Calexico Council Votes Against Expanded Municipal Code Enforcement

-Editorial

After a lengthy discussion over staffing, costs and enforcement priorities, members of the Calexico City Council questioned whether City Hall has the resources to take on additional responsibilities and voted against a City Attorney’s Office recommendation to begin developing a process that could have allowed the city attorney to prosecute certain municipal code violations.

The proposal would not have immediately initiated prosecutions. Instead, it would have begun the process of determining how such an enforcement system could operate, leaving the proposal on hold for now.

The recommendation called for the council to identify priority violations involving serious, repeated or chronic conduct affecting public health, safety and welfare. Issues discussed included graffiti, public nuisances, unlawful camping and other misdemeanor offenses.

City Attorney Laura Estrada explained that the Calexico Municipal Code already provides several enforcement mechanisms, including voluntary compliance, administrative citations, criminal prosecution, nuisance abatement, civil remedies and recovery of enforcement costs.

“The city council has recently identified the need to consider a more clearly defined role for the city attorney in prosecuting designated municipal code violations,” Estrada said.

The issue dates back to a June 3 council agenda item seeking authorization for the city attorney to prosecute designated violations. That proposal focused on code enforcement matters and misdemeanor offenses involving unlawful camping, public intoxication, graffiti abatement and collection of enforcement fines.

Under the recommendations presented Wednesday, the City Attorney’s Office would first review the municipal code and applicable state law to determine which violations could potentially be prosecuted by the city. Staff would then work to establish a coordinated referral process involving Code Enforcement, the Police Department, the City Manager’s Office and the City Attorney’s Office.

Estrada cautioned that implementing the proposal would require substantial work and could result in additional costs.

“We believe that this is a great idea, just that it has a substantial amount of work,” Estrada said, pointing to the City Attorney’s Office’s limited resources.

Councilmember Diana Nuricumbo, who previously brought the issue forward, said the proposal was intended to address complaints that existing city ordinances are not being consistently enforced.

“What’s the point of having these ordinances if they’re not enforced?” Nuricumbo said.

She cited concerns in downtown Calexico involving public intoxication and unlawful camping, as well as graffiti throughout the city, as problems she hoped stronger enforcement could address.

Councilmember Lisa Tylenda questioned how the city would determine which violations should receive priority and suggested that the council could periodically review outstanding violations. Estrada recommended beginning with a limited category rather than attempting to address the entire municipal code at once.

“We can do it by sections,” Estrada said. “I would recommend, if it’s OK with you, that we start with Councilmember Nuricumbo’s request.”

Estrada also noted that public intoxication is governed by state law and would require a different enforcement process.

Councilmember Adriana Marquez questioned whether the city had sufficient staffing and resources to take on the additional enforcement responsibilities.

“Do we have the resources and the manpower to be able to do this?” Marquez asked.

City Manager Benjamin Martinez said the city has its city attorney, consulting attorneys and other legal resources available. However, he said keeping most of the work in-house would help control costs while potentially increasing the amount of time needed to complete the work.

Marquez also questioned how violations would move through the enforcement process and whether the city was moving forward before establishing the necessary procedures.

“My concern is that we’re going ahead, like we’re jumping ahead,” Marquez said. “We don’t even have a process.”

Estrada said establishing that process would be part of the proposed work.

“First reviewing the municipal code, and then we would meet with the Police Department and Code Enforcement and try to establish a process,” Estrada said. “It’s substantial work, but yes, we’ll get there eventually.”

Estrada acknowledged that the proposal could also have a fiscal impact because of attorney time and the possibility that outside legal assistance could become necessary. She said the potential additional costs had not yet been determined.

Mayor Victor Legaspi said he supported the concept but questioned whether the City Attorney’s Office should take on the additional workload at this time. He also noted that the Police Department already has responsibility for enforcing laws.

“I think it’s a good ordinance, but I don’t think at this time we should have this,” Legaspi said, pointing to Estrada’s existing workload.

Nuricumbo challenged that position, arguing that it conflicted with previous council discussions and actions concerning graffiti, downtown conditions and unlawful camping.

“This ordinance or policy was brought forward because of all the citizen complaints that we’ve had,” Nuricumbo said.

She pointed to previous discussions about purchasing cameras to combat graffiti and noted that Marquez had supported the city’s no-camping ordinance.

“Why would you want to pass it if you don’t want to enforce it?” Nuricumbo said.

Nuricumbo argued that the possibility of city prosecution could serve as a deterrent and emphasized that the proposal did not mean the city attorney would prosecute every violation. She also accused Legaspi of opposing the proposal because she had brought it forward.

Legaspi returned the discussion to his concerns about the City Attorney’s Office workload and made a motion not to proceed with the recommendations. Marquez seconded the motion.

Members of the audience could be heard objecting during the discussion, prompting Legaspi to call for order.

“Please show some etiquette,” Legaspi said. “Show us some respect, also.”

Council Moves Forward with Business License Review

Later in the meeting, the council voted to direct city staff to proceed with a comprehensive review and modernization of Calexico’s business license program.

The review will include an examination of existing Municipal Code provisions and the development of recommendations for future council consideration.

Councilmember Tylenda said concerns about staff workload should not prevent the council from moving forward with the review.

Nuricumbo supported the action, calling it an important issue and saying she hoped Mayor Legaspi and Councilmember Marquez would support Tylenda’s proposal rather than oppose it based on which council member had introduced it.

The review will examine the city’s existing business license structure and administration. Any proposed changes to tax classifications, rates or Municipal Code provisions would return to the council for future consideration.

Mayor Pro Tem Calderon was absent from the meeting.