Choose nearly any local, state, or federal agency and you will find gross mismanagement. People’s precious earnings are taken by force and flitted away by politicians and bureaucrats intentionally or through incompetence. Billions are even spent on perverted and immoral ends or handed over to foreign countries.
People see the government as routinely under-performing and over-priced. The latest example is explained in an early Sutter County Grand Jury release last week examining code enforcement waste and miscues. County Supervisors and Administrator Steve Smith have 90-days to respond to the jury’s findings.
Code enforcement mismanagement and incompetence have been rumored for years but like most everything governmental these days, people have grown use to the smell.
The Grand Jury Report located on the Sutter County Court website came out prior to the annual release in June to address the glaring code enforcement mess. The 2020-21 Grand Jury reviewed three years of data and concluded that the county neglected its duty of code enforcement. The county has not collected $1,143,991.15 in fines as of November 30, 2020.
“There are 178 citations (of the 651 issued) still categorized as open from 2018 to 2020…. 206 active cases from 2018-2020 were closed without an inspection, which suggests that active cases were dropped for no apparent or valid reason.” There were 54 open cases without an inspection as of November 30, 2020.
The Jury “determined that the areas that fall under code enforcement include blight, structural permits and hazards, fire hazards, illegal and non-permitted commercial truck yards, abandoned vehicles and marijuana grow violations. Each has a direct effect on the quality of life for residents of Sutter County.”
“Over the last three years less than 10% of the outstanding fines have been collected.” The violation category and associated unpaid fines are as follows; Animal Regulations $218.89, CA Building Code Violations $534,056.63, CA Fire Code – Fire Hazards $69,978.95, Marijuana Grow Violations $44,776.14, Property Maintenance – Nuisances $57,513.89, Violation of Adopted Codes $34,885.23, and Zoning $402,561.42.
The bulk of the uncollected fines, more than $900 thousand are building and zoning violations. There are more than a half million dollars in delinquent fines over two years old.
The obvious question is why pass laws that you don’t enforce. Of course, some are state regulations mandated on counties but are the county’s to administrate. “Without fines being levied and collected these entities have no reason to cease the action that warranted the citation. Many citations show that some individuals and/or businesses continue to repeat the same offense(s),” according to the report.
The Jury noted that it is more time consuming to address building and zoning code violations versus other infractions, taking more staff and resources. However, the Jury explains that Sutter County uses just one dedicated code enforcement position while Yuba and Placer Counties have five each and Butte eight.
The Jury Report states that the County has failed to properly collect fines for the last 3 years; it understaffed its code enforcement; it has been negligent in pursuing both citations and violations; The County has been closing cases without inspections with no reason given; some legitimate complaints with possible citations and fines are ignored.
The Jury is hoping the County will take care of the people’s business. It appears to be more focused on growing government and being top heavy with administrators. The Health and Human Services Department in 2019 shows a director at $239,637.68, an Assistant Director at $192,475.62 and 4 Branch Directors at about $176,000 each. Is the whole county on welfare and food hand-outs? The County Administrator who is supposed to make sure his departments run well received $268,683.87.
Today, there are likely 100 or more county employees in the $150,000-plus club on up to the psychiatrists at nearly a half a million a year each. Maybe the shrinks can explain why government is driving taxpayers crazy.
(More articles and podcasts located at nohostagesradio.com)
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