Redding isn’t committing to the Shasta County Grand Jury’s recommendation to move city code enforcement wholly under the supervision of the Redding Police Department.
The city also won’t implement three of the jury’s other four recommendations and disagrees with nearly all of the panel’s findings casting a critical eye on code enforcement.
The City Council on Tuesday could approve a letter from Mayor Brent Weaver responding to the grand jury’s report recommending the city rethink its efforts.
The grand jury in its June report recommended shifting code enforcement to the police department, end short-term “enhanced code enforcement” special funding in favor of long-term solutions, cross train all city employees working in code enforcement, prioritize checks on a list of homes occupied but without power and that police and code enforcement work together to develop a formal process to prioritize workloads including case files, unlawful camps and problem motels.
The grand jury found that not prioritizing workloads can mean abatement cases that are left open and don’t get resolved in a timely manner.
The city rejected all but the last recommendation, according to Weaver’s letter.
“The City Council reserves its right to prioritize programs and fund them as it deems appropriate,” the letter reads in response to the funding recommendation.
The grand jury wanted Redding to analyze shifting all of code enforcement to police supervision but the city is still in the hiring process for a new police chief, who will have input on the process, the response reads. Officials have said they expect a new chief will be hired by the fall.
Weaver and City Manager Barry Tippin have also said they’re open to the idea but it needs to be discussed.
Redding agreed with only three of the jury’s 10 findings about code enforcement: the city is using short-term “enhanced code enforcement” to address long-term problems; city employees working the Development Services Department often respond to code violations affecting public safety; and code enforcers may have a difficult time managing follow-up and tackling backlogs because of limited resources and current workloads.
But the city disagreed with other findings, including that code enforcement lacks comprehensive planning, supervision, communication and follow-up because it’s spread across three departments.
“While responsibilities and funding for code enforcement duties are shared by multiple departments within the city, the efforts are coordinated and effective,” Weaver said in the letter.
The city also took issue with the grand jury’s claim that code enforcement workers have no formal procedure for prioritizing duties or assignments.
“While a thorough prioritization plan does not exist in writing, staff responds immediately to complaints relating to substandard living conditions and life safety concerns,” the response reads.
Grand jury members interviewed City Council members, city administrators, the development services department and police.
The latest response is the third from Redding to the grand jury.
The city last month disputed much of a highly critical report on the so-far vacant Stillwater Business Park and separately responded to a report warning of severe financial problems in the face of massive pension debt.
August 10, 2017
Redding Record Searchlight
By Sean Longoria
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