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REGULAR MEETING JUNE 22, 2015 <br />set in place certain guidelines and outline our expectation not only from our citizens but from our <br />administration to those who have a responsibility as well. <br />Councilmember Dr. Fred Ferlic —Thank you to the Council for considering this. As we <br />mentioned before people live in a city based on three things crime, schools, and quality of life <br />issues. I think this is a quality of life issue. South Bend has a chance to grow, and receive tax <br />property dollars and will do so with this type of ordinance. I know there were some concerns <br />about the fines and amounts, with regards to the handicap and elderly. The sponsors agree that <br />responsibility for those individuals falls upon the community, their family, their friends, the <br />church, non - profits, and the councilman to help out those particularly people in that area. So I <br />appreciate your consideration to this, as I think this is the most important piece of legislation that <br />has come up within my three (3) years on Council. <br />Councilmember Henry Davis, Jr. — My first question is are we able to enforce this, do we have <br />the manpower, and what it takes to enforce? Council President Scott responded I believe we do. <br />As there has been changes within the Code Enforcement department as well as City Legal <br />Department. They are changing their standard operation procedures in documenting the <br />violations, as well as passing the information along to city administration and legal to resolve <br />these issues. Councilmember Dr. Fred Ferlic stated the city is contracted with a collection <br />agency; a legal firm in the city. I am certain those firms do their work. Before the city never did <br />this, now that it is privatized and contracted out, you see great results. Councilmember Davis <br />responded the reason why I challenge you is because this morning I talked to a few Code <br />Enforcement workers and asked why everything west of a certain street, hasn't been cut or <br />maintained? The resounding response was that the technology was not pushing the information <br />over to the Parks Department. The other conversation was that they have new workers in Code <br />Enforcement, who are not up to speed as to what needs to be done. There has continuously been <br />a huge turn -over rate over the last few years. I just have issues with the level of enforcement, will <br />we be able to enforce this? You mentioned before about the continuous enforcement list, how <br />large is that list? Council President Scott responded I believe it is around 800 people. <br />Councilmember Davis stated that continuous enforcement list has not been up to date, that is an <br />enforcement issue, which is a problem that I have. Last year the City gave the administration <br />$12.1 million, I'm not sure how much went to grass cutting or grass cutting crews but what I am <br />going to say it doesn't appear to be because of the lack of code enforcement. Those are my <br />concerns, I'm not saying this is a bad piece of legislation. My concern is how do, we get from <br />something that is out of whack to the level of enforcement that we need to see; to begin to see a <br />turnaround or a change. That's why I ask are we able to enforce this. How can we expect to see <br />this enforced as this is a quality of life issue versus all the other ones that are not being enforced. <br />Council President Scott replied, I agree with you. I'm not going to switch gears, but I am. Our <br />role is to be able to set the table, to be able to give Code Enforcement and City Legal Department <br />the proper tools that we see fit that they need to do their job. It is our responsibility to hold them <br />accountable, we are setting the table in order for them to do so. If we get this passed, we can do <br />a review six (6) months down the road and next year as well, to make sure they're doing their <br />part. What I don't want to do is, since some don't have the faith in the City Administration, <br />think that we are not going to set the bar high to where it needs to be. I hope that helps. <br />Councilmember Davis stated it does not. I don't want to seem like I'm against you, I'm not. I <br />am completely unhappy with the lawns in certain areas that have been or have not been <br />maintained. The issue that I keep coming up to is if we charge more money we are going to get <br />more enforcement? Where do we get that logic from? Council President Scott responded you <br />are right we have a capacity issue and this is only one part of the solution, the other part is the <br />capacity issue. There is a $175,000 budget for code to pay the Parks Department to cut grass and <br />is not open to anyone else as they're at capacity. The Parks Department only has a limited <br />number of people to go cut grass, they're just not able to get to everything five (5) times a year. <br />This is a two -step process to get continuous enforcement for those on to get them off, and to <br />clean up and simplify the ordinance. The resolution issue is a whole other conversation. <br />Councilmember Davis replied it is not, as now you are talking about management practices <br />which is not our job, our job is to approve the budget based on a plan that is delivered by the <br />Mayor and the Mayor's Department Heads. Then we get in conversations as to the things that <br />aren't getting done. Then we talk about what should be done, when it should be done, and how it <br />should be done when we already paid the Department Heads to do that exact job. Now you are <br />here, the three of you, and thank you again as it is a quality of life issue, as it needs to be done. <br />M <br />