Budget-Friendly Help Used In Tackling Vacant Home, Code Violation Problems

The cities of Ormond Beach, Florida and Lodi, California have begun resorting to low-cost help in the form of volunteer retirees and police cadets in an attempt to mitigate some of the neighborhood problems frequently associated with foreclosed homes.

• Ormond Beach, Florida: There are two dozen new sets of eyes looking for code violations around the city. On Aug. 8, Ormond Beach kicked off a neighborhood improvement volunteer program that empowers 24 unpaid workers to report sightings of tall grass and abandoned vehicles. "This program will provide Neighborhood Improvement Division staff much-needed assistance and allow them to concentrate their efforts on other types of code violations," reads a memo on the program. The volunteers, all retirees, went through a one-day training program, said Joanne Naumann, the city's Neighborhood Improvement Division manager. [...] The volunteers are especially appreciated with an increasing number of foreclosures in Ormond Beach producing more code violations, Naumann said. For more, see Code violators warned: Beware (Volunteers cruising neighborhood streets).

• Lodi, California: [A]t one point, community improvement officers were backlogged by about 700 calls from residents concerned about empty homes. So Police Lt. Steve Carillo, who oversees the volunteer cadets, suggested enlisting their help. [...] Community improvement officers had been checking on complaints from neighbors, but now cadets can do that without taking the officers' time, Lt. Chris Piombo said. Cadets, who are in their teens and early 20s, can count the time toward their monthly service hours, while getting some experience on the streets. For more, see Lodi Police Cadets helping with problem of vacant homes. ForeclosuresDestroyNeighborhoodsApple