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DEL.ICIO.USJudge gets tough on code violators as commissioner watches
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last week, a special guest visited Recorder’s Court.
She was Lorraine Green, Gwinnett’s District 1 commissioner. She took a day off from work to see the outcome of some specific code violation cases. She had another purpose, too: To see how Judge Patricia H. Muise handled cases that deal with junk cars, overgrown lots and other upkeep issues.
See, Muise has a reputation for being super lenient to residents who fail to maintain their property.
I wrote about this tendency late last year after observing two sessions of Recorder’s Court. And AJC Gwinnett News has gotten a slew of letters from residents disgusted at how fines get waived, cleanup deadlines get extended and testimony about code-scoffers falls on tin ears.
So there was Green Thursday, wearing no disguise, observing the proceedings. A woman who looked like Muise presided over more than 100 cases. It must have been a look-alike.
“She was handing out $300 and $400 fines,” Green told me. “One gentleman was given a $2,500 fine! From what I understand, it was very atypical. I had heard that everything was suspended, that it was a joke.
“I was blown away.”
So were code enforcement officers on hand. During a break, they chatted up Green like she was a rock star. They thanked her, too. Muise, they explained, had never ruled so punitively.
“They were giddy,” said Green, the undisputed elected leader when it comes to fighting neighborhood blight. “They’ve been so demoralized. Our officers believe in what they are doing, and they do a good job. But they see all of their work for naught.”
My attempts to interview Muise for this column were unsuccessful. But I’d like to recycle what she’s told me in the past about her well-known practice of suspending fines and extending deadlines:
“It’s in the best interest of our citizens for those defendants to put their funds toward fixing the problem, rather than paying fines. I impose fines which will be partially suspended if they fix the problem within a specified time period. I find that giving the defendants an incentive to come into compliance gets better results than punishing them.”
So why the about-face?
Perhaps Muise has grown tired of homeowners harping about her being too soft on serial code violators. Maybe a come-to-Jesus meeting she had recently with Commissioner Michael Beaudreau, County Administrator Jock Connell and Green struck a chord. Maybe she wants the county’s $3 million expenditure on a 30-officer Quality of Life enforcement unit to be well spent.
Then again, maybe Muise’s performance on Thursday was to placate Green — for a day, at least.
“I can’t say that she saw me,” Green said. “But the [code enforcement] officers felt that she must have. I would really hope that her behavior was not influenced by my being there. I would hope that she’s had a change of heart. We need her help. If we don’t have a big stick. …”
Code compliance cases are heard in Recorder’s Court every Thursday beginning at 8:30 a.m.
Maybe Green can sit in every week.
Permalink | Comments (26) | Post your comment | Categories: Rick Badie
Comments
By Pam
January 30, 2007 08:17 AM | Link to this
I hope Muise will keep it up. If not, the efforts of the code enforcement officers would be useless. Make violators pay and others will learn a lesson. I’m sure the family of violators have the same disrespect for property and if Muise keep up the fines, friends and family will learn from the violators.
By maxine
January 30, 2007 08:26 AM | Link to this
30 Officers in this unit?? With record numbers of homicides (6 people in that unit by the way), is having the grass cut going to prevent one person from killing another??? This is absurd!
By Jason
January 30, 2007 08:45 AM | Link to this
Mrs. Green is the only one of our commissioners with any lick of sense. She is a determined woman and very reasonable. The rest of them leave a lot to be desired. 30 officers for a clean and beautiful unit is outrageous, maybe she should turn her attention there next.
By Robert
January 30, 2007 09:14 AM | Link to this
Maxine - You can either wait until areas fall into advanced decay and become overrun with murders and such, or you can be proactive. The cost of a typical murder investigation, arrest and trial in Gwinnett very conservatively equates to the annual salaries of roughly 40 Police Officers – thus the most cost effective approach has proven to be the preventive one, and Lorraine is unquestionably leading the charge. The inevitable nay sayers and negative Nellies aside, reclamation efforts in formerly failing neighborhoods have in fact clearly worked brilliantly well – crime in my neighborhood has dropped to ZERO over the past few years, property values are up, and it is a nice place to live again. The downside is that residents have to be concerned and involved, becoming part of the solution rather than the only alternative, part of the problem.
By Pablo
January 30, 2007 09:46 AM | Link to this
FYI, there’s quite a difference between Planning and Development’s dozen or so Compliance Officers and the “QOL” (Quality of Life) group. The latter are uniformed and well equipped Police Officers, fully capable and more than happy to enforce any other broken laws that they happen to run across. Much like the “foot patrols” of years past, they have done a great job of cleaning up tons of other problems during their neighborhood sweeps before they became even more serious. Keep up the great work!
By fed-up
January 30, 2007 09:54 AM | Link to this
plain and simple——-IT,S CALLED COVERING HER BUTT!!!!!!.
By Bruce Wilcox
January 30, 2007 10:10 AM | Link to this
Both Robert and Maxine have excellent points and both have to be addressed equally. One can argue that the thirty officers could be better used as a Task Force unit to control and contain the crime ridden area’s instead of being an extention of the code enforcement unit. You can not ignore the area’s that are already gone in favor of prevention of the one’s that are on that fine line.
Hire more officers and do both, our population is nearing 700,000, we just do not have enough officers.
And as much as I love to bust on the commissioners I have to give Commissioner Green credit for taking care of a problem we had with animal control, they finally showed up and the problem is under control.
By Chuckie
January 30, 2007 11:09 AM | Link to this
Your wish has already been answered. Both the QOL and Compliance Officers are now under the GCPD chain of command, and are indeed used to control, contain and rehabilitate already crime ridden areas as well as to prevent others from becoming that way in the first place. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but the cures have not been ignored either, lest the cancer continues and spreads. Fortunately for growing numbers of us the “already gone” concept has proven to be an invalid one – long forgotten neighborhoods have in fact been reclaimed, mine included. I’m seeing more and more stories like ours every day – we just have to wake up, roll our sleeves up, get out there, walk the neighborhoods, get involved, and pitch in – know the ordinance, call and use it!
By Bruce Wilcox
January 30, 2007 11:42 AM | Link to this
The media also contributes to the misconception that the entire area is “gone”. You always hear the crime happened in Norcross or Lilburn, both blanket large areas where many, no make that the majority, have well maintained neighborhoods, but still they wear the label. One person actually used a phone book and condemed an entire section!
The Task Force concept was used in New York City to take back Times Square. The pressure was kept on 24/7, it took a lot of manpower and money, but the result was worth it. Sweeps do not work, look at Iraq or Nam as examples, it has to be a concentrated effort. If you say this is what is being done I’ll take your word for it. It just doesn’t explain the record number of murders and increasing gang activity.
By David
January 30, 2007 11:47 AM | Link to this
If a window is broken, most likely by one of our less than legal vistors from the South, when they break into your house . and they county has done nothing to deter these “visitors” than should the County not replace the window not fine the homeowner for having a broken window
By Ratico
January 30, 2007 12:58 PM | Link to this
Just tell the county the window broken by less than legal visitors from the South used to break into your house had cigarette buts scattered all around on the floor mixed in with the glass shards and the entire house smell like shyt from smoked tobacco. They may not replace your windows but more than likely the county will replace the less they legal visitors from the South with new ones that don’t smoke.
By Janet_G
January 30, 2007 01:36 PM | Link to this
Thirty officers for clean and beautiful is not many when you look at the size and population of Gwinnett County. There are over 700,000 people in Gwinnett right now, living in over 200,000 households. That equates to each clean and beautiful officer having to cover over 6,000 households.
Currently, there is already funding available in the Gwinnett county budget to hire more police officers, but the problem is finding qualified people. The money is there. The job applicants are not.
Gwinnett Village recently hired a security expert who had a career in law enforcement come in and do a crime study for the area. You can read the study at http://www.gwinnettvillage.com/bbs/files/GV%20Security%20Slides%20LA.ppt
He had three top priority recommendations to fight crime in that area, 1) was to correct code violations that create a visual perception that an area is run down and that the people who live there don’t care 2) was to establish a zero-tolerance policy for prostitution and 3) was to shut down gang activity.
He also recommended that the task force created for code enforcement should be a short term buildup of police officers and that eventually, once things were more under control, then the function should be contracted out to a private contractor who would handle code enforcement. This might be the solution for Gwinnett County as a whole also.
The bottom line is that when an area appears to be clean and well-cared for, it is less inviting to criminals. Code enforcement is a necessary and vital part of fighting crime in Gwinnett and anywhere else.
By J. Wright in Lawrenceville
January 30, 2007 01:38 PM | Link to this
I hope Muise realizes that she was elected to do a job. We have a big problem in Gwinnett County with property violations. In my opinion, i think she was putting on a front because Rick Badie and Greene was there. She be a fool if she doesn’t enfore penalties against re-peated violators. The bottom line is that we mean business and that means that we are going to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions. And for those homeowners who are violating the ordinances, get your act together or suffer the consequences. I live in within the City of Lawrenceville (city limits) and our QOL unit is doing a great job. We are still in the early stages but we will get our community back over time.
By Stacy
January 30, 2007 02:15 PM | Link to this
A few weeks ago an older gentlemen came to court for several cars in his driveway that were not registered. He was fined $250 each violation by a stand-in judge. He was retired and living on Social Security. Had he been given a chance to remove the vehicles, possibly he would have done so. He was unaware of the county ordinance he had violated. Now, I image this gentlemen will do without some basic needs. Possibly food, medicine, etc. This is the “horrible” crime he commited. Now folks with no driver’s license, no tags, no insurance, etc. don’t even pay this much in fines. Now what is equal about that!!! Judge Muise is fair and she does these “horrible” citizens well to give them time to comply! Remember to come see for yourself. Not just listen to the loud mouth folks who look to the worst in folks. Maybe even someday it will be “YOU” who commit such a “horrible” crime and given the chance to make it right!
By Roberto
January 30, 2007 02:43 PM | Link to this
In fact I quite regularly attend Recorder’s Court sessions as well as doing frequent record-checking after the proceedings, and that case just doesn’t jump out at me – do you have a specific name and/or date that the case was heard? Normally the process takes at least two warning letters plus a citation, representing three good chances over at least a 90-day period to do as the written notices say, mainly “call us if you have questions.” Something just doesn’t match up here to what I have all too often witnessed over Her Honor’s limp wristed term – I’m betting that there is much more to this story.
By Bruce Wilcox
January 30, 2007 02:44 PM | Link to this
Stacy everyone gets thirty days to correct a violation and on the letter the owner receives it clearly outlines which ordinance has been broken.
By Liz
January 30, 2007 03:37 PM | Link to this
Standard P&D procedure is Initial Warning (a “you may be in violation” letter), Notice of Violation, Final Warning, Citation - usually about 90 days to that point plus another 30 days if a court visit becomes necessary, but then again I’ve only been doing this for about 8 years (my “resolved” stack sits about 4 inches tall). Certain serious issues considered to be a threat to public safety can be dealt with more quickly. Our neighborhood as well has gone from nice to crappy and since back to terrific as a result. One just needs to stay on top of things, know the law, and wear out some shoes.
By Michael H. Smith
January 30, 2007 03:59 PM | Link to this
Nice follow-up Mr. Badie. Let us hope the Judge continues to issue her rulings in this manner.
By Bruce Wilcox
January 30, 2007 05:22 PM | Link to this
What I find interesting is how people have let their neighborhoods slide down so far that suddently they need this special effort to take them back.
As one said, “One just needs to stay on top of things, know the law, and wear out some shoes.”, if only they thought sbout it before.
By ILikeMike
January 30, 2007 05:23 PM | Link to this
This was nothing more than a campaign appearance by Commissioner Green. This situation has been going on for the past few months? Please. Why didn’t she make an appearance in 2006? Bottom line…didn’t know didn’t show.
Green or Bannister for Chairman in 2008? “None of the Above” would win without a runoff.
By joseph
January 30, 2007 06:50 PM | Link to this
Oh, Mike lover give it a rest.
I don’t see Mikey taking time off from work to ‘work’ for us!! The lady did something good - leave it at that. At least she’s trying - don’t see ANYONE else doing anything - including Mikey.
By Jean Ebert
January 30, 2007 10:20 PM | Link to this
I applaud Rick Badie for making this a hot topic lately, and also applaud Lorraine Green for taking notice and taking action. One of my neighbors received a hefty fine for their violations on Thursday and Mrs. Green has given some personal attention to this property. The property was not being improved despite many reports and citations about their property over the years. Once Mrs. Green was made aware of the problem with this property and looked into it herself she did something! It will be interesting to see if Judge Muise is as tough on offenders in coming weeks. I know I will be watching.
By Bob
January 31, 2007 11:38 AM | Link to this
Indeed, we too have seen our neighborhood slide and we have similarly fought and reclaimed it, but as might be derived from Rick’s piece the “it just happened” scenario is not the case. We started our efforts (in cahoots with dozens of other terrific activists around Gwinnett) when the blight first came knocking, but due to the understaffed compliance group (left by the Hill legacy) and lacking court system the improvements were slow in coming. It truly does take some sweat and lots of shoe leather to become aware and make it work, but it does - get out and get involved.
What most do not know is that Lorraine has indeed been the only one thus far to have “walked the walk” - there’s a lot more going on in the background than is apparent right now - stay tuned. FYI, Mike only selectively returns requests for help - a really nice sharp guy, may grow up to be a leader some day.
By DD
January 31, 2007 02:30 PM | Link to this
We got a warning citation for having limbs in the natural area of our yard and a radio in our carport. We had just gathered the limbs that day while listening to the radio. Limbs and a radio don’t equal crime. Personally, I think that all this is a guise for police to come on your property and I have nothing to hide. I’ve lived in Gwinnett over 30 years and I can’t wait to get the he** of here. It’s ironic that I called 911 to report a drunk on Hwy 29 and waited on hold for 15 minutes, hung up and was never called back (which is supposedly policy) but they have staff enough for this!
By Chuckie
January 31, 2007 03:35 PM | Link to this
As nice as it would be to be able to choose the laws we want to obey, life just doesn’t work that way. The reason for the “warning” is that all you have to do is to fix the simple problem and ignore it - problem solved.
Sorry that fate dealt you a bad hand, but it doesn’t sound like enough to ruin a life over.
By Jean Ebert
February 1, 2007 12:02 AM | Link to this
For heavens sake, by the time any property owner gets to court over their code violations, they have been given many warnings and many months to fix the problem(s). If they have no desire to clean up their property when told to do so and then given sufficient time to do so, and still do not clean up….they deserve whatever fine they are given whether they can afford it or not. They could have saved themselves this expense by fixing the problem the first time they are notified about it. Their violations may cost them a few hundred, but it costs me a heck of a lot more in the decline of my property value by living near a habitual offender. I have no sympathy for anyone who recieves a fine because by the time it gets to that point, they have chosen to ignore the laws and standards of Gwinnett County.