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Friday, February 3, 2012
Code enforcement: The drama, grime and social work
by Kathleen Haley, published on September 21, 2009 at 9:08 PM
Storyline: City Services
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Syringes on the ground. People emerging from boarded-up homes that don’t have water or gas. Vacant homes with human feces on the floor.
You probably don’t associate the term “code enforcement” with drama, grime and social work. Yet, a day in the life of a Sacramento code enforcement officer makes for a gripping tale.
The Sacramento Press observed Supervising Code Enforcement officer Bill Hutcheon, Ron O'Connor, department operations manager, and other officers during a three-hour ride-along on Sept. 14. The first stop on the list was a filthy vacant lot at 38th Street and 7th Avenue in Oak Park. Hutcheon scoped out the site, pointing out a syringe on the ground and a makeshift sleeping area with pillows and a comforter.
He had examined the site a few days earlier in response to a complaint from a Sacramento police officer. In response to the mess at the vacant lot, the department will hire a city contractor to clean the site, he said. A temporary fence will also be installed and stay up for 30 days, he added.
The three property owners of the vacant lot have been in trouble with code enforcement before, according to Hutcheon. The code enforcement department will bill them for the costs of the cleaning and the fence, plus an extra 20 percent to pay for the city’s administrative costs.
From there, Hutcheon and O’Connor drove to the next stop, an Oak Park home full of garbage and personal belongings. The dumpster that was placed in front of the home was about 60 cubic yards, Hutcheon and O’Connor said. It was the third time a dumpster had been used to remove garbage from the home.
Hutcheon explained that the trash-filled house was a fire hazard and could attract rats. He said a similar process will be followed: The woman who owns the home will pay for a contractor to come to her house and clean the house. After that, a building inspector will verify the house is safe, he said, adding that he was trying to avoid assessing penalties on the woman. “The emphasis right now is obviously to help her,” Hutcheon said.
The homeowner, who walks with a cane, made the sign of the cross when she heard that one of the people in her house was a news reporter. She asked that her name not be used, but wanted to talk about Hutcheon’s efforts to help her clean out her house. “Because of his graciousness, it has been a pleasure,” the woman said. “And I think it’s going to save my life.”
She said most of the belongings that filled the house were left by a man who had lived there.
After the code officers left the woman’s home, there was more drama. The windows and door of the house at 3408 21st Ave. were boarded up. But the owner was allowing two people to live there. It’s a fire hazard for people to live in a boarded-up house, O’Connor explained, because there is no way for them to escape. The house did not have running water or heat.
“It’s moving day,” building inspector Richard Leiker said to his fellow code officers. As the officers walked the perimeter of the house, they encountered one of the men who was living there and told him to leave.
A nearby house with putrid conditions was next on the code officers’ schedule. The home at 3630 21st Ave. was vacant, but one or more people had knocked down a piece of the house’s wall to create a back entrance. Two code officers climbed through the small makeshift entrance and began to cough loudly. They were exploring an unsanitary living space; there was feces on a carpet, Hutcheon said.
The Code Enforcement Department has issued an order for the owner to repair or destroy the house. The owner owes the department about $12,000.
The city’s budget problems meant that two employees in the department were recently laid off, O’Connor said. The department also has 18 vacant positions because of budget cuts but still is getting its work done and addresses all dangerous situations, he said.
However, the loss of positions means workers can’t engage with the work as deeply as they could before. Staff now spends more time “putting out fires,” O'Connor said.
Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.
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Hats off to these workers for dealing with what I can imagine as a "Dirty Job", someone has to do it!
In some cities like Roseville and Rocklin, it's against the law to park any recreational vehicle even in your driveway. Even those portable basketball hoops aren't supposed to block sideways or be in the street. I urge everybody to go to your code enforcement web site and check the violations. It's your neighborhood, so keep it safe and looking good! Code enforcement rocks!
I think you might be referring to CC&Rs, Covenants Creeds & Restrictions, common in real estate developments governed by homeowners' associations. Those are not quite the same--HOAs have the power of government but without the accountability. They can also be far more restrictive than the level of code enforcement that a city regulates.
Neighbors with unkept lawns, abandoned vehicels in the yard, blue tarped roofs, or an RV parked on the street harm every homeowner in the neighborhood by decreasing their home values.
These folks go where even cops fear to tread and are doing a great job trying to make our city a better place to live. The city needs to increase their budget in order to help them keep on keeping on! Kyle Caluya who is the guy you see with the hose. does a awesome job and has single handed cleaned up Oak Park significantly. Give him a raise!!!
I bought a house in Sacramento recently. Before I closed the deal , I called City of Sacramento and asked whether any code violation, answered was NO. At the same time, I checked the listing footage matched the TAX record. So I bought the house.
Only 2 weeks after close, code enforcement came and said "my stair's step is too high with 12", it should be 9". I asked how did he know. He said he had been code enforcement for 40 years, "he saw he knew". Because of that I let him in to check, he finally admitted he was wrong because all steps high is 9".
Then he said my stair wide is too narrow, only 24', need to be 36". He force me to change it to new code. But the house was biult 1925, before my father was born. How can he force me to change now ?
PG&E came and turn on GAS without problem, SMUD came to turn on power without problem either.
he said that is our city code.
He said my bedroom window was too small and life threaten in case of fire. But the window had been there for many many years if not 86 years. new code was effective just last year. My window is even wider than my neighbor's. If you force me to change now, should all All Sacramento old houses update to new code too ? ( if I change the window later, I will be happy to make it to new code)
He said my house was not livable, why ? My tenant can not be more happy with new paint, new hardwood flooring. gas, electricity heater are normal, house are beautiful.
So our code enforcement should help citizen and help Sacramento house market, in stead of squeeze the citizen and run down the market and scare the investors and home owners away ! please ! (zhibin_huang@yahoo.com)