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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,May 20, 2013 <br /> Page 30 <br /> Ms. Kelsey advised that such a program was already in place, and served as the <br /> only way to get into a unit if the inspector was called out and thought follow-up of <br /> code violations was merited. However, Ms. Kelsey clarified that, at this time, no <br /> third-party could make a complaint on behalf of a tenant (e.g. School District or <br /> Social Worker) to intervene on their behalf or allow for an investigation. This <br /> program would allow for that third-party intervention and provide authority for <br /> the City to call out a unit or building for inspection; and expand the code violation <br /> mechanism now in place. <br /> At the request of Councilmember Laliberte, Ms. Kelsey briefly reviewed the pro- <br /> posed outreach efforts to tenants and property owners, making them aware of the <br /> new ordinance, their rights as tenants, and also including alerting third parties of <br /> those provisions once in place. Ms. Kelsey assured Councilmembers and the pub- <br /> lic that staff would meet with representatives of various ethnic communities to en- <br /> sure those provisions were available to them in their language. <br /> Councilmember McGehee questioned if there were other communities that spread <br /> out their inspection over more than one year, and if so, how it worked for units as <br /> well as common areas. <br /> Ms. Kelsey responded that the basis of the proposed program was not the failure <br /> of one unit,but based on a point system that may or may not be related to proper- <br /> ty owners, and allowing for a percentage of violations over the entire number of <br /> units inspected in determining the grad, while getting a better understanding of <br /> the property without every unit necessarily meeting inspection standards. <br /> Mayor Roe opined that, from a personal perspective, he was more interested in a <br /> self-funded program, not necessarily a subsidy from the City for the initial inspec- <br /> tions,but a possible phasing in to mitigate those costs for property owners. <br /> Councilmember Laliberte concurred, opining that she would like the program to <br /> be self-funded, and would prefer that the initial inspection be for 100% of the <br /> units, but negotiable on how payments could be phased in or spread out, whichev- <br /> er option was chosen, unless it became too cumbersome to phase inspections. <br /> Mayor Roe stated that if payments were spread over time, the upfront cost would <br /> not be covered, and the City may have to subsidize and incur those upfront costs. <br /> Councilmember McGehee concurred with Councilmember Laliberte's comment <br /> that it would be nice to have all inspections done; but suggested that the problem <br /> with a self-funded program was that it would raise tenant rates as property owners <br /> passed on those costs. <br /> Councilmember Willmus opined that the presentation provided an excellent <br /> framework, but reiterated his preference to explore options to get it started, and to <br />