were left to review that will be finished this week.
On the other hand, there has been a dearth of "bricks and mortar" type projects due to the feds insisting on adding their own layer of red tape to every construction project that they have touched across the country. Locally, the Atherton Gap closure project will be delayed by at least 6 months due to the additional red tape and the state's inability to handle all of the addtional red tape imposed by our friends in Washington D.C. All of the additional paperwork is completely duplicative to processes already required by our state government. Thus, while the government is insisting that these projects be fast-tracked in order to help the economy--the same legislation that insisted on speed also imposed an additional layer of duplicative review.
One of the many ridiculous requirements that come with "federalizing" a project is historic review. The feds require projects as insignificant as replacing an air conditioner to go through the state's Office of Historic Preservation to make sure that historic resources are not at risk in the subject project. Those of us that have dealt with federal programs over the years have seen this requirement stall and often kill great projects. The Office of Historic Preservation is not only slow, but incredibly subjective when it comes to determining what is historic.
A recent in the Sacramento Bee (click here) has exposed the Office's role in helping to gum up the process of getting projects approved and getting people back to work. The article notes:
As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger prepares to emphasize job creation as his top priority in his State of the State address, his watchdog for federal stimulus dollars says a tiny state office is delaying hundreds of projects that could employ out-of-work Californians.
Laura Chick, state inspector general for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, said Monday that the California Office of Historic Preservation has a two-month backlog in approving federal stimulus projects, some as small as installing a heating and air conditioning unit.
Chick said state-mandated furloughs have contributed to the backlog, and she suggested that the state should allow historians to delay taking furloughs.
She also said the Schwarzenegger administration could shift other state workers as needed to the Office of Historic Preservation to reduce the backlog.
"There are human beings standing on the street, waiting for an employer to say, 'OK, I need you to work, I'm ready to pay you,' " Chick said. "If there's a bunch of paper sitting on somebody's desk, and the review could be 15 days instead of 60 days, that's 45 days of holding up jobs from being created."
Under federal law, the office must review federally funded construction projects to ensure they do not adversely affect historic sites.
Chick estimated that hundreds of projects are awaiting review by the Office of Historic Preservation, many of which she suggested would have no significant consequences on historic properties.
Those of us who work at the local level are finding that the furloughs are becoming the excuse for state agencies not getting back to us in a timely manner. Frankly, most the agencies using this excuse were just as slow prior to the furloughs. After this article appeared in the Bee, a follow up blog was post about a week ago:
The Office of Historic Preservation is quickly clearing an application backlog that delayed billions of dollars in federally-funded stimulus projects, according to California Recovery Task Force Director Cynthia Bryant .
Capitol Bureau colleague Kevin Yamamura last week reported on the backlog of hundreds of applications made worse by furloughs at the OHP. The office has to sign off on federally funded construction projects to ensure the projects don't mess up historic sites. Delayed reviews had stalled billions of federal stimulus dollars. Click here for that story.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gave the office 30 days to clean things up and sent over extra employees to help. Bryant said in this press release that six projects were left to review that will be finished this week.
Labels: Labor, Level of Service, State
posted by City Manager @ 7:56 AM
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