I know that our neighbors are most appreciative of the city's help with code enforcement. Thank you to you and to the folks, both Code Enforcement and CMPD, who shoulder the challenge of convincing residents that their living habits affect their neighborhood.
We do have a difficulty. Susan Burgess heard of two neighborhood leaders who were cornered in their driveways by an irate resident who had had code violation/reports. May I suggest that not naming sources, such as the individual who reports the issue or such as the fact that it was neighborhood association generated, would prove the best practice? Susan and I share this interest.
My thanks,
Nancy Carter
Good afternoon. Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. Thank you also for your support of Code Enforcement. I have spoken before to a number of neighborhood leaders about this very same issue. When a citizen who is the subject of a complaint makes a public records request for all documents related to the complaint against them, I am bound by the public records laws to provide public record documents. If the complainant does not make an anonymous complaint, which can be done through 311, the Emerald record will have the name of the complainant on the document. Since their name is on the document, it will be provided to the requestor. However, I do insist that the inspectors do not release the complainant information in the field. When we get that kind of request we ask the inspector to initially refer the citizen back to the supervisor or to the respective site location. This tactic sometimes defuses the situation. If the requestor persists, the supervisor will authorize the release of the document per the public records laws. It's been my experience that this provides a "cool down" period for the citizen requesting the information and sometimes results in dropping the matter. However, at the end of day the information on a 311 request form, on an e-mail , on a petition, on any written correspondence, etc. with Code Enforcement is subject to the public records laws. There are some strategies that citizens can use in reporting some violations that will keep their requests anonymous. First, 311 will accept anonymous calls reporting Nuisance and Zoning issues. Housing inspections generally require a tenant request or a public agency referral, neither of these reporting methods are anonymous. A public agency referral can be anonymous if generated from a citizen to a police officer in a non-written form. We are of course sensitive to this issue and try our best to prevent aggressive confrontations as result of Code Enforcement reporting. Based upon the degree of the interaction, these situations may be reported to 911 and later to the code inspector/supervisor working the area.
If you have more specific information about the incident relayed in the e-mail I'm certain Chief Monroe and myself would be willing to review and take appropriate action. I'm also copying the City Attorney's Office on my response to ensure they are aware of this issue. Thank you, Walter Abernethy
