FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2018
MEDIA CONTACTS
Tanisha Jumper, Media and Communications, tjumper@ci.tacoma.wa.us, (253) 591-5152
Megan Snow, Media and Communications, msnow@cityoftacoma.org, (253) 591-5051
Tacoma City Council Makes Public Safety a Priority
Tacoma City Council Members, Chris Beale, Lillian Hunter and Catherine Ushka, have championed an effort to improve public health and safety by initiating a new direction for code enforcement in the city.
“The City Council has made public safety a priority area,” said District 5 Council Member Chris Beale. “Code Compliance plays a role in the perception of safe and healthy communities. For this reason, we have directed the City Manager and Neighborhood and Community Services Department to take a more proactive approach to reduce the time it takes to close code complaints, and ultimately reduce the number of code complaints received by the City in the 4th and 5th Districts.“
The effort will begin as a pilot program focused in council districts 4 and 5 to enhance the City’s response to compliance issues by prioritizing cases by severity, increasing awareness about resources that can help people correct issues and exploring how to better address repeat violations through new and existing legislation.
“This is an exciting opportunity to really take a hard look at how we tackle code enforcement and particularly problem property owners and increase the quality of life for all of our residents,” said District 4 Council Member Catherine Ushka. “We want to help our neighbors understand the importance of properly maintained properties and how to assist neighbors and the City in improving the health and safety of our community.”
More outreach and education about community resources and information about when to file a complaint or help your neighbor will be given to community members to help increase awareness about services.
“Evaluating the success of this pilot program will help the City Council learn more about how to better serve the community and improve public safety in all of our neighborhoods,” said At-Large Council Member Lillian Hunter. “I want our residents to feel connected to their neighborhoods and feel like they are working in partnership with the City to feel safe in their communities.”
The pilot program will generate data that will help the City improve service and response times to code enforcement issues for all residents. Neighborhood and Community Services Department is working on finalizing the pilot program and is planning to launch it later this summer.
For more information about the City’s Neighborhood and Community Services Department, go to cityoftacoma.org/NCS.
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