Code Enforcement
Annual Report FY22-23
Neighborhood Services and Education Committee
April 11, 2024
Presented by Rachel Roberts, Deputy Director
Mission and Core Values
www.sanjoseca.gov/CodeEnforcement
Work in partnership with the people of San José to promote and maintain a safe and desirable living and working environment Safety
Respond to health and
life-safety complaints within 24-
72 hours
Quality of Life
Work with property owners,
residents, and other
stakeholders to resolve blight
violations and other quality of
life issues
Working Together
Communicate, collaborate &
problem solve with internal and
external stakeholders to achieve
compliance
Slide 2
Scope of
Services
• Inspect, investigate, and enforce various
San José Municipal Codes on private
property (Do not enforce on public
buildings or properties) • Ensure health, safety, and quality of life • Core Services- Multiple Housing and General Code Program
• Eight Special Programs
• Provide support to other City
Departments and local agencies • Supported by fees, grants, and general fund
• 70 FTE, 13+ million budget
Slide 3 www.sanjoseca.gov/CodeEnforcement
Multiple Housing Program
www.sanjoseca.gov/CodeEnforcement
Scope Ensure safe, decent, sanitary housing
Buildings with 3+ dwelling units including apartments, hotels/motels, fraternities/ sororities, and SROs 6,700 buildings and 103,000 units (increase in 19,000 units in the last 10 years)
26.3% of the current open active caseload (or 1,769 of 6,721 open cases) Services Conduct proactive routine inspections and respond to and investigate complaints from the public Proactive inspection based on 3-tier service delivery model with buildings inspected at least once every 3, 5, or 6-years Outreach and Education -owners, managers, and residents on regulations, permits, best practices, etc.
Enforcement Varying Conditions
Substandard housing and building violations
Minor issues - broken floor tile or loose faucet handles vs. Major issues-faulty electrical wiring or hazardous staircases and balconies
Staffing 17.25 FTE Code Enforcement Inspectors
34.4% of total inspection staff
Core
Service
Slide 4
Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) Program
www.sanjoseca.gov/CodeEnforcement
Scope Supplement to the Multiple Housing Program
Ensure safe, decent, sanitary housing
Buildings with 3+ dwelling units CDBG eligible areas (Project Hope Areas) Services Conduct enhanced proactive routine inspections Respond to and investigate complaints from the public
2x Multiple Housing Program service model with tier 2 buildings receiving inspections in 50% of the units (compared to 25%) and tier 3 buildings receiving inspections in 100% of the units (compared to 50%) Provide support to residents, property owners and managers Regular participation in interdepartmental Project Hope meetings/events Staffing 17.25 FTE Code Enforcement Inspectors
34.4% of total inspection staff
Slide 5
Varying Conditions
Multiple Housing property violations can vary from minor to more serious violations.
Slide 6
General Code Program
www.sanjoseca.gov/CodeEnforcement
Scope All private property except Multiple Housing Program buildings- residential, commercial, industrial, vacant land General funded-flexibility in the types of cases the team can address
60.6% of the division’s total open active caseload (4,076 of 6,721 open cases=271 cases/inspector Services Complaint based- respond to and investigate complaints from the public Provide support to other city departments- illegal dumping, mobile vendors, fireworks, etc.
Outreach and education- community meetings, multi-step enforcement process Enforcement Building, zoning, substandard housing, blight, and solid waste Range from quality-of-life issues (graffiti or blight) to imminent life-safety concerns (no egress in sleeping rooms or unpermitted garage conversions (living units) with gas appliances, risk of carbon monoxide exposure) Staffing Staffed by 15 FTE inspectors (13 General Funded, 2 Fee Funded), or 30% of total inspection staff Core
Service
Slide 7
General
Code
Program
www.sanjoseca.gov/CodeEnforcement
Most Common
Violations: • Substandard Housing
• Illegal Occupancy
• Blight • Solid waste
• Unpermitted
Construction
Slide 8
Special Programs
• Provide inspection and enforcement of various niche businesses and targeted issues within the community
• Eight Programs in total- Tobacco Retail License, Off-sale Alcohol, Vacant Buildings and Storefronts, Abandoned Shopping Carts, Massage, Cannabis, Building Code Compliance, and the Local Enforcement Agency (LEA) • Fee-funded Programs
• 30% of staff, 11% of workload
www.sanjoseca.gov/CodeEnforcement
Building Code Compliance Off-sale Alcohol Vacant Buildings/Storefronts Tobacco Retail License Abandoned Shopping Carts Massage Cannabis Local Enforcement Agency Slide 9
Outreach and Education
Newsletters
and Brochures Community Meetings
www.sanjoseca.gov/CodeEnforcement
Webpage Resources Enforcement
Strategies
Slide 10
Enforcement
www.sanjoseca.gov/CodeEnforcement
Legal Action
• Public Nuisance
• Receivership
• Collections
• Other Litigation
Citations and
Admin
Remedies
• Schedule of Fines
• Compliance Order
• Appeals Hearing
Board up to 100k
• Abatements
Voluntary
Compliance
• Warning and
Inspection
Notices
• Working in good
faith toward
compliance
Ethics,
Empathy,
and Equity
• Consistently
identify violations
• Fair and
reasonable
timelines
• Neutral party
Outreach
and
Education
Goal
Slide 11
Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Activity Highlights
• Restored services to pre-pandemic levels
• MH Routine inspections 89% of target • General Code complaint response- 98%, 81%, 44% • Exceeded prior year outcomes in most areas
• 4,469 new complaints processed
• 594 citations issued
• 11,190 general customer service calls/1,540 information request emails/893 walk ins • Resolved over 11k violations (core services) • Continued to provide support to other city departments • 1,344 firework complaints processed
• Ensured continuity of tow services/assisted BeautifySJ • RFPs- City-Generated Tow Services and new Code Enforcement Case Management System • Health and Safety- Exterior, elevated, elements (E3) Program, Flavored Tobacco Ordinance and Youth Decoy Program
• Increased Resource Capacity – Code Supervisor, Code Enforcement Inspector, Senior Analyst Slide 12 www.sanjoseca.gov/CodeEnforcement
Current Initiatives
Fiscal Responsibility- improved budget oversight, informed management decisions, template for other PBCE Divisions
Temporary Staffing- reduce backlog, provide support to General Code Program Enhanced Vacant Buildings- one time funding to support enhanced enforcement effort on chronically vacant/blighted buildings (focus on downtown) Focus Area Service Team (FAST)- new outreach and education strategies, proactive, expedited blight enforcement in six areas of city with highest volume of blight complaints New Code Enforcement Case Management System- significant improvements in word processing, data analytics/reporting, tracking and monitoring, customer access, remote capabilities
Slide 13 www.sanjoseca.gov/CodeEnforcement
Challenges
www.sanjoseca.gov/CodeEnforcement
Staffing and
Organizational
Structure
• 24% vacancy rate (now 10%)
• Span of control
• Inexperienced Staff- majority
have less than 2 years in
current position
Budget and Funding
• Majority of budget is fee
revenue
• $10.2m Fees or Grant Funds
• $2.8m General Fund
• Total= approximately $13m
• Fee-funded resources are
strictly limited to activities
directly related to the specific
fee.
• Creates operation constraints
Code Enforcement
Case Backlog
• Open cases > closed
cases=increase in backlog
year over year
• Increase in 1,172 cases
(41.2%) since FY18-19
• Inspector workload 2x
target
• High rate of building cases49% of General Code Program cases/ 32% of all open case
Slide 14
Next Steps
Mayor’s March Budget Message for Fiscal Year 2024-2025, direction:
The City currently lacks the capacity to address both the code enforcement backlog and incoming cases, and simply adding more staff might not be the answer. Instead, the City should seek a reengineering of the code enforcement process and organizational structure to allow for a more rapid and effective resolution of code enforcement issues throughout San José. The City Manager is directed to allocate the one-time funding necessary to complete this operational assessment. Through these efforts, we can efficiently close cases, reduce the backlog and ensure more responsive delivery of services. Pending approval of one-time funding in the 2024-2025 Operating Budget:
Staff will conduct an operational assessment to identify strategies to improve service Staff will analyze the noted challenges in addition to any other issues identified as part of this effort
Slide 15 www.sanjoseca.gov/CodeEnforcement
Code Enforcement
Annual Report FY22-23
Neighborhood Services and Education Committee
April 11, 2024
Presented by Rachel Roberts, Deputy Director