Los Angeles Department Of Building And Safety

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety appears to have overcharged the public by millions of dollars for permits because of questionable financial practices, City Controller Laura Chick alleged in an audit released Thursday. The report is the second critical audit of the agency issued by Chick this week; the earlier review found lax enforcement of building codes and a backlog of thousands of required inspections.

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety fired a 27-year employee after determining that he had accepted bribes, making him the third person at the agency to lose his job as a result of a major corruption probe, officials said Wednesday. Albert Acosta, 54, was fired Friday, department spokesman David Lara said in a statement. He worked as a building mechanical inspector in the department's Van Nuys office, where he earned more than $83,000 annually. Lara said officials discovered that Acosta had solicited funds from contractors while on duty but would not provide additional details.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Friday that his office would review whether the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety is giving special treatment to political insiders by assigning their cases to a little-known unit designed to speed permit applications.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has removed the president of the Los Angeles Building and Safety Commission two months after it was reported that Javier Nunez was one of nine current and former city commissioners who received special treatment from building officials for construction projects. Word of the removal came when Nunez's replacement was disclosed during the commission meeting he presided over Tuesday.

Showered by criticism from city officials and tenants' rights groups, the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety Wednesday hastily rescinded orders it mailed this week to owners of 24 brick buildings to vacate their structures for failing to comply with earthquake codes. The orders were sent by the city's earthquake renovation director, Al Asakura, in an effort to pressure wayward landlords who have ignored deadlines for strengthening their buildings.

City officials inspecting the site of a landslide that forced the partial evacuation of an El Sereno apartment complex said Monday they are looking into whether construction at the base of the hill caused the collapse of concrete at the top. Inspectors with the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety asked the developer of the construction site for a report detailing conditions at the base of the hill and explaining how to brace against further slippage.

While the tally of earthquake destruction mounted, officials on Thursday released preliminary reports showing that thousands of residences were left uninhabitable and the scope of major damage had spread far beyond the Northridge epicenter to South-Central Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Simi Valley.

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has been lax in enforcing building codes, allowing many violators to skate with minor fines or no penalty at all, according to a city audit released Monday. City Controller Laura Chick said there were 150,000 building permits that expired last year without the department's final approval, and more than 13,600 unresolved code violations.

The two men walked quickly up Cahuenga Boulevard to a small, nondescript building marked by a small sign reading: "24-hour Video Arcade." They disappeared through black plastic blinds covering the doorway. The clerk behind a counter in the dark interior barely looked up as Domingo Sauceda and James Gatlin walked in and one flashed a gold badge. These men were not vice officers but investigators for the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety.

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has given special treatment to dozens of construction projects sought by political insiders, including nine current and former city commissioners and donors to the mayor and City Council, records show. The department assigned the projects to the little-known Case Management Unit set up years ago to speed large and complex construction jobs, such as public schools and affordable housing.

The Los Angeles Board of Building and Safety Commissioners on Tuesday signaled their intention to ease a five-year ban on development imposed after developer Richard Meruelo tore down four old industrial buildings near Union Station without obtaining demolition permits. After a two-hour hearing, the commissioners voted 3 to 1 to uphold the Department of Building and Safety's decision to penalize Meruelo, the largest landowner in downtown Los Angeles.

Facing criticism that city building permit officials gave special treatment to politically connected applicants, the Los Angeles Building and Safety Department announced Tuesday that it is drafting new standards to ensure that all members of the public are treated the same. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa requested the action in response to a Times report that dozens of construction projects sought by political insiders had been assigned to a little-known "case management unit."

Before his recent removal as president of the Los Angeles Board of Building and Safety Commissioners, Efren Abratique voted three times to approve permits for an engineering firm that was paying at least $10,000 annually to a company he headed, according to city records. Neighborhood activists who attended the votes involving Psomas Inc. said last week that Abratique should have recused himself because he faced an apparent conflict of interest.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Friday that his office would review whether the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety is giving special treatment to political insiders by assigning their cases to a little-known unit designed to speed permit applications.

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has given special treatment to dozens of construction projects sought by political insiders, including nine current and former city commissioners and donors to the mayor and City Council, records show. The department assigned the projects to the little-known Case Management Unit set up years ago to speed large and complex construction jobs, such as public schools and affordable housing.

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety appears to have overcharged the public by millions of dollars for permits because of questionable financial practices, City Controller Laura Chick alleged in an audit released Thursday. The report is the second critical audit of the agency issued by Chick this week; the earlier review found lax enforcement of building codes and a backlog of thousands of required inspections.

At one point, he compared them to a drunk who walks into the same tree so many times he thinks he's in a forest. But, in the end, a judge showered sympathy on a Topanga couple convicted last month of a total of 16 criminal charges of building a house without a permit, suspending sentence on all but four of the charges.

The bathroom floors were rotting and most residents kept bottles of insecticide in a losing war against cockroach infestations. Outside, poisonous lead paint fell like snowflakes from the walls. Complaints by the building's tenants led to a visit last December by the county health department. Despite many uncorrected violations, the inspector gave the downtown building on Hope Street a passing grade. Weeks later, 4-year-old resident Joshio Pavan became violently ill.

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has been lax in enforcing building codes, allowing many violators to skate with minor fines or no penalty at all, according to a city audit released Monday. City Controller Laura Chick said there were 150,000 building permits that expired last year without the department's final approval, and more than 13,600 unresolved code violations.

Developers, builders and lobbyists donated as much as $3,750 each in food, cash and door prizes at a Los Angeles Building and Safety Department charity event that was mostly attended by department employees, according to records released this week by the department. The event, billed as "casino night," was held Nov. 7 at the White Lotus, a Hollywood nightclub. Building and Safety employees asked donors to sponsor the event or buy $30 tickets. Solicitations were sent on city letterhead.