Emphasis On 'Enforcement'

On July 15, Highlands County commissioners were faced with a dilemma. A 78-year-old woman was standing before them, asking that they suspend a $287 fine.

Verdell Deshazior had two dilapidated trailer houses on her property in DeSoto City. After the hurricanes of 2004, the windows blew out of the first one, and she purchased a used replacement.

But after her neighbors complained about the second unit, Code Enforcement Officer April Hartseil investigated and found insulation was falling out, the windows were gone and flooring was damaged. Both homes were condemned.

Deshazior, 78, a retired Miami bus driver whose only income is a $987 per month Social Security check, applied for help. After the county's housing program built a new home for her, they hauled off one trailer, and she agreed to remove the other.

Fast forward to March 2008. Deshazior still hadn't removed the second trailer, and a $287.50 fine was levied. In April, she finally paid a man to disassemble the mobile home and haul it three miles to the county dump.

The question before the commissioners on July 15 was whether they should dismiss or reduce the fine, now that Deshazior had cleaned up the mess.

Commissioner Don Bates was initially ready to help the woman, but Commissioner Barbara Stewart convinced the other three board members not to set a precedent with Deshazior, and see what other cases would be coming to them.

On Friday, Hartseil produced a list of 135 cases that were filed in 2007 and 2008, since attorney Pam Karlson of Lake Placid was hired by the commissioners as a special magistrate to rule on code enforcement cases.

Both Bates and Stewart are pleased with that move. Code enforcement was taking cases to the state's attorney for criminal prosecution, said Hartseil.

Karlson has imposed $50, $100 and $500 a day fines on 12 home or business owners who haven't removed yard junk or old cars. Blue Heron Construction, for example, paid 11 fines totaling $12,300 in 2007 on properties on Golf Club Drive and Heavitree Drive. About 30 cases have been resolved with lighter fines that included the cost of prosecution, a $125 administrative fee, and fines from $100 to $500.

This year, the three code enforcement officers Hartseil supervises have received 642 complaints, found 410 violations, and written 163 citations. Seventeen properties with liens against them have been foreclosed upon. The department has collected only $3,101 in fines since Jan. 1.

But the amount of the fines collected doesn't really matter.

"The ultimate goal," Hartseil said, "is just to get them to comply." Her office is still working on 495 open complaints, but 513 properties have been brought into compliance.

"This is getting done quicker, and it's taking a burden off the courts," said Bates.

"We're getting more compliments on code enforcement," said Stewart. "People talk to me about improvements that have been made. They like to follow the cases they've complained about. But code enforcement is still my number one complaint."

As for Deshazior, a lien has been placed on her property. She still needs more help, clearing her property of concrete blocks, lawn chairs, the wooden frame of an old shed and the debris from those two mobile homes.

"I can't afford to hire it done," Deshazior said. "They want $50 just to mow the yard."