We don’t want no stinking pack rats, long grass or crazy branches in our city
l3wis 
A flow chart accompanying the audit revealed the complexity, prompting City Council member Vernon Brown to say it “would be funny” if it weren’t a report on “the inefficiency of city government.”
The code enforcement officers in Sioux Falls are busy. Gee I wonder why?
The city’s process for enforcing codes and collecting unpaid fines is “tedious and consumes a large amount of staff time,” an internal city audit has found.
At the end of last summer, more than $160,000 remained outstanding in fines, including more than $85,000 in fines from citations that were more than a year old.
City codes forbid many things, including overgrown weeds, junk cars, RVs parked in driveways and untrimmed trees. Although the city has a dedicated code enforcement officer, employees in several departments inspect properties for violations.
I think the last sentence says it all. They should only issue violations on a complaint basis. Period. Too many cooks spoil the stew.
Then Mike Cooper has a little hissy-fit;
He criticized the audit for “exceeding the scope” of its intended purpose and for crossing “into matters of administrative affairs unrelated to financial practices.”
See, Mr. Cooper doesn’t like ‘AUDITS’ or people investigating how he does his job. Why? Because as you can see, he ain’t real efficient at it.
Oksol (auditor) suggested the council empanel a citizens’ review committee to assess the “adequacy and appropriateness” of code ordinances and review the balance between “community standards and property rights.”
Damn Right! The problem is that there are too many violations being handed over to people who have certain rights on their property, the city has started acting like a police state. I think it is silly for the city of Sioux Falls to be handing out violations for too long of tree branches on trees they own in the blvd. Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to just have a truck come by and trim the damn trees themselves? What do we pay taxes for anyway?
