Cleveland leaders want codes enforced
CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Members of the Cleveland City Council would like to see improved enforcement of city codes pertaining to trash, junk and a host of other issues related to property maintenance.
Enforcement is currently limited to two codes officers who are “overworked, underpaid and undermanned,” said Councilman Richard Banks. “We have codes on the books that have never had enforcement.”
On Monday, the City Council voted 7-0 to authorize the formation of a committee to “study and investigate” ordinances concerning codes enforcement. Committee members are Vice Mayor George Poe, Banks, Cleveland Financial Director Shawn McKay, and codes enforcement officers Joel Prince and Chris Caywood.
A key issue for Banks is that no other members of the police department currently play a role in enforcing Cleveland’s 26 code ordinances.
“For whatever reason, whether it’s management, the police department or whatever, city police officers don’t enforce those 26 areas,” said Banks, who stated that 65 percent of residential concerns reported to the City Council involved codes enforcement.
A city of Cleveland’s size ought to have six codes enforcement officers, said Banks.
Cleveland currently only budgets for one codes officer, while a second is funded through a Community Development Block Grant, said City Manager Janice Casteel.
A solution may call for reallocating money to accomplish better codes enforcement, said Banks.
The current comprehensive review of the Cleveland Police Department’s polices, procedures and organization by consultant Larry Wallace, a former director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, may play a role in the addressing the codes situation, Banks said.
Improved codes enforcement could be found in the “redefining, repurposing and reshaping of the police department,” he said, also suggesting the possibility that the Public Works Department could take on the task.
In related business, Cleveland officials discussed the possible adoption of PublicStuff, an online tool that would completely change how residents report their concerns and requests for services to the city.
The application, which can be downloaded to smartphones and embedded on the city’s website, would improve the time it takes to resolve issues such as fallen limbs in the public right-of-way or codes issues, McCay said, citing incident-specific drop-down menus.
It takes “about five touches of your phone” and is routed to the proper department for handling, he said.
The smartphone application offers the ability to attach digital photos to requests for service.
Another advantage of the online tool, said McKay, is that it provides the ability for the city to push notifications of events or other information to subscribers.
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.