Codewatch Should Go Citywide

Two months after it began in the San Fernando Valley, a volunteer program to identify building and safety code violations has won high marks from Los Angeles city officials. Deservedly so. Now, the pilot program should be expanded citywide. Neighborhood Codewatch trains volunteers to identify minor problems in their community--everything from sofas on sidewalks and cars on lawns to dangerous fences and illegal signs--and then gives them the authority to ask property owners to make the fix.

In the pilot program, nearly half the property owners contacted by the specially trained volunteers cleaned up their violations without a fuss. In return, they got a thank-you card from the volunteers. Each time that happened, city taxpayers saved $400--the average cost for a city inspector to investigate a complaint. City analysts estimate that teams across the city could save taxpayers more than $5.9 million annually. That’s optimistic, but even saving half that much more than justifies the program’s modest administrative costs.

But the real benefit comes from residents taking charge of their own communities rather than waiting for the city’s bureaucracy to process a complaint call. Codewatch trains volunteers and assigns them outside their immediate neighborhoods to minimize the risk of personal vendettas. Plus, volunteers may not trespass on private property. If property owners refuse to comply with volunteers’ requests, a city inspector can be called in.

Yet the current compliance rate of 49.3% suggests property owners are more than willing to be good neighbors. That rate is lower than San Diego’s 75% compliance for a similar program, but is still not bad for a pilot program that’s only two months old. Once the program expands citywide, awareness should jump along with compliance.