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CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK
<br /> everything, and give you guys mad props for organizing something like that. We had Rebuilding
<br /> Together help with a widow who lived on the south side on Broadway Street. We work with the
<br /> Downtown South Bend liaison when we clean up after the homeless population. So, instead of just
<br /> removing people from the area, we also try to put people in touch with resources, alternative
<br /> housing, food, shelter, you name it. We work with Solid Waste to add trash cans to places where
<br /> we notice there is a lot of debris that is collected in the area. We also work with Adult Protective
<br /> Services, Child Protective Services, we connect people to the ND Law Clinic, and we're always
<br /> working to build that list of resources for individuals that we can disseminate as needed. We're
<br /> not perfect, but we're trying to work with the residents of South Bend.
<br /> Committee Chair Williams-Preston led a round of applause for Ms. Skibins. She stated, Part of
<br /> what I felt Tracy has been doing is making changes to a process that really has a long legacy of
<br /> focus on compliance.As a Council Member,what I've learned now is revenue generation,because
<br /> when we do those fines, we can bring in money. The more fines, the more money, because we
<br /> need money to continue to keep the City beautiful. I was on the Council when they asked for your
<br /> position, and questioned why they needed the position,but I did vote for that budget overall. I was
<br /> still skeptical as to why we'd pay another person to create more problems. But one (1) of the first
<br /> (1St) things she did was show up to the Code Enforcement hearings. So the department has moved
<br /> from a philosophy of revenue generation to a philosophy of service. I think that has a lot to do with
<br /> what we've done in terms of bringing Tracy in. She has also been much more responsive to
<br /> listening. It is not just her, it's also the inspectors and the whole department. Even before Randy
<br /> left,there was this shift in paradigm as to how we are going to move forward. This isn't about one
<br /> (1) person, this is something that is happening all over the country. It is just the process that,
<br /> normally,these types of departments take.We are challenging ourselves to do something different.
<br /> One (1) of the things that I love, we found one (1) retired gentleman in the Kennedy Park
<br /> Neighborhood Association,Harry Gatlin.Harry uses his truck and calls himself the Environmental
<br /> Specialist. The Code Inspector in that area connected with him and Sam Brown, so Harry is happy
<br /> to go out and help people mow their lawns and clear their bushes, so now instead of simply
<br /> assessing a fine to someone in that neighborhood, he calls the neighborhood association to let
<br /> Harry know that someone needs help. At one (1) of their meetings they talked about how many
<br /> people they've gone out with,as a crew of volunteers,to help. Maybe an elderly person or.a person
<br /> with disabilities, needs help to clean up their yard. If people do not have the capacity to clean up
<br /> their yards, that could lead to more fines and fees. So this is a service that is getting at our goal of
<br /> having a beautiful, safe, and clean neighborhood, but doing it in a different way that is not about
<br /> revenue generation, but about service.
<br /> Dr. Fox stated, One (1) of the other reasons this is important is that if you fine someone who is
<br /> poor, you aren't going to get the money anyway, and the City ends up spending a lot of money on
<br /> collections. So,it is counter-productive in that sense as well. I would say that they are not collecting
<br /> a lot of those fines. I,personally,work very closely with Code Enforcement on the other side with
<br /> homeowners, andone (1) of the real problems we have had is with the civil assessments. I have a
<br /> lot of people who were forced into foreclosure because of that. It shows up on your tax bill, and
<br /> mortgage companies do everything electronically. So the $5,000 civil assessment shows up on
<br /> your tax bill, mortgage company's computers says this person's property taxes have gone up
<br /> $5,000 this half of this year,that means their property taxes have gone up$10,000. That means we
<br /> have to add $1,000 per month to their mortgage payment for escrow. They only reevaluate that
<br /> once per year, so there are very few people who can afford to pay between $600 and $1,000 on
<br /> their mortgage for a year while the mortgage company cleans it up.Unfortunately,despite arguing
<br /> EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT
<br /> 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov
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