The Dunsmuir City Council held a special meeting on May 30th in response to an outpouring of community complaints against James McIntyre who is the Dunsmuir Building Official and owner of Smith Building Services.
The meeting was to review the Building Inspector’s Contract.
During the meeting, the Council Chamber was filled with members and business owners of Dunsmuir who have had dealings with McIntyre and are unhappy about the way he has treated people and “red tagging” commercial buildings and businesses in the downtown area of town. Many people at the meeting, including those present through Zoom, spoke up during public comment to mostly complain about McIntyre’s unprofessional behavior, lack of communication skills and guidance when dealing with the business owners, and not being licensed for commercial buildings except in electrical.
There are lots of vacant storefronts in the downtown business district of Dunsmuir in recent years. Of the many people that spoke up against McIntyre, One Dunsmuir citizen, Ana Mulvaney, said that Don Phelps, owner of the building that held the popular restaurant called Sethongs, put tens of thousands of dollars into that building to bring it up to code “just 5 years ago” and McIntyre red-tagged all those store fronts.
After listening to all the public comments and discussion, the Dunsmuir Council, led by Mayor Michael Clarno, voted unanimously to terminate James McIntyre’s contract. Council Member Juliana Lucchesi removed herself from this agenda because she felt it conflicted with her position as the Yreka City Planner. Dunsmuir’s attorney, John Sullivn Kenny was present along with Dunsmuir City Manager Dustin Rief.
McIntyre, who has been contracted with the City of Dunsmuir since 2007, will be given a 60 day termination notice.
GOOD COMMUNITY REPORTING
JB
Ask for documentation for the claims people made. 1000s of dollars of work – was it permitted? Was it done by a licensed person? I bet not, hence the red tagging. People are mad because rules are being applied; the Good Ole Boys don’t like it when rules are applied to them.