I thought the June 27, 2007 Code Town Hall hosted by Mayor Pro-Tem Kathleen Hicks was a very worthwhile meeting. It gave the Code Compliance Department?’s management team a chance to hear first hand the concerns of your neighborhood and to see the issues confronting your code compliance officers on a daily basis. I am looking forward to similar meetings which are being scheduled by Councilmember Scarth and Councilmember Moss. The uniting of neighborhoods around common concerns makes for a very powerful voice indeed! I appreciated the large turn out of neighbors.
I also appreciated the strong show of support from the Fort Worth Police Department. Those of you who are familiar with James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling?’s paper ?“Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety?” understand the important role code compliance plays in crime prevention and reduction.
In the early 1990?’s the City of Fort Worth had one of the highest crime rates in the nation. Police Chief Tom Windham taught us that we could not arrest our way out of the problem. He advocated a system of prevention, intervention and enforcement, based on a strong partnership with citizens. His system worked. Police Chief Ralph Mendoza has continued to improve upon the effort and today we are in the enviable position of 9th safest major city in the Country. We have learned from that experience and are working diligently to apply these lessons to code enforcement. Some of you are participating in that effort by volunteering as Code Rangers which as you know is the Citizens on Patrol of Code Enforcement.
I would love to have a lot more funding for Code Compliance and be able to put many more code officers out working in our neighborhoods. But the City of Fort Worth faces significant fiscal constraints and the City Council has some very tough budget decisions to make in the coming months.
Even without a bigger budget I am convinced that the Code Compliance Department working together with our citizens can make significant improvements in our neighborhoods. I have the greatest respect for activist citizens and I know there are many more residents of the sort we had at the Code Town Hall in neighborhoods all across the City. Together we truly can make a difference.
Please feel free to call me with your ideas, concerns or input.
Libby Watson
Assistant City Manager
817-392-6183
Libby.watson@fortworthgov.org
I also appreciated the strong show of support from the Fort Worth Police Department. Those of you who are familiar with James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling?’s paper ?“Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety?” understand the important role code compliance plays in crime prevention and reduction.
In the early 1990?’s the City of Fort Worth had one of the highest crime rates in the nation. Police Chief Tom Windham taught us that we could not arrest our way out of the problem. He advocated a system of prevention, intervention and enforcement, based on a strong partnership with citizens. His system worked. Police Chief Ralph Mendoza has continued to improve upon the effort and today we are in the enviable position of 9th safest major city in the Country. We have learned from that experience and are working diligently to apply these lessons to code enforcement. Some of you are participating in that effort by volunteering as Code Rangers which as you know is the Citizens on Patrol of Code Enforcement.
I would love to have a lot more funding for Code Compliance and be able to put many more code officers out working in our neighborhoods. But the City of Fort Worth faces significant fiscal constraints and the City Council has some very tough budget decisions to make in the coming months.
Even without a bigger budget I am convinced that the Code Compliance Department working together with our citizens can make significant improvements in our neighborhoods. I have the greatest respect for activist citizens and I know there are many more residents of the sort we had at the Code Town Hall in neighborhoods all across the City. Together we truly can make a difference.
Please feel free to call me with your ideas, concerns or input.
Libby Watson
Assistant City Manager
817-392-6183
Libby.watson@fortworthgov.org
