04-25-16 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

REGULAR MEETING PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR APRIL 25. 2016 Linda Wolfson, 809 Park Ave. South Bend, spoke about the two bills that are no longer being considered regarding the increased South Bend's code violation fees by 11.5%. The bills were withdrawn before they could be thoroughly discussed and acted upon by Council members. At the Community Forum for Economic Justice they have repeatedly heard resident's questions and comments about the policies and practices of the Department of Code Enforcement. One concern is a perception of inequity, especially with regard to residents of the West Side. On the one hand, residents are concerned that Code Enforcement ignores violations that should be addressed. On the other hand, we also are being told of examples where Code Enforcement unfairly targets some homeowners with excessive violations and fines that are far beyond the ability of the homeowners to pay. Since many of the neighborhoods affected are low income and or communities of color, there is a concern that Code Enforcements policies are discriminatory and inequitable. If inequity exists, increasing fees will only magnify that inequity. She shared some of their concerns at the Health and Public Safety Committee Meeting on January 19th, the day that the bills first were on the Council agenda. Councilman Voorde asked us to prepare a list of written questions and the issue was tabled. We provided that list the following week. Additional questions were submitted by individual council members and by at least one local developer. These questions were to be discussed at the new committee meeting on February 8th. However, that discussion was postponed at the request of Mr. Wilkerson, Code Director. A special committee meeting to discuss the bills was finally scheduled for April 6th. The Council's small meeting room was filled. However, no one from the Department of Code Enforcement was in attendance. An email, received by Mr. Voorde that afternoon, informed him that both bills would be withdrawn. It is not my intent to repeat the testimony of the many community members who testified at the meeting, since five (5) Councilmembers were present and minutes were taken. Also, there are additional community members here today to share their personal interactions with Code with regard to illegal dumping, excessive code fees, and the deterioration of their neighborhood quality of life. We are concerned that the questions submitted to the Director of Code Enforcement were never answered. We are especially concerned about the consequences that would occur if inequities in Code Enforcement are documented. We ask your assistance, as our elected representatives, to initiate a public investigation of the policies and practices of South Bend's Code Enforcement. Ms. Wolfson submitted her typed comments to the City Clerk's Office to be added to the public record. Johnathan Anderstrom, 526 W. Western Ave, a recent article in the South Bend Tribune announced a potential charter school that may come to the downtown area. Mr. Anderstrom is the chair of the board for the proposed school. People either love charter schools or they hate them. Mr. Anderstrom stated he is not against traditional public schools and does not believe that the teachers are to blame. In addition to his wife being a first grade public school teacher, he has worked hard to connect students to after school tutoring programs from his center and partner with SBCSC. Unfortunately many issues plaguing our school system are bigger than what our city can handle alone. Many issues are the direct results of federal or state mandates for public schools. Every charter school is different than the next. We have chosen a supporting organization, Team CFA, which will not control the legislative body of the school as an educational management organization but rather as a non - profit organization. Additionally they have chosen to go through the most stringent charter school authorizer in the state of Indiana. They have submitted their application about a month ago and are in the public hearing portion of the process. They have held public meetings, door to door community surveys, provided the community with an online survey and a public forum is scheduled next Monday May 2nd at 5:30 p.m. at the St. Joseph County Public Library opened to all. Mr. Anderstrom also provided information on the school to be on file in the Clerk's Office. Samuel Brown, 222 E. Navare St., informed the Council they will soon get a letter from him concerning the Martin Luther King Street. This is a historical event and we need to recognize that. He stated he has some issues with Code Enforcement that he will talk about on a later date. He believes in 2017 a woman will be president of this country. Jason Banicki Critchlow, 3822 West Ford St. South Bend, stated he was embarrassed by the process tonight. Usually when we see people speaking for an initiative by the Mayor, they ►:Ti7