What Happened to Seminole Heights Code Inspector Dawn Colvin?
Here we find out.
Code Violation Agency Target Of Inquiry
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By LAURA KINSLER lkinsler@tampatrib.com
Published: May 12, 2006
TAMPA - Mayor Pam Iorio's revamped code enforcement department made a splash in 2003 when it condemned the End Gate Mobile Home Park in east Tampa.
The same day the mayor led a gaggle of news reporters and photographers through the park, code inspector Dawn Colvin sneaked behind a condemned trailer and lighted a marijuana cigarette, according to a department investigation.
56 comments:
We are looking at buying a house in the historic district. Does anyone have an idea of what requirements might apply to adding a real driveway and garage?
OMG! No wonder people get away with so much crap in this City. Everyone is STONED!!!!! Maybe that's why the guy who lives across the street from me hasn't had to paint his house, replace his rotten wood, tow his inop cars, let his overgrowth take over the lawn AND my personal favorite...the ever present freakin' scaffolding that seems to migrate only when pressed by code...every five years or so. This is un-freakin-believable! Two things that piss me of: #1 who the F are Curtis Lane and/or Doherty to withhold possible evidence to the police and #2 Dawn was one of the "better" inspectors out there. Yikes! If Iorio doesn't address this issue from the TOP of the department down I will be pissed. RIDICULOUS.
Okay, Anonymous. Give the the exact address and I will have code jump on your neighbor. I haven't had any serious problems making code respond to complaints. Tuesday I turned in a huge list of complaints and by Thursday they had ALL been cited - except for those that had already been cited. Email me at swlong@myrapidsys.com - all complaints are kept confidential.
Maybe we ought to write Dominguez and let him know how unhappy we are with his rulings. We did that about the prostitutes and now we actually get a reasonable response.
Bungalowlady, ShreksWife etc.
I talk to the code enforcement people and get the real impression that they're fed up with your incessant complaining.
When I talk to people about code enforcement I make sure to let them understand that it's not the code enforcement dept. but the self appointed code narcs that are causing all the problems
.
How fascist can you get, people that take pride in anonymously turning in there neighbors.
I understand that people like you wish you could live in South Tampa or at least sell the houses you're living in to make a down payment on one later.
I want to make a list of all the self appointed code narcs with names, addresses, phone numbers and photos if possible and put them on a flyer to give to everyone that's been cited.
Would you still be as motivated to cause neighbors to be dragged through the ringer if they knew who it was filing complaints against them?
Hats off to Judge Dominguez, sounds like he's getting sick of your shit also.
Tampa has more than just Seminole Heights to look after. I wouldn't be surprised if they stop addressing ALL complaints coming from this area before it's over, especially with your patron Rose Ferlita leaving the city council.
I just love how anonymous@5:49 portrays the violators as the poor victims. FTW right? Anarchy is the way.
Dear Anonymous 5:49,
I quesss your mom never made you clean up your room
Garages in the historic district must comply with Seminole Heights Design Guidelines as administered by the Architectural Review Commission, which means they need to be detached from the primary structure. They are usually placed at the rear of the property and can open to the street and/or the ally. Concrete ribbon driveways from the street to the garage doors are usually placed along the side of the home. Conatct the City of Tampa Historic Preservation office to purchase a set of the guidlines.
code enforcement is fed up with the narcs in southeast seminole heights, from what I've heard they were hoping "some artist group here would keep the old ladies busy painting pictures of their pets instead of worrying about what their neighbors were or were not doing. " This was overheard at one of our local diners this past weekend.
We are looking at buying a house in the historic district. Does anyone have an idea of what requirements might apply to adding a real driveway and garage?
It wouldn't hurt to have a dime bag handy when the inspector comes.
One must hope that a person who came here seeking real information has the wherewithal to look past the assinine statements such as the previous one. Maybe its just my perception but this blog used to be significantly classier in the comments section but lately has seen way too much petty bickering and sniping remarks.
Moose: Take a Ritalin
You know moose, there truly is time for humor,,,,,,,,,,,even amongst the classy!
I am not Bungalow Lady or Shrek's Wife, but I know them personally and they work hard to keep things nice in the Heights, and neither can stand the attitude in ST.
If code was doing their job, it would not be necessary for anyone to do it for them! AND the Judge is a disinterested party. He makes jokes, and takes none of it seriously. Code is partial, ineffective and political. From the court to the head of the dept and on down it is mess. The pot issue is minor in the scheme of things. But the handling of the situation, and Lane's inability to know pot when he sees it, makes the event bigger than it should be. It simply should have been handled properly. And who would care? Would it be newsworthy? Hardly. I highly doubt this is the first city employee, (or any company's employee) that has been let go due to pot smoking on the job. It is stupid but no big news!
Hats off to people like Bungalow Lady and Shrek's wife who give a darn and are not afraid to either work to make things better, or speak out.
Humor is great, there isn't enough of it most days, but we need to remember that with the purely written word there is no body language to help distinguish that which is tongue-in-cheek from that which is biting and mean-spirited. Emoticons ":-)" can help a bit, a bit of light-hearted sarcasm is always welcome and can even help defuse an emotional situation. But, given several of the exchanges over the past week with people calling each other idiots and other disparaging things, it sounds more like a junior high shouting match than mature debate, I wonder if people even realize how they come across. Apologies to the the author of the dime bag comment if it was truly in jest and not just a nasty jab. In the immortal words of Rodney King "Can we all just get along?" :-)
If code had more than a couple of people working for the entire city then maybe they could do more.
The police department has hundreds of officers.
If you try and slip this new code person a dime bag she will probably slip you quick fist up the a$$.
What the heck does spirit of the law mean anyways? It is either against the law or not.
Moose,
Take two Ritalin.
Thank you bungalowlady and shrekswife. We need more neighbors like you.
To anonymous 5/12/2006 5:49 PM:
What kind of nut are you? I can only imagine what sort of filth and disease you live in. How can you be so wrong?
Where am I wrong?
Am I wrong that they're busybody Narcs?
Am I wrong in my understanding of how the Code Enforcement ppl from the judge on down feels about them?
Am I wrong about how those harassed feel about the ones doing the Narcing?
In fact I'm feeling motivated to prove just how correct I am.
As I'm giving out the flyers that would be a great time to look for new members that feel the direction of the community association is not in every ones benefit, hell I might even spring for the membership fee for them if it helps to get the point of view across.
There's a lot of ppl that have been here long before the ‘activists' showed up.
I myself was born in this city and went to school at Hillsborough High in the ‘70's
You all need to cash out now before that South Tampa home gets out of your reach
People SHOULD go the meetings, and SHOULD join the association and SHOULD volunteer for things. The more the better. Everyone's opinion is definitely desired. Funny what it takes to get someone to care about things enough to do something. More power to all of you with all of your opinions! Bring em on!
I just found out the size of the area the code enforcement officers have. MY code enforcement inspector has a territory that runs from Sligh north almost to Fowler. It also runs from Nebraska to 22nd. That's a huge area. No wonder he doesn't get all the violations. We need more funding and more people for code.
I am the garage inquiry. Thanks for the (one) serious response. As a potential resident I have to say, forget Ritilan, it's cheaper to learn to cooperate. Improvements benefit everyone so why complain if your neighbor wants to improve his/her house? On the other hand, while everyone doesn't have the same resources/can't afford the same types of things, anyone can keep a place clean. Isn't that a fair expectation?
"On the other hand, while everyone doesn't have the same resources/can't afford the same types of things, anyone can keep a place clean. Isn't that a fair expectation?"
Amen. How hard is it to keep your place clean? Have some pride and respect for yourself.
.......am I wrong?
ABSOLUTELY!
Like TPD, code should welcome citizen input. They are, after all, working for us. If code were doing their job, whey would have answers, straight, good honest answers for the questions. And they would not feel threatened.
This department, like none other, fears input that is not guided by them. Straight answers are not available. The same answer twice is frequently not given! The ambiguousness is one of the reasons people are so frustrated.
Many people in the neighborhood have worked hard on code issues and tried continuously to work with the department. They have listened to the "new world order" and had their hopes raised, just to see it is business as usual. The list of issues goes on and on. Not the least of which is not enough officers and obviously not enough support for them.
No one that I know wants this to be South Tampa. But what they do want is what most level headed citizens want. A reasonable quality of life. They want to walk their dogs in peace. To be able to leave a chair on their front porch and be assured that the chair and the plant next to it will be there later when they want to sit down. They want to park their car for the night and find it waiting in the same place in the morning when they want to go to work. They want to buy their drugs from the drugstore, not be offered them on the corner. They want to keep their yards clean and look across the street and down the block and see other yards the same. They want to pick their own music and not be offered it by the house next door or the car driving by. They want to NOT be awaken by a rooster at the crack of dawn or be chased down the street by a roving pit bull. Not to be threatened by bullies in their own yard. None of this is unusual, or not to be expected.
The people who speak up for these causes, and work hard to obtain this quality of life are not narc's. They are ordinary citizens who care and are not afraid to work to make things better.
They are neighbors.
And yes, absolutely you are wrong. You speak from a position which reflects little knowledge of how code works or is supposed to work. You speak rather like someone who has had an issue with code and blames it on others. And someone who only comes out to a meeting or to volunteer when it specifically involves you and your own personal opinion. You are not a neighbor, simply someone who happens to live here.
Go shrek's wife go!!!
And that is what I like about the neighborhood!!
That is why I spent the day trimming all my trees and bundling the branches so that they will be picked up not left in a pile for the weeds to grow over. I love my house and my neighborhood and it doesn't take me calling code to make a difference. I have even mowed the lawn for my new neighbor who is buying their first house and does not have a mower yet. Do I expect anything for that - H*** NO - I just wanted to do the neighborly thing and take another worry off of the list of things needed to be done before they moved in. It took me 15 minutes and set a good tone for our new neighborly relationship. And if the house resorts to the point that it is necessary to call code then I will not hesitate but all of the surrounding neighbors set the tone for the level of upkeep and it should be easy for them to figure it out.
Ahh! Shreky, finally we get to the bottom of it.
Is it not the white retired couple that has a john boat parked on the side of the house but the section-8 tenants with the absentee landlord that's the real problem?
All of the problems you stated are a matter of complection, and no matter how much you fix up your place and narc out others so long as they keep tearing down the projects and giving the displaced section-8 vouchers the situation will continue.
Maybe if you narcs were more selective in going after the most egregious violations of places owned by absentee landlords the landlords might get the idea that it's not such a good investment and sell out to someone that will be a home owning resident.
Anon 7:10 am
As long as you take that negative condesending tone you will be sucessful in adding fuel to the fire.That attitude makes your opinions even less valid.
I really don't think that anyone sets out to harass a neighbor (like yourself) on code violations just for the thrill of it and because they have the time. You are correct that we as a neighborhhood should make absentee landlords responsible for their properties - it is an old habit that is hard to break but persistance will prevail - have you checked multiple listings lately - there are appx 12 slumlord duplexes in SS on the market - someone is getting the message.
I know that bungalowlady co-ordinates all the code issues for OSHNA that are turned in and followed up on - the response from code for the most part I think is about 98% successful. Those code request come from concerned neighborhs all over the neighborhood - from the river to Hills Ave - she has even had people from other neighborhoods call regarding issues in their neighborhood. Faxes are sent and replies are expected and if not then followup is used and taken up the chain if need be. Be it absentee landlord or the owner who can't understand why having cars on blocks in the front yard is an issue - they all go to code. We don't expect immediate response but we do expect a realistic timeframe for issues to be addressed - forward activy on the issue is what we expect and typically what we get or clarification if it is for another department in the city. I think OSHNA sees it as a way to assist those inspectors in doing their job on our $$$ - if they get pissed off (as some claim) then they need to find another job that gives them a company car and a company cell and lets them drive in circles all day - there are inspectors in our area that have plenty to do and we do not mind assisting them - they can't be everywhere and if they don't know it's a problem then it can't be addressed.
What it boils down to is despite all of Pam's praise and focus/support (or lack thereof) - the department is understaffed (street level inspector-wise)and trying to catch up on a situation that has been ignored for years. We as voters need to make it an issue for city council and the mayor's race - actions not words! We really don't need to wait until elections - I know the city budget is being worked on now and if we make enough noise then funds can be found to staff the department to the level that is needed to truely address the issue.
BTW, I am not bungalowlady posting anon
Same folks who use the word "doobie?"
Shrek's wife......could not have said it better myself!
I did notice there were no flyers being handed out at last nights meeting and no new members, with differing opinions. Of course, the membership as I know it is chock full of differing opinions. Common element is drive for decent quality of life.
Code, ah code. Many people in this neighborhood, obviously NOT anon, have worked hard to understand the rules and to help code wherever possible. Shrek's wife is correct in the previously code was of their own choice "complaint driven" and the reason given for a lack of compliance is that there were not enough complaints! So many people got active and made complaints. As to most egregious, well of course. As a matter of fact a list of these egregious properties, along with pictures was presented to Mayor Pam three years ago, again the following two years with follow up. Some still exist today. Some have complied because someone new bought them and fixed things. The number of people who have worked on this issue would amaze you. All volunteer, all caring.
They have educated themselves, have met with people (Mayor Pam included) have talked, lectured, inquired, begged and educated others. They are not narcs and mostly don’t give a darn if you bring your trash can in, your landscaping is not up to snuff, or you park your car on your lawn. Ideally this would not be true, but the real issue are the chronic offenders who just don’t give a darn. Who are lazy and are pigs!
Until you learn what has been attempted, what the real concerns are, how it really works, you do not have a correct picture. To make judgements from your own vantage point without educating yourself means it is simply your opinion but has little to do with fact. There are facts out there,,,,,,,,Anon, you should avail yourself of a few!
It was pleasant to attend the SESHCA meeting last night and meet David McCarey of Solid Waste. He is honest and charming, intelligent and just darn nice. He genuinely cares about his job. He is ten times the manager that Curtis Lane is and if you ever meet both you will instantly realize the difference. He welcomes, not fears, input. If we had that in code with some more support in the way of equipment and personnel, things would be considerably better and we could all attend to other subjects!
Well said!
The Flyers being made are to hand out to ppl that have been cited, not to take to an association meeting.
The members derived from the flyers will come after that.
Be patient, I won't let you down.
How many ppl cited make the connection that their citation is due to the same group of ppl that put another flyer at their place 4 times a year?
I just want to help them get the facts straight.
The list I've made for district 21 has 134 separate addresses, that's just from the list I got in the spring of 2005 of 12 pages. I haven't even updated it yet with the list I got last fall of 33 pages much less the ones generated since then.
It's really gonna burn up my laser printer printing em'.
We aren't talking super dumps here, it's zealous nitpicking. Part of my research was to go to some of the places cited w/the citation code and see what was being bitched about along with going and talking to the resident if possible.
I intend to print a copy on the membership from on them so ppl can join and let you know how they feel.
I've already set an e-mail to Curtis Lane and the Mayor suggesting they disregard any complaints not originating from immediate neighbors of the address the complaint is filled against.
Or at the very least put the ones you narcs submit into the circular file.
I've been involved in grassroots activism since 1980 during the first Pres. election I could vote in so doing this and getting like minded ppl to help should be a breeze.
Did you really think you could keep doing this forever w/o generating opposition?
There was only about 20 ppl at the meeting Tues. and a lot of them were from old Seminole Heights. Maybe I can help double or triple that number.
Anon 5/18/06 9:27 seems to be making an assumption that all of the citations are due to the neighborhood association. The code inspectors drive around looking for things, which is likely where some of the more nitpicky things could be coming from. Curtis Lane sought to punish this neighborhood for making a big stink about code by having them come in an cite anything.
Does your list indicate who made the reports?
So flyer anonymous, when you got cited, where those conditions there? Did you correct them? Why did things get to the point you got cited?
Curious,
How do you know the code inspectors are doing that..are you following them?
Hmmm...You are good if you know that.
been involved in activism since 1980 and the best thing you can take a stand for is to oppose the enforcement of legally established rules? way to go.
Well sarcastic anon - I can't say that I went to Hills High or grew up in the neighborhood but I have lived here for going on 15 years now and have put up with a lot of S*** from code issues and hookers and johns. I started reporting the code issues and harassing the johns getting blowjobs in front of my house long before I joined my association and also became active with "hooker patrol". Just because I choose to move into the neighborhood and worked 2 jobs to be able to afford my first house means that I have to deal with absentee landlords or worse yet homeowners that don't give a rat's ass about the condition of their house -NO! Why is it such an issue that I demand respect and what use to be common courtesy from those in my neighborhood? Believe you me those trash neighbors whould have no issue in getting in my face if I told them to F*** off when I played my music at top volume at 3 am - wouldn't be suprised if they keyed my car too.
A healthy neighborhood has no place for disrespecting individuals regardless if they own/rent or what their color is or if they get section 8. My sister worked for the housing authority and can take you to meet many individuals that receive section 8 housing assistance that do not fit the sterotype but it is the loud vocal few that create a rap for all others - just like it takes one lousy 80's activist to take the negative route to divide and stir s*** rather than be a positive influence. If you've got the time to pull list of prior years code violations then you've got the time to be a positive influence in your neighborhood.
How many times is your name on the lsit? Is that why you have a bee up your a** - is this hitting too close to home for you??
So the fact that I report a house 2 doors down from my 87 year old grandmothers house but I do not live on the street makes it a less valid claim? B.S. Should she have to live with seeing a house falling to the ground and seeing fruit rats create trails throught the weeds to eat rotten fruit?
Really, it's not my problem because I don't live there??? OK, I'll put my blinders on and be an 80's activist - what's your address - I'll come and hang out with you and we can figure out how to get back at those "narcs" for harassing innocent people.
Get a life, get a job, get another house in another neighborhood. Spend your time assisting those on your many pages you pulled to resolve the issues - that's a win/win for all!
Hey anon 10:48
Prohibition against sodomy was a "legally established rule". I'm sure some in attendance at the meeting are glad ppl rose in opposition to it.
Segregation of busses, water fountains, etc. were "legally established rules" and I'm sure others at the meeting were glad ppl rose in opposition to them.
Just because it's a law doesn't make it right or just and the "Ordinances' in question don't even carry the weight of criminal law that the other 2 examples given here did. (That's why violators aren't hauled off to jail immediately if ever. despite Lanes vow that "If you don't have a number on your house, you go to jail")
In fact the code ordinances and overlay stipulations didn't exist in their present form until recently and definitely weren't brought before the ppl to vote on. If they had it's very doubtful they would have passed.
The pendulum can be made to swing in the other direction.
and people used to dump their chamber pots into the streets prior to the black death ravaging Europe, comparing morally reprehensible laws to mandating people adhere to a minimum standard of cleanliness and upkeep is quite a stretch don't you think? or is your right to live in filth greater than the rest of the neighborhoods right to at least a minimal level of what should be common sense?
So flyer anonymous, exactly what changes are you proposing?
Doing away with code? Changing what items are considered code violations? Changing time frames? Changing the consequneces?
Please elucidate.
Wondering,
I guess getting enough paid members to change the officers of the community association board.
I first wanted to disband it at that point but others advised it'd leave the ave. open for you gays to do it again.
So I feel using the new community association to petition the city county to have a code free zone would be cool.
Kinda' like a historical designation but in reverse.
maybe we should take up a collection to refill your 'scrips
yeah, code-free zone, that will happen, the verdict is in, youre a kook. and a bigoted kook at that.
Anonymous with a flyer.
Let see, you want to disband the association that helped get rid of prostitutes and drug dealers in the area. An association that helps promote any new business that comes into the area. An association that is getting Giddens Park redone, that cleaned up the Katherine Malone Center to the point it is a rec center for our kids.
You want to petition the city to make it a code free zone.
No one in the city government will listen to you. If you managed to achieve a coup, and did that petition. you would become the laughingstock of the city. The newspapers and TV would look at your code record and think that you are a nutjob.
Do you think anyone will take you seriously as you go around the neighborhood with that proposal? People will laugh at you, if not in front of you, at least behind you back.
Despite all of your high and mighty talk, you are not doing this for the poor and oppressed. You are doing this because your momma did not teach you how to clean your room and you want everyone to live in a messy house, rather than learn to clean up. I'll bet you are a pathetic loner divorced guy.
It's likely people laugh at you right now and that you are the butt of a lot of jokes. "There goes loser", they say as you go down the street.
You try to think you are cool and bucking the system, but in reality you are a 44 year old slob.
Move to Idaho where all the nutjobs go. There is no zoning or code there.
So do you shreeky.
But do you swallow?
Get a copy of the bylaws and read em' close like I have. There's no need to wait till october if 51% of paid up members call an emergency meeting.
also proxy votes are allowed.
So that means I just need to find the number of present members plus 3 or 4 in people on the cited list willing to sign the membership form and a form giving me there proxy vote. Call an emergency meeting and show up with enough ppl to fill the officers positions and it's a done deal.
I figure 200 ppl on the cited list should do it about 1/3 to 1/4 of the ppl cited at $10 each is $2000. Hell that's pocket change.
First we eliminate Stan Lassaters committe.
Then stop all grant efforts (other taxpayers shouldn't be paying for this areas pet projects).
Then mothball the association so the likes of you (Maria Garcia, right?) don't start it all over again.
Oh, I forgot.
Refund the membership fees of any new members within the previous 30 days.
this kook's greatest thrill in life riling people up, must be a sad lot in life, more deserving of pity than anger.
yeah, he/she's a master at baiting, over 60 posts on this topic alone, probably had to change his/her underpants
I enjoy the arguments. It's like that game at the arcade where you bash with a mallet those gophers who come of a hole. I can't wait to see what idiocy he comes up with next and wait for someone's scorn to land on his head.
I mean it is clear he is not seriously going to do anything because no one is going to take him seriously except for those few other mentally ill code hard core code violators. He talks a big game but never scores.
This is fun.
much less volunteer with any consistancy!
Unfortunately, SESH isn't alone in the few, the proud volunteers - if you look back over the officer and trustee list for OSHNA association you will find it is (for the most part) just jockeying around by the consistant few for board positions, trustees and committee chairs. There has been some new blood in the past few years which is great but you would think that out of the neighborhood that comprises the largest association by land mass ( I think I heard appx 4, 000 houses - correct me if I am wrong) that there would be more than 20 -25 people that step to the plate - none of those that are active are stay at home retirees - everyone has a job, kids, house to consume their time - some just choose take those extra 10 minutes and contribute. I am aware of those that are active on the board are also active with many other organizations outside of the neighborhood - paint your heart out, THAN, Krewscares, ARC, school committees, "hooker patrol" (anywhere from midnight to 4 -5 a.m. at times)B'GOSH and even go to school after working all day and still chair committees, etc.
Yet, if something doesn't go their way the neighborhood association is one of the first stops for their complaints by thses non-active and soemtimes non-members(code issues for one) "Your my neighborhood assoc - why don't you do anything for me???" My question would be - why don't you do anything for your neighborhood - why wait until you have a "crisis" to come to the association.
As my father always said "Sitting there with your mouth open like a baby bird won't get you very far."
I think we are all at the point that we agree to disregard his/her posts and have constructive dialog on this blog. So let's put our blinders on like him/her and just ignore it!
a step in the right direction!
I see it in a lot of ppl I encounter.
Born again ditto heads or starbucks defacing anarchists.
The mind set of being one of the anointed and the rest be dammed.
You acknowledge that it's the same 20 or so that play musical chairs with the board positions and activist committees when your associations have households up to 4000.
Do you really think you represent them?
Or just your own minority's vision?
Looking a posts in response to mine I see venom and vindictiveness that shows no concept of there possibly being any opinions differing from your's.
Maria's are by far the worst and to do anything to help her understand that others have differing views is reason enough to carry through with the plans for the flyer
WOW!
What if only a fraction of the cited list show the same venom that Maria does?
I received this emial:
It seems that the sole purpose of including the names and addresses of Susan Long and Maria Garcia is to intimidate and harass. While I defend the right to have open and honest debate, I don't think it is an unreasonable requirement that you can only publish another's personal information if you include your own as well."
I will delete comments that post personal info intended to harrass.
Maria and people like her represent those that wish to be represented. If their vision seems narrow to you, get INVOLVED! Oppose her/their visions publicly. Bring your wonderful ideas for a better community to the table. Stop being an "armchair quarterback". It's not right that these folks try to do what they think is in the neighborhoods' best interest and malcontents such as you, anon, only serve to criticize. Enough is enough.
AMEN!!!!!!
Those that can make a difference DO ........those that can't bitch and harass via blog postings.
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