Oakwatch: The Oakland Code Enforcement Project Meeting Minutes September 18th, 2013
Mission: Oakwatch: The Oakland Code Enforcement Project seeks to improve the quality of life for residents, employees and visitors by enforcing codes on negligent property owners, housing violations, parking violations, disruptive behavior, excessive noise and underage drinking in the Oakland neighborhood.
I.
In attendance: Carlino Giampolo, Megan Fabbri, Janice Lorenz, Hanson Kappelman, Maria Bethel, Shannon Leshen, Steven Cetra, John Wilds, Kannu Sahni, Robert Beecher, Nathan Hart, Mark Kramer, Sally Stein, Henry Cianciosi, Larry Robinson, Carol Mitchell, Michael Medwed, Peg Sedlack, Mark Oleniacz, Bob McPherson, Wanda Wilson, Jody Davin, Lindsey Bumsted, Alicia Carberry, Rebekkah Ranallo.
II.
Introductions; Brief new members (Hanson Kappelman, 5 minutes)
III.
Disruptive Property Ordinance 2012 Report (Maria Bethel, 15 minutes) History of the Ordinance: based on a Cleveland model and launched in December of 2008. Ordinance requires Dept. of Public Safety to notify landlord when there is an arrest or citation on their property. Landlords can also use notices from Disruptive Properties to evict tenants at magistrate. Nuisance Property Task Force meets once a month. When a property doesn’t meet criteria for Disruptive Properties ordinance, Maria can send to Nuisance Property Task Force to look into enforcement through them. The city works with all 5 Police Commanders and BBI on this. Maria reminded group how process works. Police officers have to check box on report, then supervisor has to approve. A property is declared disruptive after 3 violations of the ordinance within a 180-day period. In Zone 4 for 2010, 6 properties were deemed disruptive. In 2011, only 1 property was. In 2012, 27 properties were deemed such. So far in 2013, 11 properties hold this title. Since its implementation, 1,660 notifications have been sent in all 5 zones. 44% of these were animal control related, 56% were arrests/ citations. Sally: Were property owners in the city notified when ordinance was created? Maria: Yes, and although they were initially resistant to the ordinance, landlords in Lawrenceville are including information on the Disruptive Property Ordinance in leases to alert tenants that violations will not be tolerated. The Disruptive Properties Appeal Board meets the second Wednesday of each month to review appeals. Some landlords have case appealed if they can prove they took necessary steps to solve problem and abate re-occurrence (evict tenant, get rid of dangerous animal, etc).