Santa Cruz County Grand Jury
• 2023-2024
• Agency Response
Code Compliance Division – Out of Compliance It’s not easy, but it shouldn’t be impossible
⚠️ Aviso de traducción: Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 7 findings
F1
Page 10
Understaffing over a long period of time in the Code Compliance Department means that Code Compliance Investigators are unable to complete cases in a timely manner, causing a huge backlog of cases some of which are up to 40 years old.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
Page 10
The Code Compliance Department and the Planning Department do not routinely revise and update their departmental procedures and policies, which leads to lack of accountability to the public and inconsistent implementation and interpretation of findings in investigations.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
Page 10
The Code Compliance Department of the Planning Department does not have quality assurance systems in place to evaluate their own performance and effectiveness, which contributes to lack of accountability and lack of credibility and public confidence.
No recommendations for this finding
F4
Page 10
At the present time the Planning Department has limited access for the public. It is frustrating to the public to be unable to readily communicate with the staff required to assist in dealings with building, planning, and code compliance matters.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
Page 10
There is a persistent public perception of inconsistent interpretation of code. The building and other various codes are complex and difficult to understand. When misinformation is communicated and portions of projects must be redone, it leads to time and money loss as well as frustration.
No recommendations for this finding
F6
Page 10
The Conflict of Interest policy does not include conflicts regarding family, friends, or prior relationships of a personal nature. This omission, and the optics in some situations, lead to misunderstanding and mistrust between the public and the Code Compliance Department as well as increasing the risk of liability to the County.
No recommendations for this finding
F7
Page 10
The Planning Department is by its nature supposed to be a customer-focused department, yet it operates in ways that discourage communications, undermining the public’s trust in the department.
No recommendations for this finding
Conclusions 1
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CL1 Page 9By enforcing violations of building and environmental codes, the CCD bears an important role in the health and safety of our county. This investigation found that the CCD employees work hard to carry out their mission in a professional manner. Unfortunately, the division suffers from chronic understaffing, inadequate management, and a lack of basic organizational practices and procedures. This report highlights the areas where it is especially lacking—documentation, procedures and policies, employee training and education, and quality assurance. Because the division is resolving violations of planning and building codes, they work within the larger culture of the Planning Department that is noted for its slowness, inaccessibility to the public, and inconsistent implementation, which makes the CCD’s work even more challenging. As a result, the CCD has a huge backlog of unresolved violations, and public confidence in both the CCD and the Planning Department is low. This Grand Jury recommends that the CCD division quickly increase staffing and improve processes to enable it to resolve the backlog of cases that represent potential community safety and environmental hazards, lost revenue, and county liability. In addition, the CCD needs to urgently overhaul its organizational procedures and practices to improve consistency and to increase transparency and accountability. Moreover, the Grand Jury recommends that the Planning Department increase its accessibility to the public and document all interactions with the public. Code Compliance Division – Out of Compliance published June 23, 2023 Page 9 of 18