A lack of interest to serve the community forces Palmetto to look in a new direction

It’s a combination of people having no interest in serving on the code enforcement board and the existing board members just being too nice to their neighbors. Whichever is more accurate, it’s just not working for Karla Owens, development services director for the city of Palmetto, who also oversees the code enforcement department.

Owens wants to disband the citizen code enforcement board in favor of a special magistrate, who would act as a judge in a quasi-judicial hearing.

“The city has a seven-member board, which can be unwieldy when you have to have four for a quorum, and that’s been a problem getting,” Owens said. “I’m not pointing the finger at anyone, but the board is made up of people living in the city, so you have neighbors judging neighbors, and that’s a difficult thing. It’s human nature to have the tendency to give extension after extension.”

But that doesn’t help the city reach its code enforcement goals, Owens said. She pointed to one case where an individual has been given monthly extensions, “and she still hasn’t cleaned anything up. That’s a common problem and we also have inconsistent applications of the process because some board members are absent from one meeting and another is absent at the next so one is not familiar with the other and it’s inconsistent. I want more uniform and consistency.”

Owens said a special magistrate is typically an attorney who has been practicing in Florida for at least five years with a background in code enforcement law.

“The same rules would be followed, but it would be an individual with a legal background instead of seven residents,” she said.

Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach and Manatee County all use the special magistrate as opposed to a board.

Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant supports the move, noting, “It’s time to do this now after receiving another resignation. I’d rather do this now than wait for someone new to come on the board then go through this process. It appeals to me because it would be more efficient and more effective.”

City attorney Mark Barnebey said the city would not incur any additional costs because they already pay a law firm to counsel and advise the board. Barnebey will bring an amended ordinance before the commission in early January to move the process forward.

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 4:24 PM with the headline "A lack of interest to serve the community forces Palmetto to look in a new direction."