The initiative is being headed by the county’s new hire, Jim Damian, the founder and former CEO of Bakersfield-based business processing company Stria LLC. Damian’s business closed last summer in the wake of the sudden implosion of Bitwise, a Fresno company that bought Stria in 2022 and promised workforce training to the underserved, software services, and coworking spaces to revitalize downtowns, including Bakersfield’s.

Known as a process improvement specialist and entrepreneur, Damian was hired soon after Stria’s closure to be the county’s chief economic development officer.

Streamlining initiatives are not new to Kern’s government. But they now are being extended to the processing of a wide range of permitting of development projects.

Already county government has a reputation among energy developers as offering a straight path to approval — no hoops to jump through if standards are met. The new effort will be extended to the county’s Public Works Department, which permits activities, such as construction, tenant improvements and grading.

“We want to be as fast as we can without shortcutting,” Damian told The Californian, explaining that the expanded initiative is not about lowering standards, but setting and raising them. “We’ve really got to be the best.”

Anonymous surveys soon will be sent to anyone who has applied to build a structure in the county during the past two years. They will be asked how the experience went in terms of speed and customer service. The responses will be used to gauge the county’s performance, and develop efficiency improvements and ways to track permit applications as they progress through the system.

Michael Turnipseed, who heads the Kern County Taxpayers Association, said he has heard developers complain that grading permits that should take only hours to process are in some cases taking months. Blaming some delays on inexperienced county employees, Turnipseed noted that processing delays can end up costing the county investments and jobs.

But Turnipseed singling out grading permit delays in his support for the new efficiency initiative demonstrates the complexity of streamlining Kern’s permitting process.

Some simple projects may not require a grading permit. Others may require extensive, time-consuming engineering that includes analysis of drainage and soil conditions. The goal of the permitting process is to ensure projects are soundly built and will not endanger neighboring properties. Rushing the process must not lead to future disasters.

Developers past and present will be asked to report how long permit processing now takes and how friendly county staff has been. Damian said their responses will be used to make changes that will include ways for developers to monitor the status of their permit applications.

Damian, who predicted changes will be made through much of 2024, said flags automatically should be raised if permit processing slows and friction occurs between developers and county staff.

“The data’s going to tell us,” he said. “Everything can be improved.”

But developer applicants are only one side of the permitting equation. Input from county staff who process the permits must be sought. Before changes are made, a thorough understanding of the permitting process from the staff’s perspective also must be obtained.

Processing delays result from more than a sluggish bureaucracy. They also result from staff shortages and obstacles that county employees may identify. Fees paid by developers are supposed to cover the cost of processing permits. If Kern wishes to become a business-friendly, streamlined magnet for new projects and economic development, the staff and resources must be provided to do so.