Make an Impact in Your County - Volunteer!

In conversations, we often resort to complaining about how bad things are in the areas where we live. Trash, vacant homes, litter, junk cars, commercial vehicles in residential areas, businesses in residential areas, the list goes on. Many of these issues are governed by our Code Compliance (formerly known as Code Enforcement) Division of the County.

Were you aware that with over 700,000 residents in this county, and 269 square miles, it is the third largest county in Georgia? For all that, there are merely 20 Code Compliance officers handling this vast area. Do the math. 

And just to give you an idea of the impact, let’s take a scenario:  A home in your area is vacant/abandoned and in very poor condition, overgrown, broken windows, you name it. You fax over a complaint. It’s assigned to one of 20 Compliance officers, who then conducts a physical inspection of the reported property. No one lives there, so he is unable to give anyone a warning at the time of his inspection. He returns to the office, and begins the property search to find the owners of the property. Now we can break that down into two scenarios: In one case, the bank owns the property, in another, an individual owns the property, and the only contact information for that owner is the very property in violation. The officer has to then make contact with the bank or the owner (good luck on that one), physically go to the owner/bank, and serve a warning and obtain their signature, acknowledging that they have received the warning/citation.

Then, the officer has to gather evidence to take to court, such as the report, any photos, any interviews with other witnesses, etc. After that, the officer gets to spend an undetermined time sitting in court waiting for his case to be heard. THIS IS ONLY ONE CASE. Go back to the beginning of this paragraph and start doing your math on the time.

There is literally no way only 20 officers could possibly perform all the duties for all the complaints evolving from our county. There is, however, a way for us, as citizens of this great county, to help.

Personally, I don’t depend on, or wait for, the county to step in when there is a problem unless it is a confrontational issue in which I should not be involved (with a neighbor, homeowner, etc.), or a large project I cannot tackle (cutting grass on roadways). I clean up my area on an ongoing basis. I do cut some roadway grass, and regularly trim back trees and bushes on roadways that may adversely affect traffic. When going into a store, if I come across trash in my path, I pick it up and dispose of it as I’m entering the store. I regularly pull down illegal advertising signs on telephone poles and stuck on corners at intersections. I reach out to neighbors with overgrown yards and ask if they need help once in a while. I don’t wait to be asked to do something, and I don’t wait to “get involved” in projects, I keep an ever-present mentality of where I live and my own expectations. But that's just me.

Our Homeowners Association schedules regular clean-ups in our area, and participates in county-sponsored clean-ups (by the way, there is one coming up for Memorial Drive on August 27).

Code Enforcement is not the only area where we can help, as citizens, to get our county back to what it once was (remember?). Were you aware you can volunteer your services in many departments? For instance, an hour or two a week at the front desk of your police precinct frees up sworn officers to conduct other, much-needed (and wanted) duties.  There is literally no way for our county employees to tackle all the issues generated from the citizens and the county in its existence…we must be willing to help!

So ask yourself what you can do to make a difference in your community. It doesn’t have to be major, and doesn’t have to be time-consuming, but every little effort adds up and if many do a little, it turns into a major impact!

For more information about Code Compliance, go to: www.dekalbcountyga.gov and click on “planning & sustainability”, then click on “code compliance”. For more information about your police precinct, go to: www.dekalbcountyga.gov and click on “police department." For information about "Volunteer in Police Services" program, contact your local precinct and ask for your ICP officer.