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County’s Top Code Enforcer Questioned By Century Council
October 6, 2009
The Century Town Council met with the county’s top code enforcer Monday night to clarify several issues that the town had questioned.
At a public meeting two weeks ago, the town came under fire for publishing a list of alleged code violators in a display advertisement in the Tri-City Ledger newspaper. One man claimed that his listed property was not in the town limits, and another presented what he said was documentation that he had complied to code enforcement’s requests as of last March.
Sandra Slay, chief of the county’s code enforcement division, told the council that property belonging to a John Stallworth that was listed in the newspaper did not belong to the John Stallworth that was at the meeting two weeks ago. Instead, she said, it belongs to a John McDuffy Stallworth in Ohio.
As for Herman Pleasant’s claim at the last code meeting that he had complied with code enforcement last March, Slay said that he was on the list printed in newspaper by mistake.
Slay said someone new had taken over the list and inadvertently did not remove Pleasant’s name.
“She did not double check to see it was open,” Slay said of the code enforcement employee that did not remove the complaint from the list provided to the town.
But she said those type mistakes do not send the wrong people to court over code violations.
“We’ve got three sets of eyes looking at the list before they go to court,” Slay said, adding that violations are checked and photographed the day prior to a court hearing just to make sure the violation has not been abated before it goes to the magistrate for an $1,100 hearing.
One Century resident said he would like code enforcement officers to provide something in writing when a problem is abated.
“I think they need to give you something when you finish the work,” Leola Robinson said. “I don’t want to go to Pensacola to get a piece of paper.”
Slay that anyone with a cleared code enforcement citation can call and request the department mail a printout showing the case is closed, or they can request such a printout from a code enforcement officer.
Ann Brooks, council president, requested that Slay provide another list that could be printed in the weekly Flomaton newspaper. Slay said she would double-check a list and email it to the mayor and council members.
Also during the meeting, Slay cleared up a few points about how code enforcement works:
- Abandoned vehicles: “You have to be able to get in, crank it up and move it forward and backward,” she said. Insurance and tags are not required.
- If a vehicle is being repaired, the owner must show an honest attempt to be undertaking the repair.
- Inoperable vehicles can be kept in the backyard of a piece of property behind a properly constructed six-foot high privacy fence. The property fence requirement does not apply if the property is greater than three acres.
- Written citations in Century provide the owner 30 days to rectify the problem, whereas the residents in the rest of the county are given citations that state 10 days.
Slay said she is in Century every Wednesday, and that she rides with Century Councilman Henry Hawkins until she gets “about 20 complaints” to turn over to her officers.
Pictured top: Sandra Slay, chief of the county’s code enforcement division, addressed the Century Town Council Monday night. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
12 Responses to “County’s Top Code Enforcer Questioned By Century Council”
If you think this is bad, listen to this. My wife was in the process of selling her dead parents home when it was discovered that there was a 73,000 dollar lien against the property. When in fact there had never been any code enforcement problems at that address. There was a code violation at our property where we live which was cleared up in April of 2005, a letter sent to us stating the problem was cleared up and code enforcement never let the clerk know. We were being charged 200 dollars per day because code enforcement did not do their job. Just another mistake? If they get a judgment against you, they will place a lien on your property.
These people make mistakes, do as they please and we the public have to pay the price. Pay close attention to these people.
Its storys like this that make me ashamed to live here. First chance I get i’m selling my doublewide and movin out to bratt. Them people take care of there property and they aint got no council to make em look bad.
The Century Town Council and county’s code enforcement division owes Mr. Herman Pleasant and Mr. John Stallworth more than just an apology. It is too late for that. The information they provided and approved for print in a public venue for the entire world to see was quite embarrassing to these men, and IMO equates to Libel. I am certain a court would agree. I hope these fine gentlemen sue the Council’s pants off………figuratively of course. I am sure many attorneys would be willing to accept this case on a contingency basis. Once the city coffers are drained a little, maybe the code enforcement folks would understand that these type mistakes DO send people to court. Then the Council might be a little less quick to use public embarrassment as a means of compliance.
In agreement with Shaun as this should not be an option. Unless Century Council differs from other governmental organizations, Mr. Hawkins has no real authority except as a quorem member in a council meeting. A “common” citizen has the same authority as Mr. Hawkins outside of meetings. Shaun’s comments deal directly with the issue of outside influence. Code Enforcement has the authority and knowledge to deal with the issues. Mr. Hawkins has no experience in this area and his assertion that the codes are being applied unfairly should be brought before town council not personally handled by him riding around Century. The other council members should address these actions and stay out of it. What is to prevent all citizens from requesting to ride with Code Enforcement and “assist them” in pointing out “code violations.” Small town politics continues.
It just floors me that everyone is making such a big thing out of cleaning up their property. If it had been clean to start with, they would not have been cited in the first place. Just clean your darn mess up and that will be the end of it!
I understand that you say he is riding along because he doesnt think its being done fairly, but that shouldn’t be an option for him. You council people voted to have code enforcement back and to let them make the decisions. I dont remeber seeing an exception on that vote to allow him to ride along with them. And whether or not he is influencing code enforcement opinions or not, its a small town, and to know that he is riding with code enforcement until they get 20 nuisances… just doesn’t look good. The town is going to get in a situation where someones property that doesn’t get along with Mr. Hawkins is on the chopping block, and you can bet your sweet dollar that they are going to pursue the fact that he is harrasing them because of their disagreements. Just my 2 cents worth.
Just for clarification, Mr. Hawkins is not riding with Ms. Slay to point out properties that need to be cleaned up. Mr. Hawkins felt that code enforcement was not being handled fairly, so he requested that he be able to ride with code enforcement. I also agree that we do owe Mr. Herman Pleasant an apology..
Ann Brooks
Other than common courtesy the town council should not be deeply involved with this issue. They agreed to let Escambia County Code Enforcement Division to handle this long overdue issue. Code Enforcement is a bureaucracy and problems will occur. However, they are handling the problem in a positive manner and the Century area is improving visually as derelict properties are being removed and/or cleaned up. Certainly Mr. Hawkins has more important things to do than to ride around and assist Code Enforcement. I am sure they know their job. Small town politics only deals with small problems. Meanwhile the bigger picture remains untouched. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Excuse me, I have lived in this area thirty nine years and there has never been a code of any kind, anywhere up here. It’s about time. In Pensacola if you leave a newspaper on your lawn too long you are cited. If people would just clean up, the problem would be solved!! Why all the whining? From what I understand, from a councilwoman, your neighbor can report you for not following the codes set in place. Maybe YOUR neighbor is tired of your mess!!!
I think they need to apologize to Mr. Herman Pleasant.
Quote from Ms Robinson:
“I think they need to give you something when you finish the work,” Leola Robinson said. “I don’t want to go to Pensacola to get a piece of paper.”
Why on earth do we care if you are inconvenienced ? If your property had not been in violation of the code (in other words, you were breaking the law), then you would not have to “go to Pensacola” to obtain verification that you had brought your property up to code specifications. Come on people, take care of your property with pride and this would be a NONE issue!!
Last sentence says what I thought they were going to avoid? Why would she ride with Councilman Henry Hawkins? Is he pointing out the properties that need to be cleaned up? I thought that when the Town decided to bring code enforcement back it was going to be left up to the actual code officer to lookfor and find the problems?