(July 13) The county of San Bernardino and the cities of Hesperia and Victorville, along with the town of Apple Valley will soon be pooling their code enforcement resources, pursuant to an agreement ratified by the county board of supervisors this week.
Code enforcement at the county level for the last several years has fallen under the purview of the county’s land use services department.
Christine Kelly, the director of county land use services, called upon the board of supervisors to “approve a memorandum of understanding among the North Desert Cities of Adelanto, Hesperia and Victorville (North Desert Cities), the town of Apple Valley, and the county of San Bernardino for cooperative code enforcement activities.”
Kelly said she wanted the county “to enter into a non-financial memorandum of understanding to partner with participating North Desert Cities to conduct code enforcement sweeps for the purpose of finding, identifying, and correcting violations. In June 2011, representatives from the North Desert Cities, the town of Apple Valley, and the county met to discuss the feasibility of establishing a system for coordinated, multijurisdictional code enforcement sweeps in the Victor Valley. There was agreement that the jurisdictions have a shared interest in resolving nuisance and blight conditions in their neighborhoods, which often crosses (sic) jurisdictional lines. There was support among the participating jurisdictions for establishment of a ‘mutual aid’ type of agreement in which partner agencies would share resources to support targeted, limited term code enforcement sweeps. The city of Adelanto volunteered to take the lead in developing a draft memorandum of understanding to establish a legal framework for cooperative code enforcement activities and outline the roles and responsibilities of each participating agency.
“While it has taken some time to draft a memorandum of understanding that covers all the legal obstacles, the city of Adelanto has drafted the memorandum of understanding, which has been reviewed by county counsel staff who have advised that the county’s concerns over legal issues have been addressed,” Kelly continued. “Once all jurisdictions have approved the memorandum of understanding, the sweeps will begin to be scheduled and target areas will be confirmed.”
According to Kelly, “Each participating jurisdiction will cover the costs associated with their staff members during the sweeps. If there are any specific forms or tools needed for a particular job, the corresponding jurisdiction will furnish the necessary items.”