New audit blames understaffing and mismanagement for large backlog of San Diego code investigations

Understaffing and mismanagement have considerably slowed San Diego’s investigations into leaking sewage, unlawful fences, barking canines and different code violations throughout the town, in keeping with a brand new audit launched June 9.

Town’s backlog of circumstances roughly doubled between January 2018 and January 2021, from 3,178 to six,306, the audit discovered.

The variety of circumstances investigated quick sufficient to fulfill metropolis objectives dropped from 64 % to 56 % over that point. The drop was steeper (77 % to 55 %) for high-priority circumstances that pose imminent threats to well being and security, corresponding to uncovered wires and unstable buildings.

In line with the audit, metropolis code officers are also gradual to analyze many circumstances and to challenge fines and different penalties that may be essential to gaining compliance.

Some circumstances are energetic for greater than 600 days with out a written discover being issued to the property proprietor concerned, and a major share of energetic circumstances don’t get follow-up inspections.

The audit additionally discovered that San Diego missed alternatives to obtain greater than $500,000 from property homeowners by not issuing required reinspection charges. And nearly one-third of circumstances obtained no inspection in any respect.

The audit blames the issues on extreme workloads for code compliance officers, inaccuracies in how they acquire and use knowledge, and a failure by officers and their supervisors to successfully use case-management instruments the town pays for.

San Diego spends dramatically much less per resident on code compliance efforts than all different main cities in California, the audit discovered. San Diego spends $6.40 yearly per resident, whereas Sacramento spends $22.80, Lengthy Seaside $16.80 and Los Angeles $16.

The outcomes are related when California’s massive cities are in contrast on code compliance staffing. Los Angeles and San Jose have 40 % extra employees per capita, whereas Lengthy Seaside has greater than double the employees per capita and Sacramento has greater than triple.

San Diego has 73 full-time workers dedicated to code enforcement at an annual price of $9 million.

Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed finances for the brand new fiscal yr that begins July 1 would enhance these numbers to 90 staff and $11 million. However a lot of the rise is to cowl further enforcement required by a brand new metropolis legislation governing short-term trip leases.

On a constructive word, the audit discovered no proof of bias or racism in code compliance efforts. “We didn’t discover any vital relationships between demographic data and fines or response instances,” the audit stated.

Whereas the variety of high-priority circumstances that met the town’s objective of investigating inside in the future dropped in the course of the years studied, most of these circumstances have been investigated inside three days. Nonetheless, the audit discovered that 36 high-priority circumstances weren’t investigated for a minimum of 20 days.

“This means that circumstances can fall via the cracks and violations that probably threaten well being and security aren’t all the time assessed shortly,” the audit stated.

The audit additionally decided the town doesn’t analyze how effectively it handles investigations in ways in which would allow enchancment and extra effectivity.

“Whereas supervisors are alleged to establish patterns of lacking or late inspections, we discovered they lack the required report from the case administration system to take action,” the audit stated.

These issues are linked to less-than-ideal use of an Accela know-how system that tracks code circumstances for the town.

“The methodology to calculate code enforcement’s response-time objective metrics is incomplete and overstates precise efficiency by 13 to twenty-eight share factors,” the audit stated. “Moreover, we discovered that a number of Accela fields have vital errors and that code enforcement’s supervisory evaluate doesn’t sufficiently make sure the accuracy of entered knowledge.”

Metropolis Auditor Andy Hanau made 10 suggestions for brand new insurance policies and changes. Town’s Improvement Companies Division, which oversees code enforcement, agreed to implement all of them.

Key suggestions embrace:
• Reimplement a voluntary compliance program to cut back the variety of low-priority circumstances that investigators want to examine
• Set up a key efficiency indicator for optimum common caseload for constructing and zoning investigators
• Enhance investigator effectivity by creating new Accela fields and requiring investigators to enter upcoming duties into Accela
• Replace the code enforcement procedures guide, develop and use Accela instruments corresponding to studies or on-line dashboards and require common, systemic supervisory evaluate to assist administration monitor case standing
• Create and use a report that precisely measures code enforcement’s progress on its key efficiency indicator for preliminary response instances
• Create a guidelines for on-line case information and require code enforcement administration to conduct periodic audits of investigator circumstances

The audit is scheduled to be introduced to the Metropolis Council’s Audit Committee for dialogue Wednesday, June 15.

— La Jolla Mild employees contributed to this report. ◆