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From YouTube: Meet The People: Sarah Kinter
Description
On the first-ever episode of Meet The People, learn about PLI Director Sarah Kinter, how her department has evolved over the last decade, and what she thinks her hidden talent is.
A
A
My
name
is
david
feiner,
I'm
the
communication
technology
manager
with
the
city
of
pittsburgh's
department
of
innovation
and
performance,
and
when
I
first
started
thinking
about
the
show,
the
first
person
I
thought
of
was
the
director
the
current
director
of
the
department
of
permits,
licenses
and
inspections.
Sarah
kinter.
Sarah,
thank
you
for
joining
us.
B
B
I
actually
started
with
the
city
as
an
intern,
which
is
fun,
so
I
was
a
fair
housing
intern
for
the
civil
rights
commission
and
then
moved
into
a
part-time
role.
While
I
was
getting
my
graduate
degree
at
university
of
pittsburgh
gispia
and
as
I
was
getting
through
my
master's
program,
I
then
moved
into
a
full-time
role
and
then,
as
a
commission
representative
and.
B
You
know
the
way
that
our
networks
run
to
the
type
of
computers
that
we're
using.
You
know
on
the
hardware
and
the
software
and
the
infrastructure
side.
We've
just
gone
through
a
world
of
changes.
So
it's
exciting
to
be
a
part
of.
We
talked
about
good
governance,
improving
services
to
customers,
citizens.
A
B
So
a
lot
of
the
role
as
far
as
city
code
requirements
remain
the
same,
but
the
department
was
completely
revamped
from
the
top
down
in
all
aspects:
the
organizational
structure,
the
way
that
work
was
completed.
You
know
our
entire
workflows
changed.
Our
positions
were
rewritten
all
job
descriptions
were
rewritten,
so
it's
a
totally
different
department
than
it
was
in
2014..
B
B
So
once
you
take
those
certifications
and
you're,
also
taking
continuing
education
units
every
year,
so
that
you
can
fulfill
those
obligations-
and
you
know
that's-
been
a
really
big
change
for
the
department
and
then
on
the
technology
side,
the
department
went
from
a
almost
completely
paper-based
system,
with
a
lot
of
microfiche
to
a
now
completely
online
system
and
remote
system,
so
much
much
more
different
than
it
was
before.
You
know
we
used
to
have
like
triplicate
copies
of
permits,
and
sometimes
you
know
we
would
not
know
why
we
had
this
particular
copy.
B
It
was
like
well,
it
goes
in
this
drawer.
It's
like
well,
what's
this
drawer,
for
you
know,
so
a
lot
of
people
did
a
lot.
Did
some
work
before
I
came
into
pli
in
2017
to
like
really
track
down
and
pull
apart
the
processes
of
the
paper
system
and
translate
it
into
a
modern
system
that
was
more
streamlined,
made
more
sense,
had
less
clerical
and
administrative
overhead
and
more
and
focus
more
on.
A
B
So
there
was
a
per
there
was
a
system
called
permits,
plus
that
was
pre-2014
but-
and
I
think
that
was
around
like
2011
or
so
when
they
started
working
on
that.
But
it
was.
It
was
much
of
a
hybrid
system
where
some
data
would
be
input
into
a
computer
and
then
it
would
spit
out
a
paper
permit
document,
and
then
inspectors
would
use
that
paper.
Permit
document
to
record
inspection
notes
and
really
keep
a
file.
So
it
was.
It
was
still
a
majority
paper-based
system
until
about
2014
2015..
B
A
B
It's
a
really
big
lift
on
a
few
different
fronts.
The
you
know,
first
thing
getting
an
email
address
and
learning
how
to
use
a
computer.
You
know
basic
skills
typing,
you
know
those
are
things
that
if
you
haven't
been
doing
those
those
things
you
need
some
training
and
you
know
clicking
around,
especially
if
there's
a
new
software
system
learning
how
to
actually
use
that
software
system
takes
a
lot
of
ongoing
training
and
we're.
B
You
know
we
still
do
ongoing
training
to
this
day
to
ensure
that
people
know
how
to
use
the
system
that
we
use
and
then
there's
also
the
the
change
management
piece.
It's
a
really
big
change
to
go
from
doing
something,
the
way
that
you've
been
doing
it
for
years
and
then
saying:
okay,
we're
going
to
do
it
this
new
way,
and
it's
got
all
these
additional
pieces
to
it,
where
you
have
to
learn
how
to
use
a
computer
to
accomplish
a
task.
B
B
It's
all
accounted
for
it's
all
there,
but
in
order
to
account
for
it,
you
you've
got
to
go
through
the
process
and
click
appropriately,
and
you
know
that
is
something
you
have
to
train
towards,
and
it
is
initially
more
it's
harder
right.
It's
like
it's
more
work
up
front
with
a
lot
of
gains,
and
I
think
you
know
our
staff
really
saw
the
benefit
to
having
all
that
data.
B
So
when
someone
reaches
out
no
matter
who
you
are
in
the
process,
whether
you're
someone
who's
taking
intaking
information
or
someone
who's
inspecting
or
someone
who's
reviewing,
you
see
the
workflow
of
everything.
That's
happened
with
this
permit
and
you
can
tell
them
exactly
what's
going
on
where
they
are
in
the
process
and
speak
intelligently
about
it
and
not
have
to
know
them.
You
know
be
the
person
that
originally
interfaced
with
them
have
a
history
of
dealing
with
that
particular
permit,
and
that
transparency
is
really
helpful
for
our
operations,
because
you
know
things
happen.
B
A
So
let
me
see
if
I
can
throw
out
an
analogy
and
see
if
this
is
kind
of
the
same
thing.
So
after
my
parents
passed
away,
I
went
to
their
home
and
I
emptied
out
a
lot
of
their
pictures
that
were
just
in
boxes
and
boxes
and
shelves
and
closets
and
and
for
the
last
couple
of
years
I've
been
slowly
digitizing
them
and
giving
them
years
and
titles
and
you're
right.
A
B
That
information
is
is
stuff
that
you
know
people
ask
about.
They
want
to
do
research
on
buildings
in
the
city
and
we
are
the
holders
of
that
information
and
we
want
to
digitize
it
and
make
it
transparent
and
let
people
view
it
so
we
actually
have
a
few
different
things
going
on.
We
have
staff
that
worked
on
scanning,
some
of
our
documentation
to
make
it
available
to
the
public,
and
we
can
do
that
for
maybe
smaller
projects.
Where
there's
you
know
a
few
thousand
documents,
we
did
that
for
our
certificates
of
occupancy.
B
We
went
through
they're
about
card
size
occupancies.
We
had
some
assistance
with
a
scanning
company,
but
a
lot
of
the
work
to
you
know
make
sure
that
it
was
audited
appropriately
actually
had
the
address
on
it.
People
could
actually
search
for
it
was
done
by
in-house
staff,
so
there's
some
smaller
projects
and
then
there's
like
our
microfiche
right,
we're
talking
about
millions
of
aperture
cards
and
microfiche,
film
or
microfilm,
that's
being
done
by
a
contractor
whose
they
come
they
assess
they.
They
do
something
called
for
microfuse.
B
B
That's
gonna,
be
we're
going
to
be
doing
that
project
for
the
next
few
years.
That's
going
to
be
ongoing
and
we're
adding
it
to
our
library
we're
going
to
continue
to
do
that.
But
it's
a
really
big
lift
and
our
you
know
props
to
our
file
room.
They
are
doing
much
of
the
auditing,
the
folks
there
and
they're
really
good
at
it.
They
make
sure
that
you
know
the
fields
are
completed,
that
things
look
good
on
the
microfiche
side.
B
So
that's
been,
that's
been
a
really
great
project
and
then
we
just
had
some.
You
know
paper
drawings,
other
paper
documents
that
need
to
be
scanned.
So
when
those
historic
and
some
of
those
newer
you
know
people
are
still
up
until
march
2020
when
we
had
the
pandemic,
people
were
still
providing
paper
drawings
and
that's
the
official
record
once
it
gets
stamped
by
a
plans
examiner
that
says
this
is
approved
for
construction.
We
need
to
keep
that
so
we
would
send
those
out
to
be
scanned.
B
Take
them
back,
make
sure
they
got
into
our
digital
library
and
then
hopefully
shred
them.
So
if
we
don't
need
them
anymore,
but
it's
not
just
you
know
it's
one
thing
to
just
scan.
It's
another
thing
to
make
sure
that
the
scan
is
something
that
we
can.
We
can
use
in
the
future
that
we
can
reference
so
that,
through
the
construction
process,
the
actual
construction
is
happening
to
those
approved
drawings
and
then
years
later,
it's
something
that
we
can
look
at
again.
B
A
B
Before
I
started
with
pli
the
last
time
I
used,
microfiche
machine
was
probably
like
2001
and
it
was
like
a
learning.
You
know.
Experience
like
this
is
a
thing
that
people
used
to
use,
and
so
it
was
like
one
of
those,
but
actually
pli
was
using
microfiche
like
into
2013
yeah.
So
they
you
know
it
was.
B
It
is
a
way
to
take
a
very
big
drawing
and
make
it
into
a
very
small
space,
and
you
know
that's
when
you're
collecting
these
drawings
are
huge
when
you're
collecting
all
these
drawings,
you
need
some
place
to
put
them,
so
microfiche
can
help
accomplish
that
before
we
got
to
digitization.
So
you
know
it
was
a
solution
that
made
sense
at
the
time.
A
B
You
know
now
we
have
this
automated
system
where
the
proper
addresses
are
you
know,
comment
are
pulled
in
a
report.
They
go
on
the
letter.
It
goes
out
the
door.
You
know
it
goes
through
a
folding
machine,
so
a
lot
of
that
has
been
automated
and
you
know
using
carbon
triplicate
was
also
something
that
was
happening.
You
know
up
until
2014,
2015
and
again,
something
that
makes
good
sense
in
the
sense
that
you're
you're
providing
a
copy
to
different
people
at
different
times.
B
B
B
B
I
think
that,
ultimately,
ensuring
that
buildings
are
safe
is
a
essential
job,
so
the
work
would
have
continued,
but
our
safety
would
have
been
more
at
risk
right
because
would
be
coming
into
the
office
being
in
close
quarters
with
other
other
persons.
At
this
point,
a
lot
of
our
staff
can
work
remotely
on
the
administration
side.
On
the
inspection
side,
our
building
inspectors
can
work
remotely
get
to
a
site.
B
A
A
B
They
provide
best
practices
on
how
building
departments
operate,
and
you
know
everything
from
how
should
they
audits
to
how
should
they
perform
in
the
field?
What
do
reviews
look
like
plan
reviews?
Look
like,
so
we
look
to
those
guiding
documents
to
ensure
that
we're
meeting
national
and
international
best
practices,
but
to
your
point,
we're
not
in
it
alone,
right
pli
is
just
one
department.
We
rely
on
the
department
of
innovation
and
performance
for
our
network
infrastructure,
our
hardware,
our
software.
B
So
we,
you
know,
really
need
good
partnerships
to
perform.
Our
operations
because
they
depend
so
heavily,
especially
on
inp
our
rit
department,
to
ensure
that
we
can
we
can
work
remotely
and
everyone's
been
amazing,
great
partners.
Inp
was
so
helpful
when
we,
you
know,
and
when
we
said
okay,
we
gotta
work
remotely.
B
You
know,
there's
only
so
many
computers
to
go
around
people
had
to
use
their
own
devices.
We
had
to
get
on
vpns
very,
very
quickly,
and
the
turnaround
time
was
amazing.
We
didn't,
they
didn't
miss
a
beat.
We
didn't
miss
a
beat.
Our
customers
were
being
served
immediately
and
that's
really
important
for
compliance
and
enforcement,
because
when
there
is
a
gap,
people
need
to
proceed
with
their
lives
and
with
their
work,
and
if
you
know
ensuring
that
something
is
safe
means
that
we
have
oversight
so
being
quickly
back
on.
A
B
Yeah,
thank
you.
The
pli
staff
have
been
on
it
internally.
We
like
to
say
that
we
really
like
change,
because
we're
always
you
know
trying
to
improve
internal
policies,
do
things
better
and
our
staff
was
really
quick
to
adjust
and
be
nimble,
and
we
are
just
absolutely
so
proud
of
all
the
work
that
they
did
and
have
done
in
these
last
few
years,
but
especially
you
know,
march
2020.
B
There
was
a
lot
of
uncertainty,
you
wouldn't
know
it
talking
to
our
inspectors
and
our
plane
reviewers,
and
you
know
our
clerical
staff
and
our
intake
staff.
They
were
on
it
immediately,
so
they
they
just
understood
the
necessity,
the
essential
nature
of
their
jobs
and
were
quick
to
take
to
the
change.
A
Over
this,
my
wife
is
a
college
professor
and
she's
been
teaching
online
since
last
march,
but
over
the
summer
we
went
out
to
her
office.
We
went
to
her
college
campus
to
her
office
and
one
of
the
things
that
I
found
interesting
is
all
the
calendars
said
march
and
april,
so
it
was
almost
like
going
into
a
ghost
town
or
a
sci-fi
tv
show
where
just
everybody
had
disappeared.
B
So
I
was
there
in
december,
but
I
do
think
that
there's-
and
that
was
like
a
month
ago,
but
I
do
think
that
there
is
staff
that
haven't
been
there
since
march,
which
I
think
you
know
is
a
good
thing.
We
want
to
ensure
that
people
are
safe
and
that
we're
taking
all
precautions
so
where
we
can
keep
people
in
a
distance
from
each
other.
That's
really
important.
B
B
So
to
your
story,
you
know
when
I
went.
I
actually
was
on
maternity
leave
from
april
from
like
end
of
april
until
early
june,
and
I
ended
up
having
to
stop
in
the
office
like
in
july,
so
it
had
been
like
a
few
months
and
I
went
in
there
and
there
was
like
dust
on
everything,
so
I
did
my
best
to
clean,
but
I
was
like
man.
It
only
takes
a
little
bit
of
time
yeah.
It
was
like
a
ghost
world.
B
A
B
One
really
exciting
change
that's
coming
our
way
is
that
we
will
be
moving
into
412
boulevard
in
the
alex,
which
is
a
beautiful
new
building,
where
we
can
have
a
fully
functioning
service
center,
where
our
development
partners
can
be
with
us
on
the
same
floor.
So
that
is
something
that
we've
desired
for
quite
some
time.
It's
a
great
way
to
coordinate
with
our
partners,
because
when
you're
getting
a
building
permit
you're,
also
getting
approvals
from
the
department
of
city
planning
and
the
zoning
division,
you
may
be
getting
approvals
from
pwsa
or
allegheny
county
plumbing
department.
B
You
may
need
some
department
of
mobility
and
infrastructure
approvals,
so
we
all
work
together
and
having
a
true
one-stop
shop
for
development
and
permitting
is
just
something
that
we're
very
much
looking
forward
to
and
looking
forward
to
also
having
those
departments
be
in
the
same
space
with
us.
So
that's
one.
One
piece
is
the
actual
physical
space,
but
a
lot
of
the
technology
investments
that
we
jumped
on
because
of
the
pandemic
are
here
to
stay.
B
So,
for
example,
when
we
went
full
remote,
we
recognized
the
need
to
interface
with
customers,
who
ordinarily
would
be
looking
for
some
more
assistance
when
they're
filling
out
their
application
form
questions
about.
You
know
what
is
this
field
for?
What
is
this
exactly
asking
for?
Do
I
really
need
drawings
for
this
and
it's
one
thing
to
have
an
email,
conversation
back
and
forth,
but
one
thing
we
did
is
we
integrated
a
chat
feature
into
our
one-stop
pgh
portal,
so
we
can
actually
see
what
people
are
clicking
on
in
the
portal.
B
B
So
we
can
assist
folks
through
the
process,
and
you
know
we've
also
expanded,
that
to
our
our
department
partners
that
I
had
just
mentioned
our
sister
departments
at
domey
and
city
planning.
So
if
someone
has
a
question-
and
they
type
it
in
the
chat-
and
maybe
it's
specific
to
a
zoning
issue-
we
can
actually
have
someone
else
jump
in
from
the
zoning
department
and
answered
that
question
too.
So
that
was
something
born
out
of
the
pandemic.
B
But
it's
absolutely
here
to
stay,
and
you
know
another
feature
that
we
jumped
on
that
our
partners
and
inp
helped
out
on
this
front
was
a
telephone
service,
a
web-based
conference
call
and
telephone
service,
which
is
actually
amazing
and
much
better
than
the
desk
phone
system
that
we
previously
had.
So
that's
something
else.
That's
here
to
stay.
We
have
the
ability
to
transfer
calls
out
to
the
field.
To
inspectors.
Phones,
add
people
to
calls,
so
it's
not
just
one
to
one.
So,
a
few
other.
B
You
know
technologies
that
are
just
easier
because
it's
a
matter
of
like
sort
of
clicking
on
your
screen
and
adding
folks,
rather
than
you
know,
dialing
on
on
a
old
style
pad.
So
that
has
been
pretty
exciting
but,
as
you
know,
as
far
as
things
that
we
need
moving
forward
support
for
our
new
permitting
system,
you
know
we
spent
now.
B
Three
years
rolling
it
out
getting
it
out
the
door
and
now
sort
of
all
the
phases
of
the
rollout
are
complete,
but
software
you
know
the
thing
about
technology
and
relying
on
software
is
that
it
needs
maintenance
and
management.
It
needs
updates
and
it's
something
to
grow
and
enhance
over
time.
So
customers
have
reached
out
staff
have
reached
out.
Hey.
Can
a
system
do
this?
Can
it
do
that?
Some
of
them
are
really
great
ideas
and
you
know
enhancements
that
we
want
to
take
on,
and
that
means
that
we
need
to
support
those
systems
over.
A
B
A
B
B
A
B
A
B
A
A
B
A
A
Director,
I
really
really
appreciate
you
coming
on
for
this
first
episode
of
meet
the
people.
I've
really
enjoyed
working
with
you
over
the
years.
I
I
assume
that's
going
to
continue
unless
I
do
something
that
you're
not
going
to
like,
and
then
we
won't
like
each
other
anymore,
but
continue
good
luck
with
the
department
and
again,
thank
you
for
being
here
on
the
first
episode.