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John La Torra, Manager Building and Inspection and Steven Solario, Code Enforcement Officer (a new hire of nine months) presented the report (presentation on file). Mr. La Torra provided statistics on volunteers that have served the Code Enforcement for the last 20 years. He explained that currently he has 16 people who are getting trained to be part of the volunteer program. He explained that code enforcement can be a delicate matter akin to social engineering. Public Comment Dr. Steven Howard spoke about the smart corridor and how he gets messages in his cell phone about traffic accidents. He complimented Mr. Solario for the work he has done in the last nine months. He would like to see the volunteers getting into the businesses and not just having them monitor the situation. He made mention of the economic context and how staff and Council will have to be resourceful and get the community more involved. Council Discussion The health and safety aspects of code enforcement were discussed. Regarding the volunteer program one Council Member opined there should be a minimum time commitment. Mr. La Torra is hopeful that the volunteers will evolve to doing more administrative tasks. Council requested that staff be sensitive to the community. Council suggested that the volunteer program be advertised in the upcoming newsletter, as well as using the Chamber of Commerce and the various businesses. Council spoke about the delicate balance between policing and assisting the community in addressing certain situations. It was suggested that staff link those with infractions with other organizations that might be able to help and provide education. It was mentioned that maybe the sign ordinance should be revisited by Council. It was also suggested that Code Enforcement success stories or testimonials be used as a positive marketing tool. Vice Mayor Howard said that Mr. Solario is positive and gets the job done. She believes the job needs to be done consistently and fairly. Counter education was also mentioned as a great tool. The store front improvement fund was discussed and Mr. Ingram said that there is $100,000 in there and most of it has not been allocated. A follow-up will come to Council in the near future. Acting Community Development Director Chang said that the fund can be used but it is limited to the redevelopment area. Vice Mayor Howard would like to use these funds to educate small business owners on how to dress up their business facade. Janet Borgens, with the Friendly Acres Neighborhood, said various neighbors are willing to come together and assist a homeowner prior to making it a compliance issue. She suggested that other neighborhood associations take the same approach. Mayor Foust explained that this would be another item to be highlighted via the City's newsletter. She would like to work towards a code enforcement program that becomes self-fulfilling and eventually ceases to exist. Council thanked staff for its presentation. REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES NOVEMBER 10.2008 PAGE 7