Government At It’s Worst: How To Spend a Day of Begging and Pleading to Save Your Home with the Powers that Be at New Orleans City Hall
954-56 Telemachus by Karen Gadbois (This is the house referenced in this post.)
I went to Code Enforcement today (Friday, January 4th, 2008) with a homeowner trying to get his house off the list.
First off all property owners should be prepared to be met with disdain and derision by a code enforcement official. He told this property owner that he should talk to the US Postal Service if he did not receive mail notification from the City.
The code enforcement official then told the owner that he should be prepared to produce a mold certificate. The owner had treated the plaster walls himself. Nonetheless he was asked to produce more evidence that his house was sound. The homeowner then told the code enforcement official that he had a contractor working on the house today. The code enforcement official asked him what the contractor was doing. The code enforcement official left the room to get the owners file and when he returned he told him he only needed to take photos of the interior. So somewhere between the desk and the file cabinet he changed his mind.
Then I brought the file for The “triplets” on Franklin Ave. One of the triplets has been removed from the list, the one that actually has some damage. The code enforcement official told me I had to do an interior inspection for mold., I told him there was no water inside he said there was. He said, She said. So I asked him to get the flood depth maps for me to clarify what the depth was.
He then went out and brought back the file and an administrative assistant. These 3 houses are difficult to advocate for because they are exactly alike except for the color. So, I asked them to pull each file individually with the FEMA photos to match them up. At that point another inspector came in and asked the code enforcement official when could they go to lunch. The code enforcement official then tossed the file at me and said they were “off” the list.
After I left City Hall and went looking for a sharp object to gouge my own eyes out with, I got a call from Peter Morris. Peter owns a house farther down Franklin. He got it taken “off” the list during the 4 day moratorium in August. Matt McBride saw the permit issued, in spite of the fact that it is “off” the list the demolition contractor, DRC, Inc. of flooded car removal fame, was issued a permit.
In addition to it being erroneously issued a permit they have the wrong owner info on the permit, Peter said he has been fighting with the Assessors Office for 2 years to correct the error. So he went to see the safety and permits director and the zoning administrator to ask that they please rescind the permit. A futile effort if ever there was one.
Then Peter asked me if I thought the City was concerned about legal issues. That made me laugh.
So there you have it.
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Karen, I marvel at the fact that you haven’t completely lost your mind trying to deal with all this stuff. If it were me dealing with it, by now I’d probably be spending every day out walking the streets with the colander on my head, arguing with the telephone poles, (or something like that.)
I always wear a colander when entering City Hall
I don’t know how you do it Karen… I was just down at the permits office with a resident trying to bet a permit and was treated with such disdain also. The guy could barely be prodded to listen to my questions and was extremely rude. The residents house didn’t have a damage assessment online and so that opened another can of worms. Ugggg….. such BS.
The idea of the code enforcement official saying it was “off the list” wouldn’t do much to make me feel better. It has to be in writing and most of these people know that, so they won’t put anything in writing. That’s how they cover their hindquarters.
Anyone who lives here should probably have a lawyer on retainage, really.
What City Hall needs besides everything is a true Ombudsman.
They have an office called “Mayor’s Office of Public Advocacy” so I went in and asked them what they do.
They handed me a brochure with all the phone numbers of City Department Heads, you know, the ones you call and no one answers.
We’re all hoping that the Inspector General’s office becomes the Ombudsman. When Robert Cerasoli creates the City Hall organization chart, I’m expecting a real shake up, a furore.
Karen, what can I do to help. Please e-mail me at my e-mail address.