Facing a colossal backlog of complaints in the thousands from residents about graffiti, unkept lawns and trash, San Jose is set to adopt a pilot program that would result in fines to scofflaws and …
Facing a colossal backlog of complaints in the thousands from residents about graffiti, unkept lawns and trash, San Jose is set to adopt a pilot program that would result in fines to scofflaws and give more power to code enforcement officers to reduce the blight that is making downtown an eye-sore.
Combined with an increase in department staffing, Mayor Matt Mahan believes the strategy will make a major difference in cleaning up a part of the city that draws a large share of resident concerns about blight. The city currently has just over 4,000 open code enforcement cases – and about 40% of new cases are related to blight. According to city officials, the problem is mostly concentrated in Districts 3, 5 and 6, which make up the northern core of San Jose along with its downtown.
The pilot program remains small — two staff members will be devoted to the new effort. The city’s goal when it comes to decreasing its backlog is also modest, with the hopes of a 10% reduction in the 4,000 complaints by next year, still leaving the possibility of thousands of open cases.
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