City to hold town hall meeting focusing on code enforcement

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October 19, 2012

City to hold town hall meeting focusing on code enforcement

Ben Tinsley Jacksonville Daily Progress The Jacksonville Daily Progress Fri Oct 19, 2012, 08:03 AM CDT

JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville city officials are holding a special town hall meeting at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Norman Activity Center, 526 E. Commerce Street, in the hope of addressing any code enforcement issues citizens might have.

“We're hoping we have a pretty good response to this,” said Jacksonville City Manager Mo Raissi. “We are inviting all citizens to come in and discuss their problems. We are open to the feedback to let us know where we are.”

The meeting will revolve around the legal process the city goes through dealing with the nuisances of tall weeds, grass, junk and debris, junk vehicles, not to mention substandard houses and structures, the city manager said.

The city's two code enforcement officers will give a presentation about these issues, followed by a question and answer session — and, hopefully, feedback — from area residents. Present at the meeting will be Public Works Director Will Cole, chief building official Jody Watson, and code enforcement officers Stacy Hunter and Greg Lowe, Raissi said.

Additionally, the city manager also hopes to have either a judge or an attorney at the scene to answer legal questions residents may have.

“The judge or attorney will be able to tell us about the rights of homeowners, what the guidelines are, and what the city can and cannot do,” Raissi said.

Although the idea for the town hall meeting to focus on code enforcement was not borrowed from any other municipalities, various cities and throughout the United States also have held similar gatherings.

In Farmer's Branch, for instance, the city's building official is slated to lead a November session on the question of "Why Do We Enforce Codes?" with visual aids, photos, video and live presentations, according to that city's website. Afterward, Farmers Branch Mayor Bill Glancy and members of that particular City Council are scheduled to take the stage to participate in a Q&A.

The Douglasville, Georgia code enforcement division also has entertained such meetings. One 2011 gathering in particular placed great emphasis on a question and answer dialogue between residents and city officials, reports show.

Back in Jacksonville, this is not the first town hall meeting the city has held but it is the first revolving around code enforcement, Raissi said. Four or five years ago, city council members held district meetings with constituents, he said.

“We are hoping a bunch of folks will show up,” he said. “With a city our size (14,637 as of July 2011) we have always had one code enforcement office but we added an additional officer in 2011.”

City officials want residents to understand that with the growing size of the city, response time to complaints might not be as quick as they would prefer.

“The main problem is citizens report a violation one day and expect a quick response. But it's not as easy as it looks,” he said, “We have to follow state guidelines, what is put in front of us, as to how to go about it. Sometimes the process takes awhile — and that's not always understood by citizens.”

Anyone with any questions before the event can contact Raissi at 903-586-3510 or at mo.raissi@jacksonvilletx.org. Will Cole can be reached at 903-589-3510 or at will.cole@jacksonvilletx.org, Raissi said.

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City to hold town hall meeting focusing on code enforcement

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