“They Busted Me” – Century’s New Code Enforcement Tickets The Town’s Mayor

March 19, 2009

mccallfront.jpgCentury Mayor Freddie McCall was one of the first to be ticketed by Escambia County Code Enforcement when they returned to Century on March 4.

McCall was cited for violations that included trash and debris, an inoperable vehicle, overgrowth and a dilapidated structure on property he owns on McCall Road.

Escambia County began code enforcement duties in Century on March 4 after an agreement was signed between the town and the county.  Sandra Slay, Escambia County’s code enforcement manager, said the code enforcement is “proactive”.  The code officers will not respond to citizen complaints within the Town of Century; rather, the officers will seek out violators no matter who they might be.

McCall said he was proud of the job done in just two days in Century; the officers are usually in town on Wednesdays.

“I have not received the first complaint,” McCall said. “All I’ve got is praise and glory.”

McCall provided a list of addresses where violators had been ticketed on March 4 and March 11. A McCall Road address was highlighted in yellow.

“The one that I highlighted was me,” the mayor said. “They busted me.”

McCall said he has spent about $550 to clean up his property to bring it into line with the town’s codes. He said he was glad that the county was being fair about their code enforcement actions.

Those actions that have been confined to the southern part of the town so far.

On their first sweep through Century on March 4, four code officers issued citations on 20 properties. The citations included inoperable vehicles, dilapidated structures, overgrowth and prohibited burning. Citations were issued on Century Boulevard, Upton Road, Hudson Hill Road, McCall Road, Ramar Street,  Jefferson Street, and Cumbie Road.

On their second day in town on March 11, three code officers issued citations on 13 properties on Hudson Hill Road, George Avenue, Highway 4, Sellers Road, Pond Street, and Church Street.  In addition to the types of citations issued the week before, code enforcement also issued citations for four unsafe structures.

Comments

12 Responses to ““They Busted Me” – Century’s New Code Enforcement Tickets The Town’s Mayor”

  1. passing through on March 22nd, 2009 9:00 am

    TSK! TSK! TSK!

  2. FYI citizen on March 20th, 2009 2:00 pm

    HINT: Escambia County Code Enforcement should consider doing a “areial fly over” in the future to look at hidden properties.
    I’m sure they would be surprised as to what they will find that is contaminating the land, which could also possibly be seaping into the ground water we drink!

  3. century girl on March 20th, 2009 9:00 am

    Code enforcement needs to ride down Front Street..there are some long overdue citations being issued but it seems that there are some much more needed ones that should be issued first before the petty stuff.Get the major citations done first then spend time on the smaller violations.

  4. Former Century Resident on March 19th, 2009 5:41 pm

    It’s about time something was done on Hudson Hill. Those places have gotten worse and worse in recent years.

    Glad to see that Code Enforcement is finally getting it together up there.

  5. W.R. on March 19th, 2009 3:18 pm

    These kind of clean up actions can say a lot for our town. We want Century to be a proud place to live and we can make it that way. The county may take our schools away and try to dry our town up but we can make it a nice quite bedroom community and not have all the noise and hustle/bustle of the big cities and enjoy life good old southern style. It’s a shame that some citizens have to be forced to clean up and make building safe but if the shoe fits wear it. I try hard on my properties and everyone should do the same. Come one fellow Centurions—make Century shine.

  6. Ole' Willie on March 19th, 2009 2:14 pm

    Now the Mayor can get himself some of those prison inmates to clean up his personal property, just don’t be fightin’ with anybody in front of them.

  7. me on March 19th, 2009 1:29 pm

    This is so stinkin’ funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t quit laughing!!

  8. Delane Garrett on March 19th, 2009 1:00 pm

    Hopefully now that Century has code enforcement it can’t be terminated just because the mayor was sited. There are a few more sites along Hwy. 29, where everyone from any where drives through our area and that is the first impression that is made.KEEP WRITING THOSE TICKETS!!!!!!!!!!!!

  9. Elizabeth on March 19th, 2009 11:02 am

    I hate that anyone has to pay a big fine, of course. But it’s just, in my opinion, necessary to get the town cleaned up.

    Maybe this will show that the “good ole boy” system won’t come into play.

  10. Lynn on March 19th, 2009 10:04 am

    Ok, let me get this straight. It was an agreement signed between the town and the county. . . .and the Mayor (of the town) is cited for violations on the county’s first visit???

    Well, I guess you just can’t fix “stupid”!!

  11. Jay on March 19th, 2009 8:58 am

    Good on the mayor, he’s sitting a fine example for his constituents by taking his dose of medicine without threatening to terminate the code enforcement agreement.

  12. Mr. Greatful on March 19th, 2009 8:20 am

    The program is working. One of the biggest eyesores was the junkyard on the west side of Hwy 29 as you enter Century. Much improved. This is a positive start.