The discussion of the Code Enforcement Task Force Minority Committee Report last week may have given the impression that our group wanted to eliminate code enforcement in Malibu and nothing could be farther from the truth. Actually, we believe our recommendation would result in a higher level of compliance with city codes, because homeowners would not be afraid to get permits and they would be affordable.
For 40 years under L.A. County governance and for the first few years of cityhood, code enforcement was performed by building inspectors because they were trained in construction, distributed widely throughout the field and they had cooperative relationships with homeowners and could assist them with compliance.
Our reports suggests that code enforcement would be more effectively achieved in the city by restoring the function to the building inspectors where it has historically been. The “Code Enforcement Officer” job title is not an official title in the city’s organization chart and the current code enforcement officer actually has the title of Community Services Specialist. We don’t believe that community services personnel should be involved in policing activities, rather this job description should be of a facilitative staff member dedicated to aiding and assisting homeowners to achieve compliance.
Judy Decker