Leadership

Addison Smith – CEO and Founder

Jason Addison Smith is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of JAS Pacific. In providing municipal consulting services for over 30 years, Mr. Smith is very experienced in the management of consulting firms and business operations. His accomplished approach to managing operations of JAS Pacific ensures that the company carries no risks to its clients and assures that services are continual at high quality levels.

Mr. Smith attended the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government and holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of La Verne. He is a current Advisory Council member to the Board of Directors of the California Building Officials. He is also Past President of the Los Angeles Basin Chapter of ICC, an 89 jurisdictional member Chapter.

Mr. Smith has also served as a contractual Building Official for several Southern California cities and contractual City Manager for the City of Adelanto.

Raj Patel, PE – President

With over 35 years of public sector experience, Mr. Patel has thorough knowledge and expertise in all aspects of building services. As Building Official for the County of Los Angeles, he managed building and safety operations for the unincorporated city and seventeen incorporated contract cities. He also managed Public Works Services for the unincorporated city and thirty-eight cities. Mr. Patel also served as the Building Official for the City of Beverly Hills for five years.

Mr. Patel serves on local, state, and national committees and boards. He is currently Vice-Chair of the California Building Standards Commission AND President of the California Building Officials. He has been recognized by the California Senate, ICC, IAPMO, IEEE, and CALBO, among others with many honors and awards, including most recently International Code Council’s 2023 International Code Official of the Year.

Ron Takiguchi, PE, CBO – Senior Vice President

With over 35 years of City and Municipal experience, Mr. Takiguchi is very experienced in management of building department operations, and residential and commercial property development. He is a California Registered Professional Engineer, and a Certified Building Official. Having served as Chief Building Official for three major Southern California cities, and Deputy Building Official for the County of Los Angeles, Mr. Takiguchi is familiar with local issues on a large scale and at a community level. His management duties included plan review, building inspection, permit counter activities, code enforcement, budget and contracts. In his tenure, he has developed programs for green building and resilience, seismic retrofit, and building electrification. He is very well-versed in technical applications of the California Building Standards Code, construction procedures, and engineering principles.

He is the current chair of the California Building Standards Commission, Plumbing-Electrical-Mechanical-Energy Code Advisory Committee, and a long-standing member of the Green Building Code Advisory Committee. Mr. Takiguchi is an adjunct professor the University of California Los Angeles Extension Program in the Civil and Environmental Engineering – Construction Management Program. He is a past president of California Building Officials, and the Los Angeles Basin Chapter of ICC.

Bob Latz, CBO – Vice President

Mr. Latz is well known within the industry, providing over 30 years of experience in the municipal field with proven jurisdictional experience in providing technical resources for staff augmentation, coordination of expedited plan review and special projects, and education and leadership training.

Mr. Latz has experience serving in both the public and private sectors, serving as Building Official in multiple jurisdictions. He provides governmental management support for building administration, building inspection, plan review, fire services, code enforcement, public works, and planning. He served as President of the Board of Directors for the California Building Officials Association and the Sacramento Valley Association of Building Officials and continues to serve as the Chair and a valued instructor for the CALBO Training Institute. Mr. Latz was recognized as the California Fire Chiefs Association Fire Prevention Officers Building Official of the Year and was inducted into the CALBO Hall of Fame.

Bryan Spain, PE, CASP – Vice President

Mr. Spain has 35+ years of experience in a wide capacity as structural design engineer, Building Official for several municipalities, structural, and fire/life safety plan reviewer, and regional manager for private building and safety consulting firms. He is a registered Civil Engineer in the State of California and is certified by the Division of State Architect as a Certified Access Specialist (CASp). His experience and expertise in building codes and standards makes Mr. Spain a well-respected professional in code applications and solutions.

In his career, Mr. Spain also served as contract Building Official for the City of Solvang for more than a decade. He is well-understanding of building code applications, plan check operations and the importance of serving the public and the community. Mr. Spain is well-adept in administering building department operations, permit systems and building code adoption. As a structural design engineer, Mr. Spain was involved in the seismic retrofit of the First Bank of Italy building in Lompoc, California. He also conducted the structural evaluation of the Old Powerhouse building, remodel of the El Corral Bookstore, and is a part-time lecturer at Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo.

Jeff Janes, CBO, CFM – Vice President

Mr. Janes is a highly experienced ICC Certified Building Official with extensive building department administration and management experience. He is experienced in supervision and coordination of the activities, operations of jurisdictional building and safety divisions, including the University of California, Merced expansion project. In addition, Mr. Janes has served as a Regional Manager for the Central Valley to the Central Coast. Specific skills include budget strategy, preparation and oversight, and implementation of best practices across multiple departments. Mr. Janes is knowledgeable in enforcing compliance and minimum standards to safeguard life, limb, health, property and public welfare.

Mr. Janes has also successfully guided department staff with inspection and plan review for all phases of complex construction projects. He is experienced utilizing building department permit tracking software and managing all common building department responsibilities, including plan review, multi-discipline inspections, plan review and inspection scheduling, field supervision, regulatory compliance, code interpretation, and project acceptance. Mr. Janes also makes a difference to our clients and those he works with through his skills in compliant resolution, problem solving, damage assessment and team building.

Stuart Tom, PE, CBO – Chief Technical Officer

With over 30 years in the public sector, Mr. Tom brings deep expertise in building, safety, and fire services. A licensed Civil Engineer in California and Wahington, ICC-certified Building Official, and Plans Examiner he has served as Chief Building Official, Fire Marshal, and Engineering Bureau Training Officer. As Building Official for the third largest city in Los Angeles County, he oversaw engineering, inspections, and permit services-ensuring compliance with zoning, fire, traffic, and grading codes. As Fire Marshal, he led the Fire Engineering Division, managing plan checks, inspections, and hazardous waste programs to uphold fire and life safety standards and protect the environment.

As a recognized expert in various fields of structural design and life-safety systems, including his expertise in fire protection where he was the major contributor to Chapter 7A in the California Building Code. Mr. Tom served as President of the International Code Council. Mr. Tom is the recipient of several other awards, including the CALBO President’s Award, and he was inducted as a Fellow into the Institute for the Advancement of Engineering.

Jack Leonard, PE, CBO – Director of Engineering

With over 30 years of combined public and private sector experience, Mr. Leonard is a California Licensed Civil Engineer and ICC-certified Building Official. He has held roles including Assistant Engineer, Plan Review Engineer, Building Director, and Building Official. He retired after 16 years as Building Director for the City of Bakersfield where he led department policy, staffing, and budgeting. His expertise spans structural, life safety, mechanical, plumbing, and electrical plan reviews.

Mr. Leonard has chaired the Board of Zoning Adjustment, served as a Hearing Officer for Code Enforcement and Animal Control appeals, and represented the Building Division at council meetings, commissions, and court proceedings. He oversaw code enforcement, fee structure development, and interpretation of building laws and regulations. At JAS Pacific, he has served as Building Official for San Bernardino County and as Building and Safety Director for the City of Santa Monica.