Does Atherton need a code enforcement officer?
Police work can be dangerous business, and officers are paid accordingly. But there are all manner of activities that are illegal but not criminal — parking problems, construction-hours violations, noise complaints — that could be handled more cheaply by someone other than a police officer. Someone like a code enforcement officer, perhaps.
Atherton officials are investigating the cost of adding the staff position of part-time code enforcement officer, but exactly what kinds of complaints that person would handle is still up in the air. At the March 15 meeting, the council directed staff to run some numbers and come up with a sample list of common violations. Councilman Alan Carlson was absent.
Currently, most code violations are dealt with only after someone makes a complaint, and there is no central person or agency to handle them. A complaint about off-leash dogs at Holbrook-Palmer Park might go to a police officer, while the public works department might be called about overgrown landscaping on the roadside and the building department might handle an illegally chopped down heritage tree.
Councilwoman Kathy McKeithen argued that residents should have someone they can go to who is familiar with Atherton’s ordinances. She said when she had a complaint about someone’s overgrown agapanthus forcing pedestrians into the street on Oak Grove Avenue, it took at least a half-dozen phone calls to get the issue resolved — “and I’m a council member,” she said.
She also took issue with the fact that obvious violations are ignored until someone calls to complain.
“People shouldn’t have to police their neighbors,” Ms. McKeithen said.
At the meeting, four residents spoke in favor of adding a code enforcement officer to town staff, and no one spoke against it.
“Maybe it’s the German in me, but if we don’t enforce our laws, I’d just as soon we not have them,” said Bob Huber, a former councilman. “If you’ve got an ordinance, let’s enforce it. Otherwise it’s not fair to the others (who obey the laws).”
The council is set to revisit the issue at the meeting of Wednesday, April 19.
