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Barbara Denny's Response to CPD Meeting with Concerned Citizens

Below is a response letter from Council Woman Barbara Denny concerning the previous letter from a Concerned Coronado citizen, Jerry Toci, regarding the recent silverware thefts in Coronado.

Date: Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 5:16 PM
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Hello, Jerry Toci. I hope this reply finds you well.

Thank you for your email which I just opened and read with great interest. I appreciate your well-organized and eloquent presentation of the issues surrounding the rash of silver thefts in Coronado. I also recognize, value and respect your community leadership on city matters that are important to residents.

I'm very pleased that yesterday's front lawn meeting with Police Chief Lou Scanlon was productive. I watched the news video you attached with interest.

I agree with you that enforcement of our municipal code provisions regarding business licenses as you suggest below is strongly indicated by the rash of silver thefts in Country Club and elsewhere in Coronado Village.

I find the thefts very disturbing and think there may be some relationship among them. I am very sorry that residents are fearful, although such fear is natural. I understand that Chief Scanlon gave good advice about securing personal property at home.

If they haven't already done so, I suggest that victims of tabletop silver theft check online sales sites like eBay to see if their silver is listed for sale intact. They may recognize their personal property in online photos.

I trust that Coronado Police will get to the bottom of it. I strongly and fully support our Coronado Police Department.

As you know, code enforcement is one of my top priorities. In my twenty-seven short months on city council, I have had two successes and one failure in changing the culture of city hall from resident complaint-driven code enforcement to pro-active code enforcement by city staff.

Twice I successfully led a majority of council members with the right result of enforcement of our municipal code. One example is the 2011 order of protection for an historic resource in order to enforce our historic preservation code provisions. Another example are the 2011 orders to enforce our code provisions against illegal rentals, which are residential rentals under 26 days. In both examples, the results are an improved quality of life and property values for our residents.

Once I was unsuccessful in leading a majority of council members for code enforcement. An example are the two 2010 fence encroachment permit requests. In the case of the stucco wall, the encroachment permit was denied by a unanimous vote of 5-0. But in the case of the fence near rose bushes, the encroachment permit was granted by the majority vote of 4-1, with myself dissenting. These unfair and inconsistent results were the source of a San Diego Union-Tribune article entitled "A Tale of Two Encroachment Permits" by Wendy Fry on 22 September 2010 at www.signonsandiego.com.

While "two out of three" code enforcement successes "ain't bad," as they say, it's still not good enough for me. Rest assured I will work as hard as I always do to continue to change the culture at Coronado city hall to one of pro-active code enforcement. I refuse to accept the excuse that "there's nothing we can do" to change the status quo where it is unfavorable toward residents and taxpayers.

If you will indulge me, for your review at your leisure below is a link to my re-election campaign video filmed by Steve Johnson of eCoronado.com last year and uploaded onto YouTube on 27 September 2010, just over one year ago.

At 5:17 to 6:02 in my video, I discuss one of the top three priorities in Coronado -- code enforcement. In a nutshell, I explained that the current resident complaint-driven code enforcement is divisive because it pits neighbor against neighbor. The preferable code enforcement policy is pro-active code enforcement by city staff. The goal of code enforcement is to enhance our quality of life and property values. I would like to see council roll up our sleeves and do the hard work of setting this priority, and then backing up city staff when they enforce our code, because our people want and deserve pro-active code enforcement across the board.

I stand by what I said over a year ago and I will continue to work hard for better code enforcement in Coronado, including your requested enforcement of our municipal business license code provision.

Thank you again for your community leadership in matters that are important to Coronado residents. Thank you for all you do.

Respectfully,

Barbara

Barbara Denny

Coronado City Councilwoman

Website www.barbaratdenny.com

Facebook Barbara Denny

Twitter @BarbaraDenny

Tags: city, community, council, crime, police

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Comment by jef on October 3, 2011 at 12:11pm: Councilperson Denny...Thank you for taking such good care of our City. Thanks for taking your City responsibilities serious and for being consistent in your dedication to your policy stances. Honesty and consistency are so IMPORTANT for us voters when we need to make the decisions as to WHO we want on our City Council. Cutting ribbons, attending City social functions and designating deserving citizens as people-of the-week/month are meaningful PR functions but those are not the really important duties we need from our elected City officials. Let me say...I LIKE YOUR GRIT!! Keep up the good fight for the people of Coronado. We see through the picky comments and snide remarks that are too often present during the televised Council meetings. I fully support your commitment to code enforcement in Coronado. Has the "paid on-duty time" of our City employees ever been assessed to see if pro-active enforcement could be done using existing staff? A simple Google search would identify those property owners in Coronado offering "vacation" rentals. A pro-active stance on code enforcement has an exponential benefit. If the violators think that "I may be next" then pro-active enforcement leads to STRONG compliance......Jef

Comment by Councilwoman Barbara Denny on October 3, 2011 at 2:14pm: You're welcome, Jef. I like being productive in a positive way and I like working hard. In a nutshell, I like my job very much.

Thank you for your comment. I value your thoughts and appreciate your taking the time to communicate.

To answer your question, as far as I know the "paid on-duty time" of city employees involved in potential pro-active code enforcement hasn't been assessed yet. You're correct. In the future, that would be a good place to start because all policy changes involve various costs.

As you know, all council decisions involve costs that are direct and indirect. Sometimes the costs are obvious and sometimes they are "hidden." However, costs generally are only "hidden" to those who aren't doing their homework and aren't paying close attention.

Through thorough decision-making, I analyze each and every potential cost to make sure that I arrive at decisions that are cost-effective for Coronado residents and taxpayers.

One type of cost involved in council decisions is an "opportunity cost." According to investopedia.com, an opportunity cost is "[t]he cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action. Put another way, the benefits you could have received by taking an alternative action."

In doing my due diligence research on the topic of pro-active code enforcement, among other things I initiated a productive conversation at a League of California Cities conference that I attended more than a year ago. My conversation was with code enforcement officers from a League member city. According to their experience, after a city dedicates itself to pro-active code enforcement it is imperative that elected officials back up their code enforcement officers. Otherwise, pro-active code enforcement is merely lip service with no real consequence.

As I say during council meetings, when I use the term taxpayer I use it in an all-inclusive way. I mean that virtually everyone in Coronado is a taxpayer. Those that own property pay property taxes. Those that make purchases in Coronado stores and dine in Coronado pay sales taxes. Those that host family and friends in local hotels when we run out of beds at home pay transit occupancy taxes, known at TOT.

We are all taxpayers. We all contribute funds to our city government. That is why I feel very strongly that our city government belongs to everyone. Our city government does not belong to a select few "special interests."

In my experience, the people of Coronado want better code enforcement. My experience is based consistently over the past three years as I directly ask people when I speak with them in town casually . . . and at events . . . and in the six community groups where I volunteer my time . . . and during the monthly SPEAK OUT CORONADO community meetings I host at our library . . . and as I continue to walk door-to-door around our island meeting new people.

Pro-active code enforcement is where city staff initiates compliance with our municipal code. It is the alternative to the current complaint-driven code enforcement in Coronado which requires a resident to write a written complaint against their neighbor and deliver that written complaint to city hall before staff takes action to enforce the various portions of our municipal code.

Our municipal code provisions are available for your viewing at the library and online at the city website at coronado.ca.us.

I'm all ears to hear what the eCoronado community thinks about changing our city policy on code enforcement from complaint-driven to pro-

Comment by Councilwoman Barbara Denny on October 3, 2011 at 2:16pm: I'm all ears to hear what the eCoronado community thinks about changing our city policy on code enforcement from complaint-driven to pro-active.

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