Calls to Code Enforcement: Safety Concern or Political Harassment?

I am living in a house that I have been working on since Sept. 2009.

I am doing improvement to this house that far exceeds the expectations of the area. I must stress that I am not saying this to brag. I am saying this to make a point about two “stop work” orders placed on my door within the last six months.

I am working slowly for three reasons:

1.  I am a full-time student at DePaul University.

2.  I am doing the work myself.

3.  I do not use cheap materials.

What is irritating is that some individual(s) (I have no idea of who it is, or if it is a political issue, although I assume that it is) are making anonymous calls to the Chicago Heights Code Enforcement office.

The code enforcement office runs pretty efficient, with guidelines that are self-maintaining.

I think that Don Garcia is an excellent director of code enforcement. I have heard him from outside of his office correcting misconduct and procedures done incorrectly (which has nothing to do with my current concenrs). It seems that he wants to run an efficient office. When things are brought to his attention he is proactive in correcting them. I could not be happier with his performance.

Here's the problem: Someone found it prudent to call Code Enforcement about a sewer line I have been repairing, insinuating that the hole I dug was unsafe.

The issue I have with this is that there are an enormous amount of open, abandoned houses in Beacon Hill. We have a fire hydrant that has been missing for thre years. We have a sidewalk that has been missing for a year. Last on my list of items in dire need of repair: the fact that we have sidewalks that are not passable because of vegetation overgrowth.

These are items that truly are an issue of safety in Beacon Hill.

They are safety hazards because:

1.  Some malicious person could pull an unsuspecting passerby into a vacant house.

2.  Vacant houses offer a place for vagrants and drug user to loiter.

3.  Overgrown vegetation forces residents to walk in the streets.

4.  Missing sidewalks are nothing but a safety hazard.

5.  Missing fire hydrants endanger the residents of that immediate vicinity, because they do not have adequate fire protection.

It is silly and irresponsible to make reports to Code Enforcement on a house – that merely from its improvements is making the neighborhood better – when there are so many real dangers to Beacon.

Responsible reporting of real dangers is a better utilization of our city’s resources.