Speakers

James 'Jimmy' S. Oddo serves as the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB), where he leads the City’s efforts to regulate and promote safety at approximately 40,000 active construction sites and 1.1 million buildings. A dedicated public servant with more than two decades of elected, legal, and academic experience, Commissioner Oddo has made collaborating across government entities to achieve quality of life enhancements for NYC residents a hallmark of his career.

Immediately prior to taking the helm at DOB, Commissioner Oddo served as the Chief of Staff for the Deputy Mayor of Operations’ Office, where he helped oversee the City's infrastructure agencies, including DOB, the Department of Environmental Protection, the School Construction Authority, and the Department of Design and Construction.

A longstanding public servant who has earned a reputation for overcoming hyper-partisanship in elected positions, from 2014 to 2022 Commissioner Oddo served as Staten Island Borough President, where he drove initiatives focused on public safety, education, health, land use, and transportation, among other areas. Previously, he also represented parts of Staten Island and Brooklyn in the New York City Council between 1999 to 2013, including serving as the Council’s minority leader beginning in 2002.

Commissioner Oddo received a Juris Doctor from New York Law School and a bachelor’s degree in history from Fordham University.