East Haven Mayor's "Code Enforcement" Committee Tackles 706 Reports in 3 Years

East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr. announced today that, since January of 2012, his “Code Enforcement” Committee has addressed and resolved 706 reports ranging in seriousness from simple blight violations to serious health infractions.

Maturo explained, “The purpose of the “Code Enforcement” committee is to address both resident complaints and code violations observed by Town officials. I am pleased that we are actively addressing these concerns and, at the same time, that the number of repeat complaints has been on the decline since my return to office.”

Neither the Town Charter nor any ordinance mandates the Town to have a “Code Enforcement” Committee. Rather, the committee is a creation of Mayor Maturo, who began holding the supervisory meetings during his first term in office in order to follow up on concerns voiced by residents.

Maturo explained, “When a citizen e-mails or calls my office or another department with a complaint, we always take immediate action to try to address the complaint. However, in addition, we keep track of the complaints and then the Code Enforcement committee reviews them monthly to ensure that they’ve been adequately addressed and discusses any further action that needs to be taken in response.”

According the to the minutes of the meetings, each monthly Code Enforcement meeting includes the Mayor, the Police and Fire Chiefs, the Fire Marshal, the Zoning Enforcement Officer, the Building Official, the Public Works Director, a representative from the East Shore Health Department, the Town Attorney, and a representative of the Mayor’s office.

Maturo continued, “In the past three years, my team and I have tackled a host of resident complaints. We routinely address blight violations including cars parked on lawns, overgrown grass, and noise. At the same time, we’ve tackled some serious issues including a bedbug infestation at a local apartment building. Issues like the bedbug infestation were reviewed at several meetings and, in that case, the advice and supervision of several members of the committee was required to solve the problem.”

Based on numbers released from the Town, the Town has resolved an average of almost 5 incidents per week since the committee began meeting. Over the past three years, the number of incidents has also declined, a statistic that the Mayor cites as proof of the committee’s effectiveness.

Maturo noted, “Our committee strives to quickly and permanently resolve resident complaints and code violations. I believe the drop in the number of reports is direct evidence that when our committee resolves an issue, we resolve it so that it does not come back.”

Maturo concluded, “I encourage residents who have concerns to call my office or, for that matter, any Town office. I assure our residents that if an issue requires action by my Code Enforcement Team, we will do whatever is necessary to resolve the matter quickly and fairly.”