DATE: August 5, 2025
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Paul Nerland, County Administrative Officer
SUBJECT: Code Enforcement Program Quarterly Update
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Receive presentation from Code Enforcement staff providing a quarterly update on the Code Enforcement program.
REPORT
Your Board has requested quarterly updates on the progress of the Code Enforcement program.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
This item is to receive a presentation from Code Enforcement staff on the quarterly progress of the program. Alternatively, your Board may direct staff to modify the reporting format or adjust the frequency of future updates deemed necessary.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions as this item is to receive a presentation on the progress of the Code Enforcement program. Potential direction could create fiscal impacts and would be addressed in future Board Agenda Items.
DISCUSSION:
On April 11, 2025 your Board approved changes to the Code Enforcement program to improve the County’s response to complaints received from the public about unmaintained and unsafe properties. Specifically, your Board approved the structural reassignment of the Code Enforcement program to the County Administrative Office, authorized the addition of seven additional positions and requested quarterly updates on our progress.
Over the last three months the Code Enforcement division has been recruiting and training new employees. As of July 21, 2025 we have hired five new Code Enforcement Officers and a Staff Analyst to help with the legal enforcement of cases. We have carefully vetted our new Officers to ensure a balance between responsive customer service and enforcement of county ordinances. Over the next three months we will be providing training through our professional organization and we will provide a thorough review of the zoning ordinance and in the field training and supervision from the Senior Code Enforcement Officers. Upon completion of the training program each new Code Enforcement Officer will assume a full case load. It remains our top priority to ensure all calls for service are responded to immediately and all non-complying property owners achieve compliance quickly.
Over the last three months (April 1, 2025 to July 1, 2025) Code Enforcement has received and opened up 290 new cases. Each one of these cases is reviewed by a Code Enforcement Officer and contact is made with the property owner requesting action to address the violation. If remediation is not achieved quickly, the County pursues progressive enforcement action that can ultimately involve the County hiring a contractor to clean up and abate the issue.
With the incorporation of Code Enforcement within the County Administrative Office, we have undergone a comprehensive analysis of types of property related complaints received from the public and the County Departments that respond. Historically Code Enforcement, the Sheriff’s Office, Public Works and Planning and Public Health have played a role in responding to code related complaints. However, each Department has different reporting and enforcement criteria, competing priorities and at times limited experience responding to these specific issues, especially where overlapping responsibilities exist. This approach leads to dissatisfaction from the public, is confusing and often causes delays.
We have identified four areas of overlap that are causing these delays and are actively working with County Counsel to address. It is our expectation that we will be before your Board in the coming months to propose small changes to the existing ordinance that will allow the Code Enforcement Division to assume leadership and responsibility in these areas. It’s our expectations that this will significantly improve customer service and responsiveness and eliminate duplication and confusion.
As we have discussed previously, the current database system that Code Enforcement uses is inadequate, difficult to use and does not readily track our progress. We have issued a Request for Proposals for a new system and we will return to your Board for approval next month. It is our expectation that this new system will allow for the public to directly submit and track the progress of our response to their complaints and allow for the Code Enforcement Officers to quickly enter and access records in the field.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
Item 8, April 22, 2025
Item 10, March 11, 2025
Item 51, December 3, 2024
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Presentation
CAO ANALYST:
Maria Valencia