According to Cincinnati city manager Milton Dohoney Jr., the City's code enforcement inspectors are being hit with 53 new cases a month, but were only able to abate half of their cases in 2007.

Dohoney's report to City Council was in response to a letter written by Madisonville Community Council president Robert Mendlein to Dohoney, council, and Mayor Mark Mallory stating that the consensus in his neighborhood was that the City's property and building code enforcement program doesn't meet the neighborhood's needs.

Mendlein questioned if these repeated calls, inspections, and cash layouts are the best use of the City's dollars and manpower, adding that there was stark evidence that "the current enforcement program provides insufficient motivation to comply with property, building, and quality of life ordinances".

Though the City's Property Maintenance Code Enforcement Division currently has 21 inspectors, only 19 perform regular code enforcement activities in the field.

Annually, each inspector is assigned an average of 637 cases.

"Each available field inspector handling 637 new cases each year, or 53 new cases per month, results in a backlog that tends to increase each year," Dohoney wrote in the report. "In addition...each time a property is sold, it is necessary to re-issue the orders and prosecute a new owner."

He estimates that the number of hours required by inspectors to maintain their caseloads is approximately 31 percent more time than each inspector has to devote to enforcement.

"Compliance is more difficult in times of depressed economy and housing market," Dohoney wrote.

Dohoney says that 273 cases were filed in Housing Court last year, a massive increase in an already strained system.

"This number of filings is nearly double the annual average for the last 10 years," Dohoney wrote.

Additionally, 254 civil fines were levied, resulting in the collection of $48,000. (Through the first quarter of 2008, $32,000 in civil fines has been collected.)

And $243,000 was collected through Vacant Building Maintenance License fees, 90 buildings were demolished, and 487 open and vacant buildings were barricaded.


EZ-trak not so EZ

Mendlein also said that his neighborhood's ability to track enforcement cases is extremely limited by the EZ-trak system, which only gives sporadic summary information, and he asked the City to perform an annual statistical analysis of its code enforcement database that would be available to the public.

Dohoney addressed some of Mendlein's questions in his report:

* Only 59 percent of code enforcement cases in 2007 were found to have merit, leading to the issuance of orders.
* The average number of working days between the receipt of a complaint and a field inspection was nine days.
* The average number of working days between a field inspection and the issuance of orders was five days.
* The overall average time allowed in "order to comply" letters is 45 days, though 30 days is more typical.
* The average number of days between a compliance due date and the next enforcement action is 51 days.

Dohoney did not address the establishment of a better database.


How the enforcement process works

In his report, Dohoney breaks down the code enforcement process.

"The enforcement process is designed to safeguard the citizens' right to due process and the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure while moving cases toward voluntary compliance or through enforcement," he wrote. "However, there are provisions for immediate action when necessary to protect the public health."

Dohoney says that a typical case begins with the case being assigned to an inspector, who contacts the owner to make an appointment to inspect the property.

If the inspector finds code violations, a notice is issued to the owner specifying a reasonable period to achieve compliance, usually 30 days.

If the owner does not acknowledge the receipt of the notice, the inspector posts a copy on the property.

Once the compliance period expires, the property is re-inspected.

If the owner has failed to comply with the orders, or has made no effort to do so, a pre-prosecution hearing is scheduled.

"A pre-prosecution hearing is a 'show cause hearing' at which the owner meets with the inspector and supervisor to show cause why the City should not prosecute the owner," Dohoney wrote.

At the hearing, an extension may be granted, or, if the owner cannot show cause or fails to attend the hearing, the case is prepared for prosecution.

Dohoney says that, in cases of serious risk to public safety or willful disregard for violations, the case can be referred to the City Prosecutor for consideration of criminal charges - on average, this is 96 days from compliance due date.

First-time criminal offenders in Housing Court are typically placed on probation, fined, and/or entered into a diversion or compliance program.

If a criminal case is not filed, the area supervisor reviews the case and can file a civil citation.

The case's inspector is required to attend all criminal cases, and, at the owner's request, must attend any civil cases where fines may be levied.

Previous reading on BC:
Code enforcement seen as ineffective by Madisonville (4/10/08)