California Wildfires
The AIACA continues to send their condolences to everyone affected by wildfires throughout the state. We send our appreciation to all of the individuals and teams who are providing assistance in all capacities to relieve the displacement that the fires caused.
As of November 26, the AIACC deployed eighteen architects to Paradise who are certified to conduct structural safety inspections through the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) Safety Assessment Program (SAP).
The AIA has an extensive list of architects who can be called upon should CalOES issue an order for SAPs at a moment’s notice. Of the 230 northern California architects that the AIACC had reached out to, approximately 80% responded within only a few hours and many were ready to deploy by morning.
We would like to thank the following individuals from surrounding northern and central California chapters who have conducted structural assessments for the Butte fire:
Mark Bello, AIA
Paul Brendan Kelly, AIA
Karen Copsey, AIA
Ron Finger, AIA
Craig Gaevert, AIA
Perry Haviland, AIA
Shelly Kibler, AIA
Annie Ledbury, AIA
Lester Meu, AIA
Barry Williams, AIA
Craig Williams, AIA
David Arnold, AIA
Sheryl Drinkwater, AIA
Michael Hartigan, AIA
Maurice Levitch, AIA
Jean Orino, AIA
Thomas Saxby, AIA
Ian Merker, AIA
Ian Merker, AIA, also wrote of his account while volunteering.
Sales Tax on Services
The Planning and Finance Committee and Executive Committee have approved our joining a coalition of other professional associations to oppose any proposal that imposes a sales tax on professional services. The coalition, California Tax and Budget Research Project(CTBRP), will
research the impacts of such a tax and develop strong arguments against it. The AIACC and other associations will each contribute $25,000 to CTBRP and, because of this donation, the AIACC will have a seat on the Executive Committee of the CTBRP and help set strategy and determine its activities.
State Fire Marshal
The AIACC has heard from several architects that the performance of the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) in reviewing plans for state projects and private projects with state tenants is less than ideal and causes unnecessary complications, delays, and increased costs. In response to those concerns the AIACC has assembled a small group of architects who have experience working with the OSFM to identify the problems, develop a strategy to fix the problems, and identify possible coalition members to join us. Our group has met twice and soon we will be asking other groups to join us to finalize a strategy to improve the process to have plans reviewed and approved by the OSFM.