Code enforcement staff inundated
There’s ‘more work than the current staff can address,’ manager tells supes
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors discussed and approved Code Enforcement’s annual report during the board’s regular meeting on Tuesday. The board’s hour-long discussion focused on enforcement priorities and operations, particularly when it comes to junked vehicles and cannabis cultivation.
When the code enforcement was transferred to the Planning and Building Department in 2017, Code Enforcement Unit manager Karen Meynell said supervisors directed staff to actively pursue illegal cannabis cultivation and junk vehicles on private property.
The unit is separated into two teams — one that deals with cannabis cultivation using satellite images to survey sites where illegal cultivation may be occurring and another team that deals with traditional code enforcement. The cannabis-focused team has one investigator and three code compliance officers whereas the traditional team has two investigators and two code compliance officers. The traditional team investigates citizen complaints of public nuisance and code violations, such as junk vehicles.
The traditional team currently has 700 open cases, 450 of which are still on assignment. Meynell said a full-time workload consists of approximately 40 cases but some code enforcement staff have been assigned more than 75 cases.
“There’s clearly more work than the current staff can address and there continue to be more cases open each month,” Meynell said. “… As it is, we are constantly getting pulled off one case to work on another and that is the worst
possible way to manage these cases. The most effective way to be successful in managing these cases and gaining compliance is to apply consistent pressure on the property owner.”
If staff gets pulled to another case and more than two months go by without checking in, Meynell said they lose momentum on the case and “we have demonstrated to the property owner that our timelines are meaningless.”
According to the staff report, the county collected $983,749 in compliance agreement and unauthorized cultivation penalties last year with assessments in the amount of $10.9 million.
Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell asked for clarification on whether or not the code enforcement unit actively enforces vehicle abatement or if it is primarily complaint-driven.
Meynell said the process is primarily complaintdriven but said staff will actively pursue abatement with or without a complaint.
“If our staff sees junk vehicle … that doesn’t have four tires or something then we will actively enforce those with or without a complaint,” Meynell said, adding that staff can only do that on private property. “… If it’s parked in the right of way in front of somebody’s house or out at the beach those become really problematic because the jurisdictional boundaries there get a little muddy. If it’s not on private property, then it could be one of three agencies, CHP or the sheriff’s office or public works that would need to get involved.”
“You have to realize up until a few years ago, everything was complaintdriven, they didn’t go out and look for anything or they drove right by it,” said 1st District Supervisor Rex Bohn. “And then we said, ‘Are you serious? You drive by things (and) you can’t do anything?’ and so we reenacted that so you guys can act. I think that was so important.”
During public comment, an anonymous Phillipsville resident called the unit’s 2020 report “delusional.”
“You guys are really giving yourself good grades,” the speaker said. “I really wish you could spend more time and have boots and go and get a reality picture, not a satellite view because that’s not reality. … It’s really sad, I’m really hoping we can get help down here.”
Humboldt County Planning and Building Director John Ford noted that “nobody’s happy” with code enforcement’s timeframe as the person being enforced against often feels the process is too fast while neighbors feel the process takes too long.
“I do want to respond to the last speaker (who) mentioned Philipsville. I don’t want to say too much because it’s code enforcement, but there are things that we’re aware of that we definitely have prioritized that we’re definitely working towards,” Ford said. “…There is a concentration in Southern Humboldt that we are definitely looking at.”
Supervisors unanimously approved staff’s annual report in a 4-0 vote. Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson was absent.