Interim Police Chief David Baker, City Prosecutor Marty Conboy, Jennifer Taylor, Mayor Suttle, Mike Battershell, Special Prosecutor Mike Getty, and Carl Christian, announce a new task force dealing with chronic code violations.
March 21, 2012 - Mayor Jim Suttle unveiled the first of two initiatives to assist in addressing crime in Omaha today. The Mayor issued an executive order establishing a special task force dealing with chronic code violations by landlords. The group is being asked to find ways of achieving safe, sanitary housing by identifying and solving problems created by landlords with significant building code violations.
"This problem was brought to our attention by neighborhood associations who had concerns about crime in areas with substandard housing," said Mayor Suttle. "Criminal activity tends to occur in areas where landlords neglect their property and have major building code violations. Like any business, landowners who rent property to others should meet basic legal standards to ensure safety in all neighborhoods."
"The task force is designed to bring law enforcement, elected officials and citizens together to find answers," said Marty Conboy, City Prosecutor. "By targeting problem properties in the city, we can work with landlords to comply with building codes or more aggressively prosecute those unwilling to cooperate."
The task force includes; Mayor Jim Suttle, District 2 City Councilmember Ben Gray, District 4 City Councilmember Garry Gernandt, Special City Prosecutor, Mike Getty, Special OPD Investigator, Officer James Stokes, Planning Department Chief Code Enforcement Inspector, Kevin Denker as well as three citizen members, Mike Battershell, Carl Christian, and Jennifer Taylor.
The group will identify landlords with chronic code violations in the city, establish a system for working with them to bring problem properties up to code using existing resources, and more aggressively prosecute landlords who refuse to correct code violations.
The group will submit a plan of action to the Mayor in 90 days.
