By Scott Sherman

Recently, the Audit Committee released the results of a performance audit of the Code Enforcement Division (CED) by the Office of the City Auditor that discovered several needed reforms.

The city of San Diego’s CED is the first line of defense in protecting the quality of life in our neighborhoods and the protection of property values within the city. It is important that the CED division runs at an optimal level. Audit findings include:

1. Tracking system modifications and increased training and oversight are needed to reduce response times for high-priority cases.

2. Increased consistency when issuing fines, penalties, and warnings will improve efficiency, effectiveness, and fairness of code enforcement efforts.

3. Resources expended on some lower-priority violations can be reduced.

4. Performance reports used by CED management, policymakers, and public are inaccurate, and do not measure important metrics including response times and average time to achieve compliance.

5. CED needs a replacement system for its Project Tracking System that is specifically designed for code enforcement use.

This performance audit shows that much needed improvements and reforms are necessary to increase effectiveness within code enforcement. This audit is just the beginning. It is now up to the City Council and code enforcement to implement improvements.

I appreciate all the hard work City Auditor Eduardo Luna and staff put into this comprehensive audit. Rest assured, I will do everything in my power to make sure these audit recommendations are implemented in a timely manner.

To view the full report, click visit the City Auditor’s website at: SanDiego.Gov/Auditor

As always, please feel free to contact my office if we can ever be of help.

––Scott Sherman is the San Diego City Councilmember for District 7. Call his office at 619-236-6677 or email him at scottsherman@sandiego.gov.