Hey, Vernon, rotary phones went out in the 80’s.
The city wants to make it easier to turn in your neighbors. Are we changing the city’s motto to, “The city of neighborly hate”? or “If you have a neighbor, he’s probably a criminal”
Sioux Falls officials, reacting to City Council criticisms, say they are making it easier for residents to file code enforcement complaints against other residents or businesses.
Because before code enforcement started 6 years ago, our city was in shambles! Shambles I say! Shambles!
In response, the city is marketing its general information phone number – 367-8000 – as the number to address code violations. The city has contracted with the HelpLine Center to answer those calls, and operators there will be trained to get complaints to the appropriate departments for investigation.
Because no one that works for the city is qualified to answer a phone and talk to citizens? And we wonder why we may be spending $34 million next year for “Professional Services”.
At some point, the system might even be set up to handle calls 24 hours a day, seven day a week. Officials hope to have a new Web site up in May, which will provide examples of violations of city code and access to file an electronic complaint.
Because we won’t be happy until we turn our city into a police state! This is a crock of shit. Now we are training residents on code enforcement? This is getting out of control. Who the F’ck is on a power trip here? This crap has got to end.
Councilor Vernon Brown, a longtime critic of the city’s handling of code enforcement complaints, told Director of Health Judy Buseman that private companies would go out of business if they treated people as the city does.
Can we fire all of you? Point me in the right direction. Let’s get this party started!
Rather than use a seven-digit phone number for complaints, Brown said he thinks the city should use a 311 phone number. It would be easier for people to remember, but cost $250,000.
Vernon thinks spending $8,000 to experiment with snowgates is a “Waste of Money” because “They don’t work.” But spending a cool 1/4 million on a phone number is well worth it. Go figure. Isn’t it ironic that a guy who works for a telecommunications company wants to spend that much money on a specialized number? Gee, I wonder what company in Sioux Falls is qualifed to handle that kind of contract? (Cough, Cough, SDN communications, Cough, Cough, Time Killers, Cough). I guess it’s time to pay back your Telecommunications PAC money you received during your last campaign, huh Vernon? Talk about conflict of interest!
Actually wouldn’t a police state require the government to actually cite the violation themselves? If residents are doing it, I’m guessing it doesn’t really apply.
In any case I’m not a fan of spending $250k so people don’t have to bother with looking up a number, but I’ll admit I am a big fan of the online code violation reporting tool.
Sorry, but if I have a neighbor who is parking his huge 5th wheel in front of my house all summer while I’m trying to sell my house, you can bet your ass I’m reporting him for a code violation.
If I have a neighbor who is stockpiling old tires and trash in his back yard which is causing mosquito problems, I’m not only going to report him, but I’m going to feel good about it. And if I have a neighbor who is running an unlicensed daycare with about 15 kids too many, I’m going to report them.
Does that mean I’m an asshole? Maybe. But I would rather have a few rules that everyone is expected to follow instead of a free-for-all where anything goes. If there is a happy medium I’d love to hear it, but based upon what I witness in other cities with less code enforcement than Sioux Falls, I really don’t care for the alternative.
“Actually wouldn’t a police state require the government to actually cite the violation themselves?” And that’s what they are doing, but they are turning code enforcement into a ‘neighborhood watch’ like program. That is wrong. I think neighbors should be able to communicate with each other and solve problems within there neighborhood, if they cannot, code enforcement should be a last resort.
I’m not defending the people who are violating codes, I’m defending the people who are not. I think we are opening a can of worms when we are giving CITIZENS the power to determine if your grass is too long. There is obvious violations, like you mentioned, that DO need to be reported, and I have turned renters in on my block. But going hog wild is not the solution.
I think neighbors should be able to communicate with each other and solve problems within there neighborhood, if they cannot, code enforcement should be a last resort.
This is a tough one, but I’ll admit I turned in one of my neighbors for keeping unlicensed junk cars on his property and I didn’t contact him first about it. Why? Because if I had said anything it would have created a rift, and the last thing I want between neighbors is bad blood. It was much easier to let the city handle it and considering I gave him almost two years before I called it in, I think I was reasonable.
I think we are opening a can of worms when we are giving CITIZENS the power to determine if your grass is too long.
But that isn’t the whole story. Citizens can think your grass is too long and can call in a complaint, but ultimately it is up to the city to verify it and determine if the citizen was correct. If your neighbor calls you in for having a lawn 12 inches tall but you go out and mow before the city happens to make it… there is no violation.
I’m not sure what the alternative is. Should we hire more code enforcement officers and have them patrol neighborhoods looking for violations? Oh wait….they have tried that with trees and you didn’t like that solution either.
Allowing the citizens to determine when they think a violation needs to be addressed is the most fair solution. How else can you address some of these problems?
I just don’t think we should be in the business of turning citizens into grass mowing vigilante’s. Property owners have rights, and as long as it does not infringe on yours, there really isn’t much you or the city can do about it. Like I said, this all started during Munson’s administration, because he wants SF to look ‘neat and clean’ to his standards. Well not everyone has his standards or tastes. A mayor should not be able to determine what my property looks like.
I think the city’s definition of acceptable property maintenance is more than acceptable. Correct me if I’m wrong, but they don’t even bother someone until their lawn is at least 8″ tall, which likely means they haven’t mowed it for quite some time.
You’re right – property owners have rights, but so do their neighbors. When property owner A refuses to maintain their property and it has a negative effect upon property values in the area, I think it is justified for property owners B, C, and D to complain about it.
It all just depends upon what your acceptable threshold of standards are, and I’m sure that threshold varies greatly among the population, so it is Munson’s duty to find the balacing point between not far enough and too far.
When they start mandating you vacuum your carpet at least once a month or that you have no more than five dirty plates in the sink maybe I’ll jump on board and claim they have went to far, but as long as they keep it confined to the external property that can and does have an impact upon others I’ve got no complaints.
“Munson’s duty to find the balacing point between not far enough and too far.”
It has gone to far when you start asking citizens to start turning in other citizens. How do fines jump over $100,000 in a 3 year period? I also heard project NICE was started so when city workers were picking up your garbage they could look at your property and determine if you had any violations. Like I said, it should be on complaint basis ONLY.
It has gone to far when you start asking citizens to start turning in other citizens.
Like I said, it should be on complaint basis ONLY.
I fail to see the difference between asking citizens to register complaints and being on a complaint basis only. It isn’t like the city is mandating that citizens file X number of complaints a month.
Again, what is the alternative? We either let citizens handle it or we require code enforcement officers to do it themselves. Chances are either way *ahem* some people *ahem* will still whine about it.
As far as what you heard about project NICE, I think you need to bust out the tinfoil hat. It would have been a hellofalot cheaper to put a few city employees on loan to be temporary code enforcement officers and let them patrol those areas rather than picking up truckloads of trash under the guise of looking for code violations.
Really – thats just silly.
“As far as what you heard about project NICE, I think you need to bust out the tinfoil hat. It would have been a hellofalot cheaper to put a few city employees on loan to be temporary code enforcement officers and let them patrol those areas rather than picking up truckloads of trash under the guise of looking for code violations.”
Yes, but it is less conspicous (sp?) and afterall they are cleaning up trash. The only reason I say this is that is what I heard from a city official that WAS the case and many violations were written during the project NICE. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
I guess what I am saying is that I encourage citizens to turn in violations if they are really bad, but I think spending $250,000 on a phone number and website to ‘TRAIN’ citizens to watch their neighbors is ridiculous. Like I said, most violations are pretty obvious (like what you turned your neighbor in for). I guess I can just see bored citizens driving around and turning in people for stupid crap, just like the tree trimming businesses did with Project TRIM. There has to be a happy medium, and there isn’t one now. We went from zero violations in 2002 to over $160,000 in 2008. You can tell me that isn’t a little overblown.
The city citations web site has been discontinued. It was a good resource for litigation. About 3,000 names and addresses were collected while it existed. It’s time to get the city code enforcer fired. He’s threatened citizens and ‘patrols’ neighborhoods after hours in his personal vehicle. He threatened me in a public hearing where he was not called. He’s the citys’ goon, never mind enforcer.