Clean Up Henderson Committee members are shocked and dismayed at the budget plans for the Code Compliance Department.
Code Compliance Director Corey Williams reported during the committee’s regular meeting Wednesday morning at the police station that he requested enough money to remove 25 abandoned houses in the fiscal year that starts July 1, about $78,000 in contracted services. In the current fiscal year, the department was allotted about $27,000 for contracted services.
The funds were allocated as part of the Planning Department last summer, then transferred when Code Compliance became its own department. But the money for contracted services had essentially been used up by the time the Code Compliance Department was born. Williams has relied on property owner reimbursements and support from other departments, especially Public Works, for money and manpower to remove abandoned houses and clear other nuisances, such as overgrown lots.
Williams estimated that by the end of the fiscal year next Thursday, he will have spent $35,000 on contracted services.
The latest version of the 2005-06 city budget allocates $25,000 to contracted services, roughly enough to remove six to eight houses. Williams already has that many houses processed and approved for removal, but he has been unable to move forward because of the lack of money.
Williams told the cleanup committee that he’ll quickly use up his reduced allocation.
Public Works Director James Morgan expressed concern that the limited funding for the Code Compliance Department will put a greater strain on his department.
“When I saw the proposed budget, I told my guys, ‘Get ready to cut weeded lots because that’s what we’ll be doing,’ ” Morgan said.
City Council members and department heads at Wednesday’s meeting bemoaned the lack
of information and input on the particulars of the budget, despite a process that has involved dozens of hours of meetings by the council’s Finance and Intergovernmental Relations Committee since department heads submitted their budget requests in mid-March.
“You didn’t know what was in the budget unless you went to the Finance Department,” Police Chief Glen Allen said.
The City Council is due to adopt the budget Monday.
Clean Up Henderson Committee Chairwoman Lynn Harper expressed frustration that the information was not publicized, preventing appeals at the council’s public hearing on the budget June 6.
“No one knew,” Williams said.
Council members Mary Emma Evans, Elissa Yount, Ranger Wilkerson and Lonnie Davis were at the cleanup meeting and said they did not know about the Code Compliance Department cuts. They said they had been led to believe that department requests as presented to them were lean and that such cuts were not necessary.
Even if he had known about the cuts, Wilkerson said, it would have done no good to complain about them.
“You know this committee is the redheaded stepchild of the city,” Wilkerson said. He said that during FAIR meetings, some council members have accused the Clean Up Henderson Committee of costing the city a lot of money.
“Where?” Wilkerson exclaimed. He said that hauling away junk has always been the city’s responsibility.
“Evidently, they are forgetting all the volunteer things we’ve done, all the money we’ve raised, all the encouragement we’ve given to people to clean up,” Harper said. “It’s up to us to convince the city that we don’t cost them a lot of money. We haven’t done that.”
She added sarcastically: “You know the street sweeper is our fault, too.”
The city purchased a $119,000 street sweeper under a lease-purchase agreement in early 2004 after the Clean Up Henderson Committee publicized the need and promoted the solution, and since March last year the street sweeper has met once of the earliest goals of the committee by cleaning the roads.
But Morgan said he had asked the City Council for a new street sweeper after his old one wore out. His request brought no action until the recommendation came from the Clean Up Henderson Committee. During the period when the city lacked a working street sweeper, the Public Works Department staff had to use shovels in the gutters to clean the streets, a time-consuming, labor-intensive method that diverted workers from other tasks, Morgan said.
Committee members cited the virtues of the committee and the cleanup effort Wednesday.
“Is it time to declare victory and head home?” Harper asked. The group agreed that work remains to be done.
“Then why would we go get this beating?” Harper questioned. “Why would we volunteer for this beating?”
Morgan compared the physical condition of the city when the committee started in the spring of 2003 with the present.
“There’s a big difference,” Morgan said. “I see it every day.
“There have been houses that have been torn down that had been standing there for years and years and years. It’s just so awesome. In my opinion, this group has made a bigger difference in this town than any other group I’ve been associated with, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
Other members pointed to specific examples and the new legal threat of civil penalties in aiding cleanup efforts.
“If it weren’t for the Clean Up Henderson Committee, Flint Hill would be second to the dump,” said Eugene Burton, who leads the Flint Hill Neighborhood Association. “This committee has done a splendid job. …
“I’m so proud to be a member of this community and a part of this committee. I wish we could get more cooperation from other officials to the people.”
Cathy Ringley, attending the meeting as a representative of the Vance County Coalition Against Violence, concurred with the goals of the cleanup committee. The removal of abandoned buildings, which she called havens for crime, is crucial.
“It’s very important to the coalition that these buildings come down,” Ringley said.
Committee members and guests said they have seen decreased drug and other illegal activities after the removal of abandoned structures and overgrown vegetation that provided screening.
“Clearly, we have not communicated to them what we do and how I think it is a positive contribution rather than a negative one to the city,” Harper said.
— Written by Brad Breece, who is serving as a summer intern to the Clean Up Henderson Committee.