PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker announced Thursday she’s splitting up another city department.
The Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) will become two separate entities. One will focus on building safety. The other will oversee enforcement of quality of life issues that were put under L&I’s purview in what Parker called “mission creep.”
”L&I became tasked with enforcing a wide array of quality of life bills ranging from bed bug legislation, nuisance business legislation, the plastic bag ban,” Parker said. “They are incredibly important to neighborhoods across the city but L and I became the default department, taking the time, the staff, the resources away from L&I’s core mission and that is the safe and lawful construction and use of buildings.”
Parker appointed Basil Merenda, a long-time civil servant and most recently Deputy Mayor for Labor, as Commissioner of Inspections, Safety and Compliance, which will focus on building safety. She appointed Bridget Collins-Greenwald — until today the Commissioner of Public Property — to lead L&I for Quality of Life.
“Splitting L & I into two distinct pieces is something that is a long time coming and absolutely makes sense,” said Greenwald.
City Council members present for the announcement agreed.
“It’s outside the box but that’s needed,” said Councilman Brian O’Neill.
Parker said she got the idea from a report by the Joint Task Force on Regulatory Reform, which was convened by a resolution from Councilman Mike Driscoll.
“The scope of work within the department should be separated into multiple departments, new or existing,” the task force wrote after noting the accumulating responsibilities assigned to the department.
Merenda cautioned that the new structure, alone, won’t solve all the department’s problems.
“Folks, there are challenges at L&I,” he said. “I will put together a team that will embrace those challenges with vigor and effectiveness.”
The split will be achieved by executive order for now. It would need a charter change to become permanent.
Last week, Parker divided the Streets Department in two, giving Sanitation its own commissioner. These additional positions will impact the budget but Parker said none are so costly they’ll necessitate a tax increase. She said the details would be in her first budget, due next month.
The mayor still has not made appointments to a number of operating departments including Parks and Recreation, Human Services and Public Health.