Page 37 - City of Arcata - Building Official - AMB 05 15 19

Something to improve: His patience.
Dino Accardo 6. Please describe an experience you've had with navigating a politically sensitive situation.

Wednesday, May 1, 2019 10:20 AM
In Joliet, he had to work across heavily entrenched cultural lines. The enforcement of codes was generally skewed
toward one side of town. There was biased enforcement in the city before he walked in. Dino saw that firsthand and
KA wrote a report that resulted in directing his department to enforce codes equally; to stop the bias. He made the
Building Official suggestion to take liability and accountability into perspective.
Phone Screen Questions

Professional Goals & Long-Term Fit
General Questions 7. The City of Arcata is looking for a long-term fit. How do you ensure that you get the message across that

1. Why are you open to or actively looking for a new position? you are that long-term solution?

Dino is currently unemployed after he resigned from his previous role to move from Illinois to Arizona so his Dino has dedicated himself to this profession over his lifetime. He moved to Arizona so that his wife could
wife could pursue her career. grow in her career, but now she is allowed to work remotely and he can continue pursuing his career with
cities he wants to work within. The City of Arcata opportunity is on his short list and he sees his next position
2. Please tell me about your current position and its day-to-day responsibilities. What is some of the overlap as the one he will retire with. He would love to get to Northern California.
you see between your current position and this one?
Closing
While he was in Joliet, Dino inherited an 8 month backlog of permits and code violations to be enforced. He 8. Is there anything else you would like to add?
spent much of his time there catching up and employing processes to manage public interaction and manage
the work flow. Dino rolled up his sleeves and dove into every facet from working the front desk to processing He is familiar with the area because his son lived somewhat near there. He is also very comfortable with the
permits. His primary job was damage control. The overlap Dino sees between Arcata and his most recent range of pay.
position with Highland Park is the topography. He has clearly studied the lay of the land and brings a unique
perspective with his project specialist background.
Overall Comments: Dino has a big Midwestern personality that really comes through on the phone. He is
excitable and his desire for the job is evident. He hasn't worked in the last year because the right opportunity
has not yet come along, but he has done contract work since moving to Arizona. His resume and experience
Position Specific Questions speaks to his dedication in the Building Inspection and Code Enforcement sector. The smallest city his has
3. What excites you most about the City of Arcata? worked in was the City of Joliet, which had a population of about 160,000. Dino is very verbose and at times
meandered through questions. He wanted to be sure to touch upon all of his qualifications within 30 minutes,
The scale of the City is what excites Dino. He is looking for a smaller city and a close-knit community. He sees which falls in line to wanting to work on his patience as a professional development piece. He did not touch on
Arcata as the perfect place to work, integrate into the community, and then retire (~15 years). his technical skills enough, but based on his experience I would recommend moving Dino on to the in-person
interview.

4. This includes communication with both the public, other city departments, and investors. How do you
manage these various communications?
Phone Notes
Dino has experience with relationship building across departments over his nearly 30 years of experience in
the public sector. He looks for contacts in leadership so he has a focus for where to communicate. He Dino Accardo
emphasizes interdepartmental communication and always seeks to engage internal staff by building - Unemployed right now. Was able to work remotely while relocating to Arizona. Looking to establish
relationships through trust. He builds trust by listening and following through on promises. Dino's word is himself out west. Has been going between Illinois and Arizona.
very important to him and he has developed a personal code of following up with investors within 24 hours. - In Joliet, they had a lot of challenges and backlog due to the previous Building Official retiring. There

was 8 months between BO retiring and Dino arriving. Walked into a lot of disorganization in terms of
5. What do you consider to be your greatest professional strength? What is something you would like to permits. Everyone was union and he had to work under the confines of a collective bargaining
improve? agreement. He worked everything from the permitting to the front counter. Overlap between Highland
Park and City of Arcata with the topography. The features of the land are similar. Has always worked
closely with engineering. Looking to bring experience and professional qualifications.
Greatest Strength: Dedication, loyalty, and integrity. He dedicates himself to the community and the code - Thought he wanted a big city when he was in Joliet. Now realizes he works better in a smaller
professional world. community. Aligns well with where he wants his career to be. Wants to work with a city of this scale.
- Looks for contacts within leadership so he has a focus for where to communicate. He emphasizes