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Post by Ralph on Dec 14, 2008 15:47:08 GMT -5
I get to talk with some friends down in Codes every now and then and got to hear some wonderful news.
The tablet PC's that the City has them using now don't work once the temperature gets down below 40o!!
They told me that seeing is how they are touch screen units, they are about as useful as frisbees.
They would have much rather had smaller laptops.......cheaper too.
But then no one asks either.
The cars that the City is leasing.....all six of them for $349.00 a month?
They could have bought them direct from Don's Ford for much less.
So much for competitive bidding eh?
Needless to say things down there haven't gotten any better, some comment that they have actually gotten worse.
And now they have possible lay-offs to contend with.
What a wonderful way to run a City.
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Post by bobbbiez on Dec 14, 2008 19:54:13 GMT -5
 Ralph, at the last neighborhood meeting they had people from Codes showing the equipment and how efficient they worked and how the filing system because of the machines took much less time to check on all violations throughout the whole city. Don't know all the facts about the equipment but all at the meeting including our councilman was very impressed. I really have to totally disagree with the statement you were told "that things have gotten worse." I have seen with my own eyes the improvements in W.Utica that the Codes Department has accomplished. Properties are being torned down that have stood for years being a danger and eye sore to the neighborhoods. I have seen properties being fixed up due to the Codes Department finally going after the absentee slum lords that got away with letting their properties decay for years bringing down our neighborhoods. I have seen drug properties being shut down completely with the assistance of the Codes Department that were ignored for years. Sounds to me like someone is holding a grudge and does not like the new Codes Commissioner. Because of what I have witnessed with my own eyes and because of the great improvements in W.Utica alone, I stand firm in defending the Codes Department and the new Commissioner. As far as I'm concerned they are the best we've had in my life time. 
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Post by Ralph on Dec 14, 2008 20:04:27 GMT -5
I wasn't talking about how they operate within the City as it pertains to getting things done, I was talking about within the department.
And the complaints from within cover far more than a single employee.
I think they do a great job, always have. Where things bog down is in the enforcement area, which is outside of the department and in the court system.
The department itself is in for a rude awakening since the funding from the county is being cut though.
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Post by bobbbiez on Dec 14, 2008 20:55:49 GMT -5
Nope, not them in for a rude awakening. It'll be us here in Utica when we start to see the city decaying again because of the cuts. 
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Post by Ralph on Dec 15, 2008 1:16:05 GMT -5
Not necessarily. The bulk of the work done down at Codes is doing DSS and other related inspections for the County.
Someone down at City Hall just needs to grow a set and tell the County they can do their own damn inspections when they cut the purse strings.
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Post by Clipper on Dec 15, 2008 9:19:40 GMT -5
Exactly Ralph. Stick it back on Picente's plate and let him deal with it. Roefaro obviously doesn't have to balls to do it, but maybe the council does. The new practice of passing down responisbility instead of making pure and simple cuts is ridiculous. The county requires the inspections for DSS occupied houses, so the county needs to pay for codes to inspect them or inspect them themselves, period. Wouldn't it be great to be able to see the line items in the budget and make OUR OWN suggestions as to where the cuts should be?? Well that is the ONLY way that a savings to the taxpayer is ever going to happen, and I don't see it coming any time in the near future. The feds dump it in the laps of the state, the state dumps it on the county, who in turn relegates the costs to the city, who in turn PUTS IT ON YOU THE TAXPAYER. Cuts get made at all levels and passed on down, but for some reason the cuts never reach the wallets of the taxpayer.  How the hell does that work?? Hmmm. It's magic folks. The politicians all "save money" but it still costs you the same amount or more. Something wrong with that picture huh? |
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Post by bobbbiez on Dec 15, 2008 18:07:40 GMT -5
Ralph, I know most are doing DSS and others but those are the properties in Utica that needed to be addressed. These properties are owned by absentee landlords who didn't care about their properties. They just collected their rents and let their properties fall apart. That is why the neighborhoods in Utica looked like sh*t. Utica's Codes Department has changed all that in the last year and have cleaned up our neighborhoods by making the slum lords accountable or they just shut them down. Do I trust putting it in the hands of the County now? HELL NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
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Post by Ralph on Dec 16, 2008 0:43:01 GMT -5
Utica's Codes Department has changed all that in the last year and have cleaned up our neighborhoods by making the slum lords accountable or they just shut them down. This has been going on for a number of years, you are just seeing it more now over there than you did. That and the City is finally allowing Nuisance Abatement to be used as we intended it |
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Post by bobbbiez on Dec 16, 2008 1:49:58 GMT -5
Ralph, I have seen no improvements here in W.Utica until the new C. Commission took over. He is the one who has started to enforce the laws that were on the books and going after the absentee slum lords that had numerous complaints against them. He is the one who got the old Melee's site cleaned up and the remaining building boarded up which was a danger and was that way for over 5 years now. Sorry, but have to give credit where it's due. We finally have someone in that position that is getting the job done and quickly and I don't want to see us slide backwards again if the County takes over.
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Post by Ralph on Dec 16, 2008 1:57:22 GMT -5
By all means give credit where it is due! It is nice to see someone push for West Utica instead of avoiding it. I don't think there is any danger in the County taking control or even delving into the Codes business. When we get together I will fill you in on some of the old problem and the solution that didn't work.  |
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Post by bobbbiez on Dec 16, 2008 11:39:23 GMT -5
Ok kiddo, we'll talk soon. With me and my old way of thinking, I just can't see fixing something that's not broke.
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Ralph, at the last neighborhood meeting they had people from Codes showing the equipment and how efficient they worked and how the filing system because of the machines took much less time to check on all violations throughout the whole city. Don't know all the facts about the equipment but all at the meeting including our councilman was very impressed. 
