Although City Councilman John Mullin has recently come under fire for his proposal to streamline approval for certain permit applications, he feels opposition by skeptics is unwarranted.

In a memorandum released by Mullin on Oct. 19, he asked the mayor and other members of the City Council to consider shifting approval of temporary use permits, comprehensive sign programs, and hillside minor development reviews to administrative staff, and off the shoulders of the City Council, as a means of saving money.

"In trying to figure out how to run the city for less money with reduced revenues on a go-forward basis; this needs to be done with existing staff," Mullin said.  "On our skeleton staff levels we need to examine all of the processes we do and make sure they're a good use of city time, staff time, and the applicants' time."

If requested permitting applications are in full compliance with current ordinances, he believes there is no reason city staff should have to take them to the City Council for final approval.

"I'm not proposing to change ordinances," Mullin said.  "If a shopping center wants to redesign their signage and the proposal complies with ordinances, we have very capable staff and this can be an administrative decision, not a Council decision.  If someone wants to build a house on a lot down here in the valley and they're not asking for variance to the ordinance and it complies with the ordinance, staff should be able to approve that."

Longtime Poway resident and local political blogger Chris Cruse has been among the most vocal of those opposing the change, saying that residents have the right to know about development projects before they're past the approval process.

"City staff have made plenty of mistakes in Poway, and you don't want to make things like this less public," Cruse said, pointing to issues surrounding the June recall of former Councilwoman Betty Rexford.

During the recall, it was claimed that Rexford had gotten city staff to provide her a personal fire truck during the Cedar fire and had used city staff to harass her neighbors.

In a 2007 lawsuit filed by Rexford's neighbors Allen and Dawn Basile and Nathan and Rachel Cannon, Rexford and her husband are accused of abusing the city's permit processes for five years, utilizing it in such a way that it "deprived them the ability to finish or occupy their homes."

Federal judge Dana Sabraw ruled in July 2009 that there was ample evidence for the lawsuit to proceed to trial.  The case settled out of court.

 "We just went through a very contentious recall in which most of the claims raised were that she got city staff to do things for her," Cruse said.  "We don't want to have the staff doing things without any public process or oversight by the public.  No one will know what they're doing."

Cruse feels that Mullin's involvement in CAL-PAC Engineering and Construction, a general builder and civil engineer of a myriad of development projects throughout the state, may have influenced his decision to streamline permitting processes.

Mullin said the accusation is preposterous.

"My being a member of Cal-PAC is no different than me being a member of the Chamber of Commerce," Mullin said.  "It's a trade association. And people who continue to propose that having some sort of significance with regard to my role on the council are incorrect."

He also said that others, such as City Manager Penny Riley and Councilman Carl Kruse, have backed his proposal.

"I think there's always room to try to streamline processes," Kruse said.  "Our city is quite focused on proper planning and land use and I think that this will always stick with us. But if some permitting transactions can be potentially streamlined we need to be open minded in considering that, even if the policies don't change."

Kruse also believes that because it is election season, that these types of accusations should be "taken with a grain of salt," he said. "People need to make sure all the areas are looked at and you don't look to one person as your single source."

Poway mayoral candidate Nick Stavros, however, said the issue affects all Powegians and that its implications need to be more thoroughly evaluated.

"Eliminating council oversight and implementing a streamlining process is only to the advantage of the people seeking building permits," Stavros said.  "It gives the city staff more power, it's not advantageous to residents and it eliminates them even more from the process.  I appreciate Mr. Mullin's frustration with the permitting process now that the council meets every other week as opposed to weekly, like it used to, but instead of fixing the permit process he's trying to cut public discussion on it, and I think that's wrong."