County attorney code enforcement court process

1:57:16Mr. Steinsteiner, do you have anything, sir?

1:57:18Um in response to Commissioner Starkey's earlier comment, um currently the East Side County Court is not hearing county ordinance violations. West Side is only holding a few arrangements via Zoom, not in person. Um they are backlogged March, April and May. Um they're you they're trying to hear fifty at a time. Um they're not doing trials. Um

1:57:52And we've asked that code limit their uh enforcement actions to life health safety concerns. The problem is that if they write citations, we have no way of Putting on the citation form when their arraignment is going to be because the court system has not made that available to us.

1:58:13So what's the process now? Someone goes out there and says, Hey, would you mind getting this garbage cleaned up? Thanks very much. Is that what we're doing?

1:58:21I would imagine they're issuing warnings.

1:58:24Are they issuing warnings?

1:58:28I mean that w that's my understanding is we're issuing warnings but we're working on voluntary compliance because we can't issue citations.

1:58:33So I could since this has been put in the system and I and one day I want to talk about that system. Um so so I can go and see what code enforcement has done at this address? As far as issuing warnings?

1:58:47My understanding is they are issuing warnings and thank you for the clarification, sir, because I should have said the life safety aspect of the citation. But I know that there's some challenges associated with the information and we're working on that and I'd love to meet with you and go over that.

1:59:06I'd love to meet with you for sure. Um but I I'd need a solution. I I status quo i isn't gonna work it. I'm I'm I'm not happy with just leaving it like that. to say it's not open so we can't do anything, but issue a warning. What what other is there anything else creative we can do to to get some something going so people don't have to live like like that, live next door to something like that. Rats coming in their house. And they can't go in their backyard. I mean,

1:59:37it's hot out there. This this garbage I it it was st it stunk.

1:59:45If it's a life health safety issue, we can go to court for an injunction if it gets to that level. But your routine code enforcement matters are not get getting heard in court. I can't do anything about that, Commissioner.

2:00:01Why can't we just go ahead and um Uh give them something and then when court opens and maybe their court date is a long way away but we can go ahead and let 'em know we're gonna take 'em to court when it opens.

2:00:17Your citations have a to be a validly issued citation, you have to give them their arraignment date. We don't have any arraignment dates to put on those citations currently. I'm hoping that that will change in not to the not too distant future, but I don't have arraignment dates.

2:00:36So if we had a magistrate instead of this kind of system, would we have been able to move forward?

2:00:44You'd be able to be bringing them in, yes, but y I don't know that your compliance would be any better. Because traditionally a magistrate is ignored. That's why we're in the system we're in.

2:01:02Mr. Chairman Mariano.

2:01:02So I think you guys go ahead, sir.

2:01:04Just as a thought. Um And I think I think Commissioner Starkey I I feel your frustration. Is there a Do other counties have different ordinances in place that give them more power to actually go after these things with a little bit more ease?

2:01:20Oh this it this is the mo the the Most jurisdictions strive for the system you have in place, and most jurisdictions have not been able to get the cooperation of the county courts to hear these these cases. It it's a it's a huge drain on the coun on the court system. So most chief judges in other jurisdictions Put the county

2:01:50commission on a back burner and say you keep doing this but with your lay board Pas the chief judge here in Pasco For as many years as before my arrival here had agreed to it, were in the system. But I talked to county attorneys who tr have tried to move to this system in the last five years. and they get pushback from the court system and they're so they're handling them with lay code enforcement boards, which is the traditional

2:02:21method of doing it. But

2:02:25Yeah. When you go in before a bunch of citizens

2:02:32You're really in a other than uh and and you're willing to have liens put on your property

2:02:40And it's your homestead, there's really nothing you can do. That that system fails on the homeowner. level because nobody really is willing yeah, they don't pay attention to it. Okay. And so this is the s this is this is the best system out there from my best we

2:02:59can be in. All right. Um I want to just pick on one thing, Commissioner Starkey you did mention that might help may not help with this specific situation, but Um Some of the old private utilities when they had their utilities set up they had the When you had utilities set up you had trash pickup already booked in the system. It was built in that way. And you mentioned again today. We've talked about it before. I think it's something We should go look at Uh with Pasco utilities doing it and then Because Collections is a very expensive part of

2:03:29picking up waste. And we might be able to drop rates down If we take the collection collection part away and just we're cutting checks, we could also probably control neighborhoods with multiple trucks in there too. So they killed du two birds with one stone. Maybe that's something we need to bring back up at some point.

2:03:45So a thought uh uh following up on what you're saying, um and trying to figure out the legality of this. Is it possible that we could say if you're a Pasco County utilities customer, you also have to have garbage pickup? Is that legal?

2:04:05You can

2:04:07You can adopt an ordinance that would have mandatory garbage pickup.

2:04:13If they don't have mandatory garbage pick up, that would be a violation of the ordinance and you'd have to go through the county citation process.

2:04:28But still,

2:04:29sorry, sorry, Chairman, but I'm gonna use the F word

2:04:32again.

2:04:33The only way out of this box uh for garbage pickup is to franchise haulers. and make garbage pickup mandatory and make it a governmental service. That's the way you get garbage picked up. But that requires franchising for it to be meaningful. I I mean I can we can prepare an ordinance that m has mandatory co Pick up but y it's Yes, you're back to the code enforcement process to try and get compliance.

2:05:02But but is it legal to say can we make rules for Pasco County Attorney that say if you're a Pasco County utility customer You must have A garbage contract? I mean isn't that kind of an inter isn't that a way around Doing the F word?

2:05:23So

2:05:26I don't know that Mike is gonna wanna turn service off i if i if you if you f refuse to have a uh a garbage contractor. I mean uh

2:05:37Well how about this? If you don't pick one we'll we'll pick one for you. And it's added to your Bell or whatever. That's franchising.

2:05:47Yeah.

2:05:50I mean that's a good

2:05:52th there is a come on Jack, put your mind to this. There's a way to solve this.

2:05:56I think we should look at this. Well can we so we're we're in a very, very long discussion right now.

2:06:03I mean we I know we have some things that need to be answered. But I think we g this concession can can go on

2:06:09Chairman, just real quick to Commissioner Starkey, uh if you haven't had a neighborhood cleanup here, maybe it's time to do it in this neighborhood and I I would obviously approve it. I mean it's I'm just thinking maybe it's something you do in the next month. throw it together with code and they can go out and educate people. That's what's worked out good out in Moon Lake for for us is, you know, actually going out there and Getting to know the residents, talking to 'em about why and how and all those things, not just citing them. I'm just throwing it out there. I I don't know if you've had a cleanup there but

2:06:39We we do it at least annually in Holiday Lakes. Okay. I'm just asking. But they still throw all the furniture in the ditches and people just throw it in the front yard, neighbor's yard. But we'll w we'll work on that again. But I I think that's an interesting kind of thread to to go down. But but we'll have save the discussion again for another time.

2:07:01Okay. Um clerk's office? Anything? Uh nothing at this time. Thank you. Great, thanks.