To: Coalition for Effective Code Enforcement
From: Minch Lewis
Date: August 22, 2001
As requested, I am submitting my written responses for the mayoral forum:
1. Number of Housing Inspectors–sufficient?
The number of housing inspectors required is determined by the City’s housing strategy. Some strategies require more inspectors than others. When Code Enforcement is the primary vehicle for assuring housing quality, 13 housing inspectors would not be sufficient. This is obvious for Syracuse, since there is a significant backlog of inspections.
2. Housing Court legal support–how much?
Cases that cannot be resolved by agreement of the parties wind up in housing court. At this point, public policy has failed. Tenants are not being afforded adequate living conditions and property owners are being discouraged from additional investment. I would create a City Rental Property Association to provide a forum for the development of action plans in each neighborhood to prevent housing cases from winding up in court. However, when constructive efforts fail to resolve housing issues, I would assign whatever number of attorneys needed to pursue court cases efficiently.
3. Collection of Housing Court Fines–how aggressive?
The goal of the code enforcement program is compliance, not revenue. I am proposing a Property Management Task Force that would take title to abandoned property and work with landlords who are not maintaining their property. When fines are levied, I would use the resources of the City to make sure they are collected.
4. Housing Court Cases–are enough going to court?
If the measure is the condition of our housing stock, the City’s Law Department is not bringing a sufficient number of cases to court each week. But the question is, "If they doubled the number, would the condition of the housing stock improve." The deterioration of the housing stock is due to disinvestments. Investment is driven by demand. My financial plan, called "Serious Solutions for Serious Problems," will provide tax credits along with targeted neighborhood improvements to increase demand. Long-term improvements in the system are dependent on creating preventive programs at the neighborhood level.
5. Access to records–free?
Better than free, I would provide online access to real-time data.