How I got so interested in Code Enforcement

In 2010 I moved away for a year and rented out my house here. Now back then, in order to rent out yer house, the City required aspiring landlords to do a few things: you paid an $80 fee and you became part of a database with your current address and phone number so that the police could contact you if your renters were misbehaving. You also had to take a class run by Community Service Officer Tonya Seaberry (which was great by the way.) The class taught all kinds of neat-o stuff like how not to discriminate, your relationship with renters, etc. Sweet.

In 2011, I moved back and shortly thereafter I found that several of my neighbors had flipped their houses (as was so popular back then.) And the new owners were using their homes as rental properties. Unfortunately, the renters who had moved into these houses just suuuuucked. I mean suuuuucked. So I went to the City, because I knew from my ‘landlord class’ that we had a Code Enforcement Officer. And she told me that since my time away the City had rescinded a whole bunch of the code. The class was now optional. And most importantly: no database. Which meant no accountability.

What I learned first hand is that when landlords cannot be easily held accountable for their renters, chaos tends to ensue. The City’s Code at the time made it almost impossible for people like me to locate the landlords of these bad renters (because, let’s be honest: a lot of these landlords did not and do not particularly want to be found.)

And I did call the City. And SKFR. Many times. They were on a first-name basis with all the ne’er do-well renters. They were sympathetic to my problems, but told me plainly that there was nothing they could do ‘until a crime is committed.’ The City Code was not designed to deal pro-actively with these kinds of situations.

So after many months of frustration I walked up the hill to City Hall on a Thursday night at 7pm and made my first public comment. And the Council just stared at me. (Just like they stare at you.) Which totally pissed me off. So I kept coming back. And kept getting stared at. But in the meantime, I found that the City had been threatened with a lawsuit from the Rental Housing Association–a group I had joined in order to be a ‘good landlord’. They objected to any form of ‘regulation’ on landlords and rather than litigate the City caved. I won’t go into more detail than that, but the whole thing is what started to sour me on Des Moines government. My issue seemed like exactly the sort of basic ‘blocking and tackling’ that City government should handle: keeping your street safe, clean and quiet.

Plus, since we were in the dark times of Des Moines financial problems, the Code Enforcement program was gutted–which I thought was just a terrible policy choice given the fact that we also cutting police officers. That sent a very clear message about values.

The net effect of this on me personally and my street was this: Three of my long-time neighbors moved away–specifically because of these jerk renters. One of the rental homes was burned down to the studs by the renter. And another home was completely trashed by a meth-head who would store thousands of pounds of stolen wire in his back yard. Because stealing copper was his day job. All it to0k was two crappy renters (or should I say, crappy landlords) to devastate my street. A street with half a dozen school-age kids.

To his credit, a few years later, at the end of his mayoralty, I got a nice letter from  Dave Kaplan, informing me that the City had taken my complaints to heart and was revamping its Code Enforcement program. As you can imagine, I was initially very skeptical.

I’ve got a nose for it…

Fast forward to 2020. I am pleased to report that the situation is much better.

Because of my bad experience, I had developed something of a ‘bad property radar’. I can spot troubled properties from far away. And during my campaign, I walked every single block of Des Moines. And I heard hundreds of complaints about ‘that one house’ that makes the entire block nervous. And. I. get. it.

The City now has a full-time Code Enforcement officer–who literally pays for himself. It’s still not where I’d like it to be, but it’s great progress and I will keep pushing for even more emphasis on Code Enforcement.

Animal Control Officer and Code Enforcement Update

The thing that is not on the presentation Officer Batterman gave was a very good comment from Chief Thomas: Code Enforcement pays. If done properly, it should basically pay for itself. You can see that it’s at least $100k a year in City revenue when done well. That’s not a bad thing like some speed trap. It’s a good way to measure effectiveness simply because there’s a lot of work left to do in Des Moines.

Now, am I 100% happy? Of course not. 😀 But I gotta be fair. It’s much better than it was. And I want you to know that, on a street by street level this is my number one issue. I moved here because Des Moines had a great reputation for its neighborhoods. Gardens were well tended. People understood that the way their house and street looked mattered.

If you have a Code Enforcement issue, please go to the City Code Enforcement Complaint page or call Officer Kory Batterman directly at (206) 870-7617.


November 2021: Yeah, forget all that…

This year we’re going to set a record for Code Enforcement income, nearly doubling previous years.

And yet? I am not exactly dancing for joy. Because the thing is: well-functioning cities do not need a lot of Code Enforcement (or police for that matter.) When a neighbourhood is doing well, it generally does self-regulate. My predecessors were not entirely wrong.

So when the City makes a ton of money on Code Enforcement it’s a sign that the government needs to pay attention to.

The real problem I had a decade ago was not a lack of Code Enforcement, it was the fact that the property owner didn’t give a damn and the City felt it could not hold landlords to account. The lack of Code Enforcement was just a bonus.

One of the most maddening things I remember about my earliest City Council Meetings was that at every frickin’ meeting at least one CM would say something about ‘property rights!’ We must protect property rights! And I was like, “What about our right to be safe from these morons living across the street?” But they felt very strongly that, if there was trouble, your neighbours should (somehow) be able to work it out. It was a lovely idea. But it was so out of touch with my reality I didn’t know what to think.

OK, now we have better Code Enforcement, great. We also have an uptick in crime. I’m not saying there is any direct correlation. But the pandemic, all the home sales, all eviction fears and the concerns about a shortage of police feels eerily similar to me in some ways to 2008.

So I just want to leave you with something I realised as I doorbelled: you can often tell that something is wrong on your street. I certainly could. I’d go to one house: normal. I’d go to the next door and, woah… something is not right. Not sure what, but something. You probably can too.

Again, you should report it. And if you’d do me a favour, please contact me with how things go. Because here’s the thing: the City Council does not generally get cc’d on Code Enforcement complaints. So we often do not hear about your issue. But if you cc me (or any councilmember), then the City is required to keep us in the loop on that specific complaint. And I want to know how we’re doing on this. Good, bad, indifferent.

In 2021, both problem houses on my street are now occupied by young families who are invested in the community. They put up elaborate Halloween displays and go out of their way to let everyone know when they’re going to be away. They’re great.

I think what made the difference is that these new owners see their property as a home and not as just an investment. Code Enforcement can’t do anything about that. But Code Enforcement does send a good message to the rest of the street: the City understands the value of holding every property owner accountable.

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