Ocoee board member quits amid code disagreement

An Ocoee city board member abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday night amid a disagreement over a code-enforcement case against the mayor’s political rival.

Michael Hopper’s departure came after the code-enforcement board gave local businessman Jim Sills until August 2018 to clean up his downtown property. City staffers had recommended allowing only 30 days for removing equipment and spools of fiber-optic cable from the Taylor Street site.

Hopper was on the losing side of the 3-2 vote to grant Sills the additional time.

Mayor Rusty Johnson, who defeated Sills in a citywide election last year, later took issue with the board’s decision. He argued it sets a bad precedent for future enforcement cases.

“I do think it’s an excessive amount of time,” Johnson said of the roughly 22-month grace period.

However, the offending property has been used as an outdoor storage site for more than three decades without a peep from the city, Sills said. He suspects political ill will explains why he was smacked with a violation notice in July.

At one time, he and Johnson were friends — they even went on camping trips together, Sills said. But the relationship soured during the city campaigns, he said.

“He’s the type of person that holds a grudge,” Sills said of the mayor.

Johnson said he had nothing to do with the case against Sills, which was part of a broader effort to spruce up the city.

As part of this renewed focus on revitalizing the downtown area, code enforcement notices were issued for six properties including the one owned by Sills.

He said he is renting the site to a communications company and argued that code enforcers should let equipment remain on the lot until the lease expires in August 2018. brodgers@tribpub.com