Riel: Move Code Enforcement to OECD
By ANNE HOLLIDAY
WESB/WBRR News Director
Bradford Mayor Tom Riel has always been vocal in his belief that the city's code enforcement program is a failure.
This afternoon, he told WESB and The HERO that he believes code enforcement should be taken out of the fire department and possibly moved to the Office of Economic and Community Development.
"My hope is that the City of Bradford Fire Department would do the right thing and vote to let code enforcement go so we can move on and try to build a better Bradford," Riel said.
"Code enforcement's been operated this way out of the city's fire department for 15 years, and you'd think after 15 years they'd have it figured out -- there wouldn't be such a problem, there wouldn't be so much confusion and it wouldn't seem so dysfunctional."
Riel said one of the advantages of moving code enforcement to the OECD is that the code enforcement officers wouldn't be getting the salary and medical benefits that firefighters get, which would save money.
He said with the money they'd be saving, maybe they could hire another person to do code enforcement if that's what it's going to take to get the situation under control.
Riel said there are multiple problems that can't be blamed on any one thing, adding that it's not just the code enforcement officers or ordinances or money. But he did say that perhaps the city could strengthen the ordinances and how they're implemented as well as start implementing state laws that aren't being implemented locally.
He also said, as he's said before, that code enforcement needs to be more proactive rather than reactive.
"When they drive by a house and they see a pillar coming off the porch, they need to take note of that and pursue the issue," Riel said.
"Things aren't getting done until these houses or these structures are to the point ... where it's not feasible to fix them up," he added. "You need to start nipping it in the bud before it gets to the condition where the roof is falling off or the porch is falling off."
"It takes many years for these houses to get that way," he said. "It doesn't happen in six months or a year. We need to start being much more aggressive and going after property owners and cut this thing off before it becomes such a spectacle."
He said the system is "so far backwards" that the properties that need to be torn down have to be dealt with, but the small violations need to be addressed, too, before they get to be big violations.
Riel did say that sometimes an issue with a blighted property gets tied up in the legal system, but he said there are other avenues that would take less time than going the legal route.
"We already have a board of health that can render legal decisions," he said, adding that since Bradford resident Fran Bottone brought up the idea of having a citizen's advisory during a council meeting, he's done some research on that.
He said it's possible to have a citizen's board that has "quasi-judicial power."
"When these types of boards have been implemented in other communities it seems to move things along rather quickly," Riel said.
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/5206311
WESB/WBRR News Director
Bradford Mayor Tom Riel has always been vocal in his belief that the city's code enforcement program is a failure.
This afternoon, he told WESB and The HERO that he believes code enforcement should be taken out of the fire department and possibly moved to the Office of Economic and Community Development.
"My hope is that the City of Bradford Fire Department would do the right thing and vote to let code enforcement go so we can move on and try to build a better Bradford," Riel said.
"Code enforcement's been operated this way out of the city's fire department for 15 years, and you'd think after 15 years they'd have it figured out -- there wouldn't be such a problem, there wouldn't be so much confusion and it wouldn't seem so dysfunctional."
Riel said one of the advantages of moving code enforcement to the OECD is that the code enforcement officers wouldn't be getting the salary and medical benefits that firefighters get, which would save money.
He said with the money they'd be saving, maybe they could hire another person to do code enforcement if that's what it's going to take to get the situation under control.
Riel said there are multiple problems that can't be blamed on any one thing, adding that it's not just the code enforcement officers or ordinances or money. But he did say that perhaps the city could strengthen the ordinances and how they're implemented as well as start implementing state laws that aren't being implemented locally.
He also said, as he's said before, that code enforcement needs to be more proactive rather than reactive.
"When they drive by a house and they see a pillar coming off the porch, they need to take note of that and pursue the issue," Riel said.
"Things aren't getting done until these houses or these structures are to the point ... where it's not feasible to fix them up," he added. "You need to start nipping it in the bud before it gets to the condition where the roof is falling off or the porch is falling off."
"It takes many years for these houses to get that way," he said. "It doesn't happen in six months or a year. We need to start being much more aggressive and going after property owners and cut this thing off before it becomes such a spectacle."
He said the system is "so far backwards" that the properties that need to be torn down have to be dealt with, but the small violations need to be addressed, too, before they get to be big violations.
Riel did say that sometimes an issue with a blighted property gets tied up in the legal system, but he said there are other avenues that would take less time than going the legal route.
"We already have a board of health that can render legal decisions," he said, adding that since Bradford resident Fran Bottone brought up the idea of having a citizen's advisory during a council meeting, he's done some research on that.
He said it's possible to have a citizen's board that has "quasi-judicial power."
"When these types of boards have been implemented in other communities it seems to move things along rather quickly," Riel said.
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/5206311
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