In his State of the City address this Tuesday, Mayor David Cicilline vowed that in the face of economic crisis and a constrained statewide budget, “We are going to do everything in our power to keep our economy moving right now, and to position ourselves to leap ahead when the national economy recovers.”
As he rolled out an 18-month economic action plan called Operation Opportunity, the Mayor called upon all city department heads, like new Inspections & Standards Director, Sheila Barrett, to examine best practices that can help make operations even more cost-effective during dire times.
Six weeks into the job, Barrett has already begun the work of leading her department into a 21st-century work environment by converting antiquated paper trail systems into easily shared digital files. This process alone can save thousands of dollars in time and money for taxpayers and potential business and home owners who don’t always have the luxury to wait for lengthy review processes in order to open shop or rent a property. City News caught up with the City’s newest department director to talk about her part in creating more opportunity for growth in Providence.
What does your department do on a daily basis?
The Department of Inspection and Standards is responsible for all of the plan review and inspection of construction – whether it’s renovation or new construction. Also, the enforcement division inspects all of the existing homes especially rental properties, apartments, spaces like that (both interior and exterior) for code enforcement, and compliance not just for structural things but also for plumbing, electrical, and all the basic facilities that people need to live safely.
In his State of the City address, the Mayor rolled out Operation Opportunity, his 18-month economic action plan. He said that the city will be implementing new technology and a simultaneous review process to cut the average time of plan review for building permits by 50%. Why is that important and how do you plan to achieve the goal?
Part of plan review involves the fire department. The second part involves us, building inspections. By statute, the fire department has 90 days to review the plan and then our department has 60 days to review the plan. What was happening prior was that the fire department would review the plan and then after they stamped it, the plans would get sent to Inspections & Standards to begin review. Instead, we’re going to have concurrent reviews so that when a project is ready to be reviewed, sets will be delivered to both the building inspectors and the fire department at the same time. When the reviews are complete, the building department will wait for the fire department’s stamp before we issue the approval. That way, it will cut the time by more than half in just the plan review alone.
In addition to this, what are some of the things you plan to do as the new director of Inspection and Standards that can help make it easier for constituents to do business, or renovate homes, in Providence?
The biggest thing right now is that the department operates on a very, very cumbersome paper system that has been there since the beginning of the century. I’ve found that they dig through old files and index cards and papers and sometimes have to look inside different places to find information about one address.
So, we are beginning to computerize all the operations of our department – first with an ongoing new permit issuance process and then scanning in all the old data and filing them electronically. It is our goal to make all the information about a property accessible in one place, and not just for my department, but also for the fire department, and the planning department and others so that we can also share the information that’s also stored in the Recorder of Deeds and the Tax Assessor’s Office. We’re trying to make things more user-friendly so that information can be shared online, so that we can develop online application procedures and establish a kind of one-stop shop for applicants to drop off plans for distribution within city government and to be able to monitor the progress of their application through the review process more efficiently and in a timely fashion.
Everything can be done on the computer. Even when working with contractors who have projects that are ongoing, rather than requiring them to submit revisions in paper, six copies to distribution, they can email them to several recipients so that everybody has the same information instantaneously.
How long do you think this transition towards a more 21st century, digitized system will take?
It will probably take six months before we really see good operation of that computerization and I’m sure it will take the 18 months that the Mayor had laid out for Operation Opportunity for us to digitize all the old files, because there are volumes of it.
How has your background as a civil engineer, and as the former director of Coventry Public Works, prepared you for your new responsibilities in Providence?
In Coventry, the public works department included the building and inspections office. There were seven different divisions – engineering was one, and building inspections was another. I signed every building permit in Coventry. I worked with the building inspector. I went to every planning commission meeting, most zoning board meetings, most town council meetings. So I was very involved in city government and in the permit application process, inspections, and the whole review process for every project that came into town. Coventry had a lot of land area and there had been a lot of projects that had come in over the years and so I’m familiar with a lot of big developers, too.
So what do you like most so far about working in the capital city?
I have a very great group of people working in the department so that’s fun right there. But I also enjoy being in the city because of all the cultural offerings and opportunities it has. I look forward to getting City News and the Art Culture Tourism newsletters and read them. In fact I’ve already found some fun and different activities to do in Providence because of them.
What should individuals know or prepare for when they approach you or your staff, for assistance?
The big thing everybody should do is to contact us early on in the process. If you have an idea and you’re thinking about doing something, come on in and talk to us so we can guide you through the process from the beginning. And our goal is to get the information online and available so that people won’t have to see us per se, they can do the research online early. For right now, early communication and when they’re in the conceptual stages, we can help them with some of the things that they need to keep in mind as they design their projects.
“We cannot and will not wait around for the economy to get better,” said Mayor David N. Cicilline as he launched Operation Opportunity during his annual State of the City Address at the Rhode Island Convention Center. The 18-month economic action plan places an “unprecedented focus” on the economy through strategically aligned, measurable goals and expands opportunity for Providence residents. 
working and volunteering at the Providence Veterans Administration. She was the first female accredited by the Veterans Administration to handle pension claims in front of the rating boards. At 72, Kwasha officially retired, but continued to volunteer three days a
week until the age of 83.
Mayor Cicilline joined the staff of the Providence Community Health Center Dental Clinic this month to celebrate their 4th Annual Give Kids A Smile Day. Done in partnership with the American Dental Association and the RI Dental Association, the clinic provided free care to 80 underprivileged children who reside in Providence.
