From: <%20JohnRButcher@attbi.com%20>
To: Pfohl, Tim <TPfohl@dhcd.state.va.us>; Maurice Shaw <MShaw.dit@state.va.us>; Jones, Holly Anna <hjones@tax.state.va.us>; Epes, Chuck (@work) <CEpes@SaveTheBay.cbf.org>; Epes (at home) <epes1@mindspring.com>; Clark, Libby <JunkDiver@aol.com>
Cc: Green, Zoe Ann <ZAGreen@aol.com>
Subject: Squalor
Date: Thursday, July 29, 1999 6:35 PM

David Hicks sent his deputy, Kevin Purnell, to the follow-up meeting last night at Zoe Anne Green's lovely house (Franklin near Roseneath, a beautiful, urban neighborhood).

I expect the usual, thorough minutes from Zoe Anne, so I will just report my own impressions.

The group has demanded, and Hicks has promised, no more talk on the sites subject to presentments: 1603 Claremont, 3914 and 3916 Chamberlayne, 3013-15 Cutshaw, 2212 W. Grove, 105 N. Blvd. I told Purnell that Squalor is not the right tool for 1603, Lukanuski is moving on the civil side, and Purnell please should focus his energy on Chamberlayne. The problem there is the persistent drug market at 3916.

In the past, Squalor has not been aggressive. They set no deadlines on settlement negotiations, which thus tended to go on forever. Hicks now promises to get aggressive.

The major impression I brought home is that the pusillanimity of the code enforcement people is a general phenomenon. I heard story after story of zoning, code, and environmental cases that had been ignored, handed off, dropped. Health refuses cooperate, period. The trouble with more aggressive Squalor activity is that it will validate the bureaucrats' inclination to hand off their tough problems to Squalor, whether or not Squalor is the right tool for the problem. 

Squalor alone often will not be the right tool. Squalor is a jackhammer: Very powerful and very messy. If you want to dig through pavement, you need one. If you want to tighten a 9/16" bolt, the jackhammer won't help a bit.

The lesson I learned is that the City will have to centralize these cases if it ever is to get serious results. There will have to be a central person, with the ability to reach into his administrative toolbox and select the tool that fits the problem. 3916 Chamberlayne, for instance, will be a tough nut for Squalor. The landlords have hired private security and they can claim they are trying. What that building needs is a fence-to-fence examination by Code, Zoning, Health, and Fire. As CJ Armstrong preaches. Drug dealers are not good tenants. They make messes and they create disorder, and those are the traction points where the landlord or, if necessary, the City can grab hold without having to deal with the difficulty of proving the person is a dealer.

End of sermon.

The other Good News of the evening is that the Intercontinental and Richmond motels both have been sold, and the lovely Central motel closed on July 13.

I'll send you the minutes when Zoe Anne does her Thing.

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