by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
For 24 Code Enforcement officers new cars may be in the future.
Mayor John Peyton is proposing legislation that would earmark $324,000 for 24 new Chevy Malibus for 24 of the City’s 42 Code Enforcement officers who are currently using their private vehicles for work. Mayoral spokesperson Misty Skipper said the one-time expenditure will be “revenue neutral” since the City is paying the officers 48.5 cents per mile. According to Skipper, what the City will spend on the cars and what it will save in mileage expenses should break even.
“This will also help us in the community,” she said. “It will make our Code Enforcement officers more noticeable than they are in the personal vehicles.”
Having its Code Enforcement officers in official City vehicles will also help promote Peyton’s Seeds of Change initiative. The plan was rolled out last year in an effort to increase the City’s and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s presence in struggling neighborhoods. The first two focus neighborhoods are Arlington and the Northwest quadrant of Downtown. Under the plan, members of the Sheriff’s Office and Code Enforcement work together.
“Code Enforcement is traditionally reactive,” said Skipper. “Now, they are more proactive and work beyond just code enforcement.”
Skipper said none of the Code Enforcement officers will be able to take their vehicles home at night. They will be kept locked up in the yard at the Code Enforcement offices on Art Museum Drive.
Kristen Key of the City’s Public Information Office said the legislation will have to work its way through the City Council process before the cars are purchased. The bill was introduced to Council on Jan. 23 and assigned to two Council committees. Without any deferments, it will be at least 4-6 weeks before Council signs off on the legislation.
Key said the City vehicles will make residents of already jumpy communities more relaxed when a code enforcement officer is in the neighborhood. Also, knowing marked cars are looking for partially-boarded up houses, vehicles that have been on blocks for years and a plethora of other code violations will help give residents a sense that the City is working to assure their neighborhoods are being monitored by both the JSO and Code Enforcement.
“It’s really important to have our central services in the communities,” said Key, explaining how Code Enforcement and JSO cooperate. “They (Code Enforcement officers) are on the lookout for suspicious acts and often see the types of properties that are a haven for illegal behavior. They work with JSO to make them aware of issues that could become criminal.”
Key said the Code Enforcement officers haven’t been trained by JSO to watch for anything or any acts in particular.
“They are just instructed to be more cognizant. If something looks suspicious, they go ahead and report it,” said Key.