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Home My WebLink About4A Public CommentTO: Palm Springs City Council, Justin Clifton, Marcus Fuller RE: May 6, 2021 Council Meeting Agenda Item '#4A as it relates to Code Enforcement, Staff Report Pages 6-7 VRON-PS has reviewed the Staff Report and has some issues and questions with regards to the addition of 4 vacation rental compliance officers and leaving Code Enforcement under the PD and not moving it to the Office of Special Programs. We have included the 1 ½ pages in this communications so you don't have to jump back and forth between the Staff Report and this document. From the Staff Report: As discussed with City Council, Staff is recommending the addition of 6 Code Compliance Officers that will be fully funded with increased Vacation Rental and Cannabis Operations permit fees. These 6 FTEs have been included in the draft FY 21- 22 General Fund Budget. Four of these additional positions will ensure the City can provide more efficient response to Vacation Rental hotline complaints, provide more proactive investigations into illegal operations, and reduce or eliminate the times when currently complaints are referred through PD Dispatch to regular Police Officers when those complaints may be delegated a lower priority given activities occurring at the time. Two of these positions will ensure the City can have assigned Code Compliance Officers to evaluate and inspect Cannabis Operations, including more proactive investigations into odor complaints. VRON issues: We highly question the need for 4 addition FTE's since this drives up the cost of the VR permit fees. This paragraph does nothing to specifically state (no data) what the problems are and what justifies the expansion. 611 South Palm Canyon Drive, #7-120, Palm Springs, CA 92264, 760-792-4280 B/v/ioZI 4 A P Ll 6U C O'JtnmL~ According to our analysis of the VR Code Enforcement response times, the average response time from the complaint call to an officer on-site has gone from 17 to 19 minutes since 2018. This is very reasonable considering it can take 15 minutes to get across town depending on the time of day. Can this actually be improved? It is doubtful. Code Enforcement Officers currently cover Sun-Tues from 7 AM to 7 PM and Wed-Sat from 7 AM to 1 :30 AM. So, maybe 1 FTE is needed to ensure Sun-Tues additional coverage between 7 PM to 1 :30 AM? Where is the data to support/justify the need based on number of complaint calls by day of week/time reports? Based on the data that illegal VRs have dropped dramatically year-over-year since 2017 with only 23 in 2020, and the majority of these are received via anonymous tips, it seems unlikely that additional enforcement is needed. A more viable option to ensure permit compliance would be additional outreach via mailers and media or to use software designed to identify illegal rentals (Lodging Revs or Host Compliance), both options being far less expensive than hiring additional staff. In response to City Council questions regarding the incorporation of Code Enforcement as a Division of the Police Department, Staff offers the following observations: Code Compliance functions and employees were assigned to the Police Department on October 1, 2018 after an administrative evaluation by the City Manager, Police Chief and other Staff. Prior to that time, Code Enforcement functions were disjointed with some Code Compliance Officers allocated to the Building & Safety Department under the supervision of the Building Official, and others allocated to the Vacation Rental Compliance Division. VRON's question: Are the building code complaints and VR complaints handled by anyone in Code Enforcement or are they separate teams? WRON issue: The same reporting system (Jot Form) has been in use since 2017 by the former VRCD and now Code Enforcement under the PD. There was no change or advantage moving this under PD. The transition of Code Enforcement to the Police Department was formalized with the City Council's adoption of the biennial FY 19-20 / 20-21 Budget, following a focused discussion at the May 1, 2019 City Council meeting on personnel changes recommended in the biennial budget. The transition to more coordinated administration of Code Enforcement functions was implemented to ensure all Code Enforcement activities occurred consistent with law given the nature of the work being performed leading to investigations, issuance of legal citations and fines, appeals and in some cases court action. It continues to be Staff's opinion that the most appropriate oversight of the Code Enforcement function is with the Police Department who are well versed in the formal processes relating to investigations, citations and court appearances. 611 South Palm Canyon Drive, #7-120, Palm Springs, CA 92264, 760-792-4280 ~RON question: Under the former OSP management, investigations, citations and appeals were being properly handled. There have only been 3 enforcement actions that resulted in Superior Court lawsuits and the City won all of them. Additionally, after having implemented this transition 31 months ago, Staff's observations include the following: The benefits of having the Code Compliance Unit fall under the umbrella of the Police Department has proven to be vital in meeting the needs of our community. Some of the benefits include the following: • Enhanced the safety of our staff with additional training and equipment. We issued them handheld radios, trained them on effective verbal communication and de- escalation tactics. They receive on-going formal/required training to maintain their state certification as code compliance officers. They also received training on report writing and proper documentation which has assisted in better testimony during public hearings. VRON issue: With the exception of handheld radios, all of the above was required and provided by VRCD/OSP. • Working collaboratively with police officers and detectives in various cases where properties have been identified to be a public nuisance and uninhabitable due to criminal activity. Messaging between Police Department and Code Compliance staff is facilitated by a sworn Police Department manager. The manager is able facilitate the necessary resources to resolve issues and can properly articulate responses, both written and verbally. VRON question: How does "uninhabitable" fall under vacation rentals? Is this a building code compliance issue that has nothing to do with vacation rentals? VRON question: When has a detective ever been needed for a vacation rental issue? VRON issue: To our knowledge there has been only one instance where there was minor incident in 2018 which was later found to be a minor disturbance that was provoked by a signature gatherer to ban vacation rentals. • Ensuring continuity in City-wide messaging and enforcement of a wide variety of Code violations. This was particularly evident with COVID-19 restrictions and emergency orders, where Police Department and Code Compliance personnel worked together to educate and enforce the rapidly evolving regulations. VRON issue: The Police Department Code Enforcement did nothing to convey the plethora of rapidly changing rules and restrictions around Covid-19. Those dispatches were managed by OSP and VRON in a coordinated set of communications. 611 South Palm Canyon Drive, #7-120, Palm Springs, CA 92264, 760-792-4280 • With a wide variety of ways to report complaints, the partnership between Code Compliance and the Police Department has increased the community's accessibility to Code resources. Using Police Department software, the tracking of Code Compliance workflow has drastically improved, ensuring we are able to schedule employees during hours and days of the week that best meet the needs of the City. VRON question: Where is the data/supporting evidence to demonstrate the above referenced "PD software" helping to drastically improve the workflow and schedule employees? 611 South Palm Canyon Drive, #7-120, Palm Springs, CA 92264, 760-792-4280 Anthony Mejia From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: eggert.brian@gmail.com Wednesday, May 5, 2021 8:51 AM City Clerk Jasmine Waits Public Comment -Item I noticed an error on the event sponsorship breakdown for the 21/22 budget line item: Frontrunners Veterans Day Run. This event is NOT SPONSORED OR PRODUCED by Frontrunners. Frontrunners did not receive any city funds in 19/20 for the Veterans Day Run. I believe this is one of the five races Molly Thorpe/Marathon Runners produces. Frontrunners has only received city funding (in-kind) support for the Palm Springs Pride Run in previous budgets. Thank you. 1 's/u/202-1 41'\ V1A01,,e Cvmm€:N1