Toellner Tells it

Proactive Codes Enforcement

 So last month, Kansas City, MO began its pilot program of proactively enforcing codes in several urban neighborhoods throughout the city.  For the past, oh, forever number of years, the codes department was only a reactive department. When someone complained about a house, they would drive out, take a few pictures, and then send a notice. Now, the city is starting with certain neighborhoods and going around to document codes violations to proactively enforce our city codes.

Let me start by saying I'm a big fan of the proactive enforcement. For the past several decades, many KC neighborhoods have been held hostage by a small number of property owners that have owned large numbers of slum properties.  These slum lords have continued to keep many neighborhoods, including my own, from developing to their full potential. I'm not talking little stuff here (which is what happens with old houses in old neighborhoods), we're talking major problems. Lawns overgrown with weeds. A yard with no fewer than 20 lawnmowers in it (which is odd, because if I left my lawnmower in my yard for a day it would get stolen). Broken windows. Doors falling off hinges. Collapsing porch overhangs.  And that's just the next block over.

So, I think that this is a good thing -- although they still have enforcement issues because it's not like we haven't called on these properties before. And it appears that in extreme cases, the city is out of money to actually solve for codes violators.

However, I will say I was a little irritated when I got my notice of violations in the mail. 

Let me come clean here for a second. I live in a 100 year old home. We recently had the asbestos siding removed from our house and are in the process of restoring the outside original woodwork to its once former niceness and will be repainting this fall. My house would be a bit of an eyesore in, say, Mission Hills, but honestly doesn't look all that bad -- especially when compared to many places in the neighborhood.  Under normal circumstances, I would have deserved the citations....except, WE"RE WORKING ON IT!!!!

Our block is protected by the Landmarks commission. So everything I do on the exterior of my house must be approved by the Landmarks folks.  If they were going to go through a historic neighborhood and do proactive codes enforcement, would it have been too difficult to actually run a check on the people who had work permits from the Landmark's commission and not bust them for doing improvements? In the huge list of problems, just in our neighborhood, me doing work on my house is not high on the list (nor my neighbors for that matter, who also got a letter even though they are replacing their siding).

Again, I'm supportive of the proactive enforcement. But a note to the city, if you have an option to check on whether someone has work permits or not, please check them before you harrass people who are doing home improvement jobs. It'd be pretty simple. And it would save you from annoying the people who are not the problems.

Over-reaching laws for personal vendettas

Last week, Jan Marcason and 8 other members of the city council sponsored a bill at the council level that would require any city volunteer to undergo hours of volunteer training and background checks for all city volunteers. 

The ordinance is actually geared toward one person, mayor Funkhouser's wife Gloria Squitiro. I don't know Gloria.  Never met her. I don't know enough information about the lawsuite over her alleged "insensitivity" is legit (although I've heard from several sources that it's not).  Regardless, it's become very clear that the majority of the council doesn't like her...it may or may not be founded. Personally, I don't really care.

My bigger problem with this whole mess is the council's clearly not-well-thought-out initiative to require all city volunteers to undergo extensive background checks and training sessions -- and that they cannot volunteer for a city group where they have a relative that works.

The council has already backed off some.  They clearly realized that the parks department relies heavily on volunteers to help keep our parks clean and maintained.  However, it's also very clear that they haven't considered other areas that rely on volunteers (or may at some point in the future).

Due to budget cuts, the city has actually considered shutting down our animal shelter. Many animal shelters across the country have been very successful in getting volunteers to help keep the shelter going who will work at no cost to the city. For many reasons the KCMO shelter doesn't use volunteers now (primarily because volunteers don't like working for the KCMO shelter that kills an average of 20 pets a day), but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be beneficial in the future to build a strong volunteer base.  This will be infinitely harder with this ordinance.

There are many other departments that would be affected.

It would now become virtually impossible for the city to organize volunteer groups to clean up city streets and sidewalks.

Places like the leaf and brush pick-ups would not be able to solicite additional volunteer support following major storms when the drop sites are much busier.

The KCATA may or may not rely on volunteers to hand out information to neighborhoods affected by changes in bus routes that might occur in light of building a multi-million dollar light rail system.

Any community centers that are not covered under the parks and rec department would not be able to have volunteer help.

It will become more difficult to get volunteers for any future city-run recycling programs, or to help people who want to take advantage of the city's paint program, that provides paint to people free of charge from a collection of partially used paint cans dropped off at city sites.

The list could get longer.

The reality is that the city SHOULD WANT to rely heavily on volunteer workers. It is a completely great way to bring down city costs, and to promote involvement from its citizens.

And the city council is willing to throw away these potential opportunities because they have a beef with one person who is the wife of the mayor and works in the mayor's office (for free).

More and more the city council reminds me a lot more of a group of 7th graders on their student council than a group that should be running the 2nd largest city in the state of Missouri.

Let's get over the petty disagreements and work out these issues like adults.  Let's not pass broad-sweeping laws that will prohibit volunteerism in the city and increase the need for taxes to pay for all of the work that needs to be done, and start acting like a real city run by adults.

Blogging hiatus is over

I've been really busy the last few weeks, so TTI went on Hiatus.  I'm coming back. More to come very soon...