Amen

I just saw this comment on the SeminoleHeightsBlog:

My first position after law school was as an assistant state’s attorney where my entire training revolved around criminal law enforcement. When I left the State’s Attorney’s office, I began prosecuting municipal ordinances which included building codes. At first I just saw them as minor cases to process but after awhile I began to see the connection between enforcing building codes and keeping crime rates low, especially in apartment complexes. Fixing lights in a parking lot reduced drug dealing on a premises better than a team of police officers. Forcing landlords to spend money on repairs made them more motivated to crack down on tenants who were trashing a building. Over the years I’ve noticed a strong correlation between vigorous code enforcement and a reduction in police calls. Just getting junk vehicles towed from a parking lot makes the tenants happier with their surroundings. Unfortunately, sometimes those in leadership in law enforcement fail to see the connection and are reluctant to spend resources assisting building code departments. This is shortsighted. The code enforcement department can be a great resource for the police department and vice versa. Police personnel get into residences all of the time on police calls and can be the eyes of the code department. Code enforcement inspectors who are properly trained may see things inside a building that may be beneficial for the police department. The local jurisdictions that recognize this relationship are the ones most successful in reducing crime in a neighborhood. Now there is even scientific evidence for the “broken windows” theory, conducted by a university in the Netherlands. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27825380/from/ET/#story  Continued Blighted conditions have an effect on the behavior of the people in those communities. Code enforcement is an integral component of any effort to control and contain crime.

Somebody should tell Jake Slater.

Mirabile Dictu

Carolyn here.

In September I was getting ready to leave for work about 8 AM on a Saturday when I noticed several cars parking in front of 6003. About eight youngish men got out, about half wearing similar T shirts. There was a middle aged man who seemed to be in charge, so I walked up to him and asked what was going on. He told me they all belonged to a volunteer group and that they were going to haul all the multitudinous piles of trash out of the yard at 6003 and mow the lawn. I told him I would be home by 1:30 PM and was looking forward to seeing the progress. He laughed and said they would be done by noon.

When I came home there was a ten foot long pile of trash by the street and the lawn had been mowed. I expected to be looking at that pile for months but was delighted when the city truck came by and picked the entire thing up!

A few days later I managed to get James by himself. I told him he either used my pressure washer to clean the green and black scum off his house and shed or I would do it without his permission. I figured trespass to pressure wash would not land me in jail. He said he would. I next told him that I wanted him to pick two colors for his house and a neighbor would come over on Sunday and paint his house. I told him I was buying the paint and that I did not want his house (his excuse when we had tried to buy him paint before). He agreed! I had paint samples which I promptly took over to him. He picked gray for the house with white trim. True to his word, he cleaned the house the next day. I bought the paint for about $300.00 and our neighbor Brian painted the house the next Sunday. Steve and Kate, my neighbors on the corner, insisted in paying for half the paint. I gave that to Brian who had given up his one day with his kids to remove that eyesore for me.

Before and after:

The next week James began to trim out the house and shed. He still had the filthy, once-white, interior door with the large hole in it facing the street. I told him to get in his truck and we went out to Habitat and I bought him a metal exterior door. He hung it when we got back. He wanted to paint the door white and I told him not to use something like a burgundy. Was willing to go buy paint but he found some in his tool shed.

I have been over in his yard several times to spray weeds and pick up beer bottles and cigarette packs. He has mowed the front and the back twice. The south section is past my knees but I am ignoring it.

He has not finished painting the trim on the north or east windows and has made no repairs. The fence continues to lean and yaw. He props it up with miscellaneous pieces of wood and rock.

There are only three dogs now-one of them a pit-bull. They are keeping him contained.

I don't know what produced this change of heart but I will enjoy it while it lasts.  For sure, no thanks to Code NonEnforcement.

Respite

John here.

Saturday a group of volunteers(?) showed up and accomplished in a couple of hours what Jake Slater has been (certainly) unwilling and (probably) unable to require in five years:

The toilet and tire are moved to the curb, as are the various piles of trash.  They also mowed the lawn.  If one overlooks the spreading green mold and the flaking paint, 6003 looks almost decent. 

Time will tell whether this has abated  the trash problem or merely moved it out to the street.

Perhaps to remind us what we're dealing with here, Jessica noticed Kate at 6001 painting some furniture in her carport and unleashed a string of F-words at her.  We can report that Jessica is positively inept, compared to her predecessor Judy, whose F-word farragos were audible for blocks.  The range of Jessica's aural assault is measured in mere yards and her compositional range does not extend past the word itself.  Doubtless we'll see whether she can improve with practice.

Aside from the (lack of) paint and the surplus of auditory stimuli, the remaining concerns at 6003 look to center upon the six dogs (in violation of the zoning (see definition of "kennel")), two of whom appear to be pit bulls.  Stay tuned. . .

Further Petition to Governor Scott

Your Excellency:

In my Petition of September 11, 2011, I asked you to suspend from office the Tampa Director of Code Enforcement, Jake Slater.  I showed that his failure to perform his duties surely amounts to neglect of duty and I further mentioned that informal information from his subordinates implies that his failure to act is deliberate and, thus, misfeasance and malfeasance.

I now have an email from Mr. Slater admitting that, despite a five-year history of Code violations at 6003 N. Otis that include some seventeen instances of accumulations of trash and garbage, he is refusing to enforce the requirements as to accumulations, albeit the owner of the property now has created new piles of trash and has the ability to remove that trash.  In short, Mr. Slater has admitted that he is deliberately not performing his duties.  That is, he admits to misfeasance and malfeasance.

I renew my request that you suspend Mr. Slater.

Carolyn A. Butcher
6005 N. Otis Ave.
Tampa, Florida

The Smoking Email

John here.

Carolyn obtained some help regarding the sewage on the ground at 6003 from Bernadine King in Commissioner Miller's office.   In the face of the ongoing refusal of the Code nonEnforcement to do its job, she turned again to Ms. King.  The ever helpful Ms. King provoked Jake Slater of Code to admit what long has been obvious: He's refusing to do his job.

From: Jake Slater [mailto:Jake.Slater@ci.tampa.fl.us]
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 12:57 PM
To: King, Bernadine
Subject: Follow Up on Code Enforcement Issue

 Good Morning Ms. King:

 Chief of Staff, Santiago Corrada, wanted me to follow up with you on the e-mail sent to the attention of Commissioner Miller, concerning the Code Enforcement issue at 6003 N Otis Ave.

The City of Tampa Department of Code Enforcement and other Departments in the City have been working with the property owner to come into compliance with various property maintenance issues. Code Enforcement in the City handles over 28,000 cases per calender year and works diligently with  property owners to allow adequate time to correct the situation before proceeding with punitive enforcement action.

This particular situation on N Otis Ave presents the situation of the home owner not have the resources or physical abilities to move quickly in correcting the problems.

Code Enforcement arranged to have the plumbing problems fixed and have coordinated with  a volunteer organization to work on repairing and cleaning this property on September 24th. Hopefully this event will be successful in complying those pending violations and providing a valuable service in improving the overall conditions of this neighborhood.

I'll be more than happy to answer any questions that Commissioner Miller may have on the history of Code Enforcement involvement at this property.

Regards:

Jake Slater
Director Code Enforcement
Business Tax/Community Affairs
102 E. 7th Ave,Tampa 33602
Office #- (813)-274-8380
Cell #- (813)-690-4039

So, at last we have the admission: Despite a history of violations that runs back over five years, Code nonEnforcement is unwilling to compel the owner, James Alverson, to obey the laws they enforce against the citizens who actually pay their taxes.  This raises several interesting questions:

•  Alverson has the "resources and physical abilities" to create piles of trash (that include a toilet, a tire, and open containers to breed mosquitoes); why then is he not to be required to get rid of that same trash?

(click to expand)

• Why is Code so feckless that Alverson continues to pile up trash, despite being first warned for the violation on March 30, 2009 and written up for the same violation sixteen times since then?
• Code nonEnforcement first cited the paint on Alverson's eyesore on March 22, 2006.  Alverson several times refused offers from the neighbors to help paint the structure.  Why must the neighbors still look at this, over five years later:

• Does Slater's ongoing refusal to do his job as to Alverson, while continuing to enforce the Building Code against other citizens, deprive my Sister Carolyn of her right to equal protection of the laws?
• How does a lack of "resources or physical abilities to move quickly" excuse a history of violations that extends over five years? 
• Why does Tampa take tax money from my Sister and other law-abiding citizens and use it to pay the salary of Jake Slater who is refusing to do his job?

Petition to Gov. Scott

 

TO:            The Honorable Rick Scott

                 Governor of Florida

                 The Capitol

 400 S. Monroe St.

 Tallahassee, Florida  32399-0001

FROM:        Carolyn A. Butcher

                 6005 North Otis

                 Tampa, Florida

 

Your Excellency:

I write to request that you suspend Jake Slater, Director of the Code Enforcement and Business Tax Department of the City of Tampa for malfeasance, misfeasance, and neglect of duty.

Code Enforcement first wrote up the owner of 6003 N. Otis in Tampa, James Alverson, for "Accumulations" (of trash) on March 30, 2009.  More recently they wrote him (the fifteenth time) for the same violation on July 5.  On July 26, they marked the "Accumulations" "complied;" the same day they sent him a 2d Notice (sixteenth writing) for the "Accumulations."  On August 15th they sent yet another 2d Notice (seventeenth writing).

Today, we still have those "Accumulations."

(The toilet and tire are particularly attractive.  As are the open containers that are breeding mosquitoes.)

Then we have some new accumulations.

Code first wrote Alverson for "Soundness" (in this case, paint and minor structural repairs) on September 22, 2009.  More recently they wrote him (for the seventh time) on July 5 and sent 2d Notices on July 26 (number eight) and August 15 (nine).  In contrast to some of the earlier accumulations, Alverson has corrected none of the “Soundness” violations.  As of September 9, the "Action File Recap" at the City's kiosk showed that they extended the deadline to "have time to get this homeowner into the diversionary program."  There is no notation as to why they did not do this two years ago.  For sure, the place remains an eyesore.

I would point out in passing that Code wrote Alverson this year for raw sewage on the ground on Feb 16 and April 18.  They did not bother to write the July sewage incident that brought out the Environmental Protection Commission, which got the sewage cleaned up and the plumbing fixed in less than a week.  That effective behavior poses a nice contrast to Code Enforcement, which has spent over two years preserving the nuisance at 6003.

Here is the pivot table by violation from my summary of the Action File Recap that goes back to March 22, 2006:

The entire summary is attached as Exhibit A.

Mr. Slater’s ongoing failure to do his job leaves the neighbors subject to this persistent assault upon their health and property values.  That failure certainly amounts to neglect of duty.  In light of comments from Mr. Slater’s underlings, I infer that the failure to remedy this nuisance is deliberate, and thus amounts to misfeasance and malfeasance. 

Governor, please suspend Mr. Slater from office and let us see whether his replacement can actually do the job Mr. Slater now is not doing.

Exhibit A

Completed	Violation	Action	Complied	Comments
3/22/2006	Accessory Building		4/13/2006
3/22/2006	Accessory Building		4/13/2006
3/22/2006	Structure		4/13/2006	Rusted roof; paint & mildew
3/30/2009	Accumulations		4/13/2009	junk, trash, debris
5/13/2009	Pool		5/14/2009	Unfenced
5/13/2009	Pool		5/14/2009	<5' from fence
6/19/2009	Accumulations	notice + civil citation warning letter	7/1/2009	apliances (sic), wood, junk, trash, debris
7/8/2009	Accumulations	Notice	7/16/2009	Junk,trash, debris (furniture)
7/8/2009	Overgrowth	Notice	7/16/2009
9/22/2009	Accessory Building	Initial Notice		Only one accessory structure allowed
9/22/2009	Accumulations	Civil Warning by Cert. Mail		fencing material, toilet, junk, trash, debris
9/22/2009	Sound w minor repairs	Initial Notice		Permit required
9/22/2009	Zoning	Initial Notice
10/6/2009	Accessory Building	Second Notice
10/6/2009	Sound w minor repairs	Second Notice
10/6/2009	Zoning	Second Notice
10/14/2009	Accumulations	Civil Citation	11/3/2009
11/2/2009	Accessory Building	Going to Hearing
11/2/2009	Sound w minor repairs	Going to Hearing
11/2/2009	Zoning	Going to Hearing
11/3/2009	Accessory Building	Field Visit
11/3/2009	Sound w minor repairs	Field Visit
11/3/2009	Zoning	Field Visit
11/6/2009	Accessory Building	Field Visit		Attempted hand delivery; not home
11/6/2009	Sound w minor repairs	Field Visit		Attempted hand delivery; not home
11/6/2009	Zoning	Field Visit		Attempted hand delivery; not home
11/19/2009	Accessory Building	Hand Delivery
11/19/2009	Sound w minor repairs	Hand Delivery	3/5/2010
11/19/2009	Zoning	Hand Delivery
12/28/2009	Accumulations		1/7/2010	Reclining chair in R/W
3/5/2010	Accessory Building	Field Visit		On Paint Your Heart Out list
3/5/2010	Zoning	Field Visit		Still needs to remove one building
3/22/2010	Accumulations	Initial Notice		two chairs behind shed
3/30/2010	Accessory Building	Field Visit
3/30/2010	Zoning	Field Visit
4/5/2010	Accumulations	Second Notice
4/26/2010	Accumulations	Going to Hearing	7/12/2010
5/10/2010	Accessory Building	Second Notice
5/10/2010	Zoning	Second Notice
5/12/2010	Accessory Building	Second Notice
5/12/2010	Zoning	Second Notice
8/26/2010	Accessory Building	Posted/Property
8/26/2010	Zoning	Posted/Property
9/7/2010	Accessory Building	Going to Hearing	9/22/2010
9/7/2010	Zoning	Going to Hearing	9/22/2010
11/16/2010	Accumulations	Civil Warning by Cert. Mail	11/18/2010	Several full trash bags in front yard
12/10/2010	Accumulations	Civil Warning by Cert. Mail	1/3/2011	Debris on R/W and behind shed
1/20/2011	Accumulations	Civil Warning by Cert. Mail	1/24/2011	Washer in front yard and speakers in R/W
2/16/2011	Public Nuisance	Initial Notice	2/22/2011	Sewage
3/8/2011	Accumulations	Civil Warning by Cert. Mail	3/23/2011	Toilet & Misc. junk in yard
4/18/2011	Accumulations	Civil Warning by Cert. Mail	5/16/2011
4/18/2011	Overgrowth	Civil Warning by Cert. Mail	5/16/2011
4/18/2011	Public Nuisance	Civil Warning by Cert. Mail	5/16/2011	Raw sewage on ground
4/18/2011	Structure	Initial Notice		damaged & rotten wood
4/18/2011	Structure	Initial Notice		paint; hole in door
5/2/2011	Structure	Second Notice
5/2/2011	Structure	Second Notice
5/23/2011	Structure	Field Visit	6/28/2011
5/23/2011	Structure	Field Visit	6/28/2011
7/5/2011	Accumulations	Civil Warning by Cert. Mail	7/26/2011
7/5/2011	Overgrowth	Civil Warning by Cert. Mail	7/26/2011
7/5/2011	Sound w minor repairs	Civil Warning by Cert. Mail		Paint
7/26/2011	Accumulations	Second Notice
7/26/2011	Sound w minor repairs	Second Notice
8/15/2011	Accumulations	Second Notice
8/15/2011	Sound w minor repairs	Second Notice