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IDCITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK <br /> notorious for having problems. And in just two (2) of those complexes there are three hundred <br /> (300) families that we know are suffering and that are in bad conditions. Is there a way to look at <br /> those large housing complexes across the board and use those are a starting place? Let's see where <br /> we can target our focus and get a high concentration of families taken care of. We already know <br /> they are there. We know people are suffering. We already know of places with these large issues. <br /> Is there a way to address those?Part of what I've heard is the Health Department doesn't shut them <br /> down. They have nowhere to go and to me that is not acceptable. Again, if our concern is health <br /> and safety, we have to find safe and healthy places for people to live. I'm really interested in what <br /> we are doing to really address the problems we already know about.We've already had complaints, <br /> we already know, and we should be able to do it just based on those complaints. <br /> Ms. Fritzberg replied, I can defer to Code for the inspections in areas we have had particular <br /> complaints. I will respond to your questions about the data. We have the data we get from our <br /> partners. And then we know that, in general,health and safety issues are correlated with the age of <br /> housing. One (1) of the reasons why actually prioritizing, say, an apartment building, may not <br /> always be the right approach is that especially as we look at things like lead, that is more likely to <br /> be found in aging single-family homes in our neighborhoods. So, you are right that it is tricky, but <br /> we know that if we're looking at the age of the property and the factors associated with the types <br /> of health and safety issues we see, we are far more likely to see those in single-family rental units. <br /> Those tend to be the majority of our rental units here. I want to flag that this is not something that <br /> replaces the ability to make a complaint. We are not looking at treating every inspection as if it's <br /> a comprehensive audit. What we are saying is, if we know there is a particular issue, we go after <br /> that aggressively,but we don't believe that excludes anyone from needing to meet basic safety and <br /> health standards. <br /> Councilmember Williams-Preston interjected,I want to question one(1)statement you made. You <br /> said it's true and I'm not sure it is true. I would like to clarify. I thought I heard that one (1) of the <br /> parables you used to describe the problems had to deal with the age of the property. <br /> Ms. Fritzberg clarified, I'm saying what we know about housing stock is that housing built before <br /> 1978 has a higher likelihood of having lead paint. So, with that factor, we are looking at the age <br /> of the property as a predicter. <br /> Councilmember Williams-Preston followed up, Absolutely, for lead. Not necessarily for some of <br /> these other structural issues and things like that. I just want to clarify that because I think clearly <br /> lead is a problem and we know we have a commitment to address that,but this goes much beyond <br /> lead and I think we need to look at other factors to help guide us to maybe where we should begin. <br /> So, we know lead is a problem and a whole lot of them have lead. I would guess seventy percent <br /> (70%) of housing doesn't have all these other violations. <br /> Ms. Skibins replied, Well, we won't know until we get into these homes. <br /> Councilmember Williams-Preston continued, So, this is what I'm saying in terms of being <br /> effective. As a policy maker, I'm very interested in health and safety. I'm not interested in doing <br /> stuff because it sounds good and looks good and we can check a box and say we tried. I'm <br /> interested in doing something that is really actually going to help people right now that we know <br /> need help. That is where I think we all would agree. I think looking at the different variables to <br /> make decisions as to when, why and where to go in, those variables need to reflect the highest <br /> EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT <br /> 455 County-City Building 227W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 1574.235.9173 '113574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov <br /> 10 <br />