Building, Planning Agencies Reorganized

Simi Valley has reorganized its planning and building departments, juggling a host of municipal workers in a bid to focus services better on the growing city’s needs.

The council voted 5 to 0 late Monday to create the Department of Community Services and to consolidate building and planning positions in the Department of Environmental Services.

The plan drafted by City Manager Mike Sedell shifts the Building and Safety office from the Public Works Department to the Department of Environmental Services, which already oversees planning functions.

This will allow the city to review building projects from start to finish in one department. The Department of Environmental Services also will oversee a newly created Transit Division, which consists of 22 city employees that handled transportation issues.

And the plan consolidates offices that administer federal grants through the Community Development Block Grant program, putting all block grants in the Housing/Special Projects Division.

The City Council also created a new department head position--director of Community Services. That $116,500-a-year job will be filled by current Director of Environmental Services Diane Jones, whose present position will also be filled.