LCI Chief Promises Fine Fix

For over a year, lawmakers have been asking city anti-blight chief Erik Johnson why his department doesn’t issue fines when people don’t shovel their sidewalks. This week Johnson offered a new answer: It’s the DPW’s fault.

Johnson, who was testifying in front of the Board of Alders Finance Committee Wednesday night, said his department, the Livable City Initiative (LCI), has stopped issuing fines for violations of public space requirements, like not shoveling snow off your sidewalk.

There’s no point in issuing such fines, Johnson (pictured) said, because the Department of Public Works (DPW) is in charge of adjudicating them — collecting the fines and dealing with appeals. Public works, according to Johnson, has said that it doesn’t have the manpower to handle its end of the process. So, why bother issuing them?

Johnson said he’s in the process of drafting a proposed ordinance amendment that would solve the problem by transferring the fine-adjudication responsibility from DPW to Transportation, Traffic and Parking.

The LCI chief made those remarks during a marathon budget hearing Wednesday evening. The Finance Committee is examining the mayor’s proposed $511 million budget for the coming fiscal year. Johnson was one of a line of department heads who sat to testify about the work their staff do for the city.

The question of LCI-fine collection has been open since at least last budget season. At a hearing in April 2013, East Rock Alder Jessica Holmes asked Johnson why it had collected no fine payments, despite issuing $77,000 worth of citations between July 2012 and March 2013.

LCI’s public-space fines can cover unmowed grass and illegal dumping, but in practice they are mostly related to unshoveled snow, Johnson said. The fines are separate from more serious fines stemming from LCI’s residential licensing program and its anti-blight actions, which can result in property liens. (LCI has been issuing those fines.)

Last year, Johnson called the absence of fine-collection a matter of manpower. His department lacks the resources to go after scofflaws, he said.

When Mayor Toni Harp submitted her proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2014 – 15, Holmes immediately noticed that LCI’s projected revenue for ticket collections had gone from $50,000 in 2013 – 14 to zero in 2014 – 15.

On Wednesday evening, Holmes asked again: Did LCI collect any money from uncleared-sidewalk fines?

No, said Johnson. LCI didn’t even issue any.

“This is going to sound like a flip answer,” Johnson said. ​“It’s not intended to be.” He said that the public space inspectors used to work out of the Department of Public Works. Those positions were transferred to LCI from DPW, but ​“the ticket adjudication process still sits there.” DPW says it doesn’t have time to pursue fines, Johnson said.

DPW Chief Doug Arndt told the Independent Friday that DPW doesn’t have the manpower to ​“process multiple amounts of citations and appeals.” The department’s staff has fallen from 160 to under 120 over the years, Arndt said. ​“That impact has affected our ability to process this stuff internally.”

“We are going to propose to change the ordinance and propose adjudicating runs through Transportation, Traffic and Parking, like parking ticket adjudication,” Johnson said. He said he hopes to have a new process in place by the fall, before snow starts falling.

“I’m surprised that it has taken this long” to figure out this problem, said Holmes. ​“If it’s not fixed by next snow season, I’ll draft an amendment.”