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Council
Wants Answers on Code Enforcement Efficiency
Prevalence
of blight on major thoroughfares tied to lack of cooperation among
department heads, outdated codes
By Allison
Jean Eaton
Bulletin Staff
Writer
As the current city administration pushes its “Birthing a New Compton” campaign
forward with full force, some elected officials are expressing dissatisfaction
with the efficiency of code enforcement.
The city currently employees 10 code enforcement officers, who
are part of the Municipal Law Enforcement Services (MLES) Department,
to police the city’s roughly 10 square miles for blight and municipal
code violations.
But a drive down any of the city’s major streets illustrates that
something’s not working, and with a number of major developments
in the works, the current pace of code enforcement operations is no longer
acceptable.
At the Nov. 14 council meeting, Councilman Isadore Hall led the
way in demanding answers as to why the city’s thoroughfares are
blighted despite code enforcement’s recently beefing up its ranks.
“It’s a shame that I can leave out of Paramount and know
that I’m
coming into Compton,” said Hall. “It’s a shame that
I can leave out of Gardena and come into Compton and know that
I’m
entering Compton. And that’s just the reality.”
He pointed out that what residents and businesses get away with
in Compton would not fly in any other city.
“What does it take for us to put a plan of action, work with the
plan and execute the plan to get rid of the blighted areas?” asked
Hall. “I can go down Compton Boulevard at any time of the day,
any day of the week, and identify with my novice eyes many infractions,
many violations.”
So why, Hall implored in frustration, are these violations allowed
to continue? The answer, it seems, is a lack of cooperation among city
officials as well as old codes.
Between this year and last year, said MLES Director Carl Houston,
the number of citations issued increased 10-15 percent, and a plan was
drawn up in April to address blighted thoroughfares.
But it has yet to be acted upon due to internal hold-ups.
“We actually developed a plan, and we met with various departments
in an effort to implement that plan,” Houston said. However, the
various affected departments — including Building and Safety, Planning
and Economic Development, Community Redevelopment and fire department — had
questions and concerns regarding the plan, which have effectively
prevented it from being enacted.
Hall labeled such a lack of cooperation as unacceptable.
“If we’re not getting cooperation from directors in the various
departments, then we have a serious problem. If they are inhibiting
you and precluding you from doing your job,” Hall said to Houston, “then
we’ve got a serious problem.
“Maybe that answers the question of all the residents calling my
office, and I’m sure the mayor’s office and everyone else’s
office, [asking] why code enforcement is not functioning.”
Councilwoman Yvonne Arceneaux pointed out that some of the inefficiency
is caused by a number of the city’s codes being outdated and antiquated.
“Many times when there is an issue that we bring up, we don’t
have the proper code to address that issue, and I’m always given
a reason why the resident can continue doing what they’re doing,” said
Arceneaux. “We cannot answer some of the complaints because the
codes aren’t up to date.”
Houston agreed that some of the codes are “old and antiquated.”
“We’ve met with the City Attorney’s Office and requested
specific revisions, and they are working with us to revise sections of
our municipal
ordinances,” he said.
But according to City Atty. Legrand Clegg, despite some of what’s
on the books being antiquated, “a lot of issues can be addressed
as the code stands now. There’s plenty of teeth [in the code] on
some levels.
“We’ve got codes that address everything. I’m not mindful
of our not having codes that address issues of blight,” said Clegg.
Hall requested that a task force be assembled to deal specifically
with the city’s boulevards “to eradicate and eliminate those
blighted areas on the boulevards” as well as a monthly report on
its status.
“We have an $80 million shopping center getting ready to break
ground in about eight to 10 weeks. We have a senior center that’s
getting ready to be built [near the transit center]. We have other developments
taking place right now, and we can’t even get our boulevards to
look right,” said Hall. “The residents of Compton deserve
more, and we need a task force assembled forthwith that will help
deal with this.”
A full report, said the city manager, will come before the Council
in the next few weeks.
“Let’s get real here,” continued Hall. “There
is a way to execute this stuff. Birthing a new city — this is part
of that, ‘Birthing
a New Compton,’ and our community deserves just as much as any
other community,” he said, eliciting applause from the audience, “without
excuses.”
Since that meeting, it appears code enforcement has stepped up
its efforts. At last week’s council meeting, Mayor Eric J. Perrodin
was happy to report that 193 citations were issued during the previous
weekend alone.
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