Formed as part of a regional effort to create standards for building permitting, eCityGov Alliance works to provide a standardized process to submit building applications across several eastside cities. The Alliance began in 2019 with the announcement of its new executive director, Tyler Running Deer.

The eCityGov Alliance is a nonprofit. Currently Bellevue, Issaquah, Kenmore, Kirkland, Sammamish and Snoqualmie are the partner cities. King and Snohomish County also are partnered with the organization. Representatives of each city sit on the executive board to guide the high level direction of the nonprofit and building officials from each city sit on an operations board to manage the work the nonprofit does.

Nathan McCommon, board member and Bellevue’s deputy city manager, said the organization began when building officials found customer service of building code inspections and plan reviews difficult because every city had different standards.

To make standardized applications across cities easier, they developed MyBuildingPermit.com, which processes development permit applications to meet the requirements of the partner cities.

Executive director Tyler Running Deer, formerly the client services director for the IT department at the city of Seattle, said the services the nonprofit offers don’t just apply to developers but also to individuals looking for permit applications.

“What we are offering is a more streamlined, easy to manage input flow for permit requests from the public, whether you are a family who wants to build a new deck or developer who has a high rise project,” he said.

Before coming to the eCityGov Alliance from the city of Seattle, Running Deer also worked as the budget manager for the King County Office of Performance Strategy.

As executive director, Running Deer said he is responsible for connecting the executive board’s vision for the nonprofit with the implementation on an operations level. His plan for 2019 is to keep the organization on track with the recently established 2019-2020 biennial budget as well as planning for the future.

“I’m excited about learning and continuing to build successful relationships,” he said.