Laurie Alderman
Updated comment on Code enforcement regular agenda item.
Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council.
Thank you for clarifying that vital contract is not on the consent calendar but a regular agenda item, so it can receive the transparent, public discussion it deserves.
For a few years, the Cotati code enforcement scandal cast a long shadow over our city, which despite my many times coming before the council, was allowed to go on under your watch.
The old model—driven by single, private contractor operating with immense discretion— fostered an environment of severe distrust, selective enforcement, and financial overreach that targeted specific residents while ignoring municipal transparency. It created a system where the lines between investigator, witness, and prosecutor were completely blurred, fundamentally fracturing public faith in city administration.
Transitioning to a multi-jurisdictional contract with Willdan Engineering changes things in Cotati forever. By shifting operations to an independent, professional third-party firm out of Southern California, we are finally dismantling the insular, personalized enforcement practices of the past. A regional, multi-jurisdictional framework removes local political biases, establishes clear institutional guardrails, and introduces standardized training. This ensures code enforcement is handled as a matter of objective public health and safety, rather than an arbitrary tool of local authority.
While the Willdan contract is a massive step forward, we must remember that true structural reform doesn't stop at initial citations. The city must apply this same standard of independent, third-party oversight to our administrative appeal processes—ensuring that insiders are never again left to judge the city's own actions. I support this transition to Willdan as a permanent turning point toward fairness, equity, and equal protection for every resident in Cotati. Thank you.