More Hearings..., Maybe.
NBC: SF Supervisor Calls for Hearing Over Troubled Millennium Tower Fix
“The sinking and tilting tower Millennium is back,” Peskin told his colleagues Tuesday afternoon, “and it is time to reopen investigatory hearings on that matter, particularly in light of continuing and ongoing revelations at the Department of Building Inspection.”
SFDBI is under investigation by the FBI..., again. This time for former SFDBI Director Tom Hui accepting 'gifts' for permitting. The investigation of SFDBI & Director Hui, sprung from an investigation of the Director of the SFPUC for a number of corruption scandals that has seen the SF City Administrator, Naomi Kelly, resign after her husband, who also works for the City was charged.
Just a recap:
Back in September 2016, one month after news broke of the settling & tilt of the Millennium tower and after SF Supervisor Peskin had held the 1st of 11 hearings on the settling of the Millennium Tower, Peskin noted with skepticism,
that all of the reports being prepared are being paid for by parties that have an interest in the high-stakes legal cases that are sure to ensue.
At the 2nd hearing on October 28, 2016: “It looks like it’s been extremely lawyer’ed,” Peskin said of SG&H’s 2016 report, “which I hope gives you all some amount of concern.”
This 2016 report had omitted SG&H's earlier concerns about the mat foundation & degree of potential damage to the Outrigger Super-columns during a seismic event, noted in the 2014 preliminary report.
Then in mid 2017 Supervisor Peskin signed the authorization to commit City funding for the "
Supplemental Report for Foundation Settlement Investigation" prepared by SG&H. SG&H, author of the two previous reports, to which Peskin had made the dubious attributes, was hired by Millennium Partners legal representative, Paul Hastings, LLP.
The City commissioned report, according to Peer Review chair and Stanford Professor, Greg Deierlein, was the first report that was to include an examination of the piled foundation. The description of the piles and their reinforcement/fixity to the mat contained gross errors. Errors that are hard to afford the suggestion of being a mistake. No one picked up on the error and as SG&H had been working on the so-called 'cheaper' Perimeter Pile Upgrade scheme simultaneously to the report; settlement of the Class Action proceedings swiftly followed.
On October 21, 2020 following settlement of the Class-Action case, Supervisor Peskin had this to say about the court proceedings. “Not a penny of city general fund money went into the settlement,” Peskin said.
At least not directly.
“No money is coming from the city general fund,
but a lot of money is coming from Uncle Sugar — the United States of America,” Peskin said.
The entire Perimeter Pile Upgrade scheme was reviewed by SFDBI's EDRT panel of 2 Structural & 2 Geotechnical engineers, Greg Deierlein, Chair, Marko Schotanus, Craig Shields & Shah Vahdani. SFDBI gave approval to the 'Voluntary Structural Upgrade' PRIOR to settling of the class-action lawsuit. One has to wonder who at Paul Hastings, LLP & Millennium Partners made the decisions about what SG&H was allowed to know & access while preparing the Perimeter Pile Upgrade scheme?
What's that expression about doing the same thing over & over again and expecting a different outcome?
