ANNALS OF DeSANTIStAN: The hole deepens in Delray’s code enforcement division | Editorial. (South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Corruption in Florida is endemic and rarely talked about.  From South Florida Sun Sentinel: 

The hole deepens in Delray’s code enforcement division | Editorial

Terrence Moore is the Delray Beach city manager.

By SUN SENTINEL EDITORIAL BOARD | Sun Sentinel

UPDATED: December 20, 2024 at 7:13 PM EST

Something is very seriously wrong in the city of Delray Beach Code Enforcement Division.

Ironically, the operation that’s responsible for keeping up a clean and presentable city looks like anything but. The unit has lurched from one controversy to another for months, under increasing scrutiny, but with no resolution in sight.

City leaders should demand results from City Manager Terrence Moore, because a city that can’t get the little things right will never get the big things right.

A city worker was arrested in October, more than a year after she allegedly threatened to slap two residents with code violations unless they paid her money.

The state declined to press charges, citing a lack of evidence, but she was fired after being on a paid suspension for months. The Coastal Star news site covered that controversy in detail.

In another case, a senior employee in the code enforcement division was sued in Circuit Court, accused of fraudulently inducing a Delray Beach homeowner to sign away the deed to a home in exchange for back taxes being forgiven, and of releasing a city lien on the home. The employee remains on the city payroll.

A rising tide of impatience

Commissioner Juli Casale, a persistent watchdog over city operations, is showing a rising level of impatience with Moore’s handling of the division’s deficiencies. “It is our duty and obligation to our taxpayers to look into these issues,” Casale told the manager in a Thursday email.

This week, Moore got commissioners to hire an outside firm, Calvin, Giordano & Associates, to conduct an “operational analysis” of the division. That is in addition to a deep dive by the city’s human resources division, and the county Office of Inspector General (OIG) has also been asked to investigate.

“We need to have a thorough review to make sure that everyone has confidence in the system,” Mayor Tom Carney said.

Code enforcement is a recurring topic at commission meetings. Moore acknowledged a “lack of uniformity” in the city’s handling of code violations after City Attorney Lynn Gelin noted that similar cases are treated differently.

That’s not fair to Delray residents. The city usually gives violators time to comply, but also arbitrarily pursues punitive “findings of fact” against some violators, which leads to fines. “There’s no consistency with any warnings, any violations,” Commissioner Angela Burns told Moore.

In a statement to the Sun Sentinel, Moore said: “The city’s HR department has completed a functional review report regarding the Code Enforcement Division which highlights opportunities for process and policy improvements. With the expertise of Calvin, Giordano & Associates, alongside support from our internal team, I am committed to advancing any recommendations for improvements.”

A question of quotas

At a Dec. 10 meeting, Commissioner Rob Long cited a code enforcement officer’s personnel file that faulted the employee for not issuing at least five warnings or specific violations to residents every day.

“We have a quota to violate,” Long said, “which is exactly the opposite of how we should be running the department.” He wants code enforcement to be moved out of the troubled Neighborhood & Community Services Department and put under the control of the police, an idea a previous commission rejected 10 years ago.

Pressed by Long, Moore did not address the quota question, and that’s another problem. When his bosses demand specifics, the manager obfuscates, using bureaucratese like “corrective action” and “process improvement opportunities.” They talk past each other without speaking directly to each other — a sign of bigger trouble ahead.

The Sun Sentinel obtained a Dec. 6 email from City Attorney Gelin to Sammie Walthour, the department head who oversees code enforcement, who’s leaving at the end of the year. Gelin wrote: “There appears to be a quota related to issuing NOVs (notices of violations). This, in my opinion, is akin to a police department requiring its officers to issue a certain amount of traffic tickets each day. Florida law prohibits traffic ticket quotas and, frankly, while not expressly prohibited by law, Code should follow similar guidelines.”

Delray Beach City Commissioner Juli Casale.

We commend the Delray leaders, particularly Casale, for persistence in demanding answers to what’s wrong with Delray’s code enforcement division. In a Sun Sentinel interview, she called Moore “inept,” and said: “There’s never a time when I feel satisfied how he’s handling things.”

Casale can be tough, but badgering the manager in public rarely achieves results, and it rankles Carney, who’s usually a stickler for order.

So keep probing, and do it forcefully and respectfully.

On the campaign trail last spring, all three new leaders — Casale, Carney and fellow Commissioner Tom Markert — won convincingly, and all three had the endorsement of this Editorial Board.

It’s time for all three to deliver on their campaign promises of greater transparency and more aggressive oversight of city operations. Repairing the mess in city code enforcement is one of the best ways to do that.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.

Originally Published: December 20, 2024 at 2:06 PM EST