It has been 18 years and 208 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.
Since I have been retired from city council I still get calls from Glendale residents inside and outside of the Yucca district with code compliance issues. Today I visited a resident with a litany of code issues. All of these photos were taken on just one residential street in Glendale.
This person represents many of us in the community. We continuously try to maintain and/or improve the exterior and interior of our homes. We water our grass, plant new plants in spring or get an itch to remodel a bathroom. This person is no different from many of us.
In an attempt to be fair and balanced I have to say that while I was on council there were many times – not every time – that code worked diligently and solved many of my constituents’ problems. But at that time there were code inspectors assigned to specific areas of the city. I don’t think that is the case anymore. These inspectors were proactive and could write complaints as they viewed them without the need for a citizen complaint. I don’t know how the system is set up these days.
I have received enough complaints over the past few years to question Code’s current level of effectiveness and its level of responsiveness to citizens when they have no councilmember to advocate for them.
This most recent complaint is a case in point. When I was on council, Code could and did write up people for dead trees and untrimmed palm trees. Apparently that is not the case anymore. This citizen was told, “We don’t deal with untrimmed palm trees anymore.”
The city is not responsible for pigeons that seem to
congregate everywhere but in some instances where there may be a health or safety issue, the city does have the responsibility of advising a resident of a situation that is unsanitary. Look at the pigeons who have made a home underneath this cooling system on the roof.
When there were loud noise complaints dealing 
with barking dogs Code had developed a system that required 3 other neighbors to confirm the complaint and required the complainant to keep a log for several weeks. There was no such Draconian system for odors and I remember a citizen complaining about the cat smells coming from a next door neighbor’s house and code addressing the issue.
Previously the city had a contract with Maricopa Animal control to remove stray animals. In a cost saving measure that contract has been discontinued. Now a Glendale Police Officer has to respond. Officers are not equipped to deal with these types of situations. It also takes them away from performing real police work and responding to calls in a timely manner.
Much to my surprise I learned during my visit to this person that for odors the complainant must use the same system used for barking dogs. The
complainant must fill out the same type of log and get neighbors to confirm and attest to the odor complaint. That is just plain illogical and unworkable on so many levels. This system is enough to turn away all but the most determined.
Then there are the sanitation issues we’ve all seen. I have seen people leave their trash receptacles on 
the street continually. There are others that put their cans out days before collection and then leave the cans on the street days after. Or what about loose trash? In our part of town they pick up loose trash the last week of the month. I have seen those who put new loose trash out immediately after having had their current stockpile just picked up. Code had and I don’t know if it still does, persons surveying residential streets for just these kinds of violations. I suspect these people are spread too thin to be effective.
Has Code abdicated its responsibilities? Many citizens believe that Code looks for reasons to be nonresponsive. They complain that an oft used response is, “We can’t do anything about that.” Once again, it’s time for Code to dialogue with residents to find out what it is doing well and where it is not being effective. Instead of telling residents what Code cannot do it is time to think outside the box and figure out how it can be more effective and responsive.
© Joyce Clark, 2016
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An observation on the 3 cars parked illegally. There are plat set backs for a reason. Glendale would never allow some to build in that set back and one reason why is that in a fire it allows for quicker spread to adjacent homes.
Those cars are nothing more than stored gasoline within the set back and are a safety hazard to other homes.
Joyce, this may also be a result of the draconian budget cuts. Is Code still staffed at the same level as when you were on Council? If not, what is the sense of paying a police officer’s salary to deal with code officers when it is cheaper to have a code officer do that job? As you know, everything but police and fire got slashed – level of service for all other government functions are now probably way below your historical experience.
Budget cuts have been the nightmare that has haunted Glendale for 8 years running, but even before then when the coffers were flush resources primarily went to the folks in North Glendale, not the older neighborhoods in South Glendale.
Our streets used to have a Sweeper run through them regularly and trash was picked up twice a week, all of which help keep our neighborhoods looking better kept and less smelly. For some reason, the smell from the manholes can not be effectively controlled as well, even after they come in and clean the sewer lines.
Regular code enforcement used to be the rule, but their services now have become scant and only 5 violations can be reported per week and there is no follow up with the person reporting it.
The codes themselves need to be more effective, because there are issues with homes that they simply do not cover or are not specific enough to write a citation.
For instance when the siding on a 30 year old home has degraded to the point when there are pieces missing in it, that should be something that needs to be replaced.
Many of the problems are the result of being rental properties that do not receive the care required by the property owners.
Our right of way maintenance has actually improved in the past few years, possibly because there are now outside contractors doing the work. But no work has been done to improve our monuments, once plants die they are gone and never replaced.
The right of way to the west of our community has a few trees left on it but is mostly devoid of any landscaping.
My feeling is most people want a healthy, safe, and inviting neighborhood to go home to and are proud to live in; the age of the homes do not have to be a deterrent, many older neighborhoods are the flagships of their city.
The library has been promised to us for 30 years, it was a selling point when I first moved to the Yucca district, but as you are well aware of has never manifested itself.
The streets have deteriorated over the past few years, but our Mayor promises us that they will be the first order of business with any surplus of money.
Many of these issues can be fixed with money and a Council person such as yourself to go to bat for us when the opportunity arises. It has always been a challenge, but I have always felt you were up for one Joyce.
I do not think that Code Compliance within the City of Glendale is effective anymore. Been dealing with a code compliance issue with the neighbor across the street for several months now and there still is no resolution. Yet, I open the hood on my car to replace a battery and I get a threat of a $300 fine for working on my cars. Go figure.
When CC officers were assigned to a specific area, things were different.
The City Council needs to look at what is going on and either make some personnel adjustments withing the CC department or defund the department.