Mayor Dave Cieslewicz announced his plan Saturday to hire three new property inspectors for the City of Madison as part of his Public Safety Initiative.
Cieslewicz will officially bring the plan before the City Council Tuesday as a part of his 2008 executive operating budget for the city.
"Properly maintaining safe, habitable and well-kept properties is a vital part of neighborhood public safety," Cieslewicz said in a release Saturday. "In combination with our recently-passed chronic nuisance abatement ordinance, this investment will help us address problematic properties in a proactive, systematic manner. This type of approach must be central to any comprehensive strategy for public safety."
City Council President Mike Verveer, District 4, said this plan is something he has been pushing the city on for a while.
"I'm thrilled with the mayor's decision to hire three additional building inspectors next year," Verveer said. "This is something I think is desperately long overdue. The city's housing stock is generally getting older and older, and more inspectors are needed to make sure that housing conditions are kept up to code."
As outlined in the press release, the plan includes $59,000 for a new Property Maintenance Inspector, $61,000 for a new Zoning Code Inspector and $63,000 for a new Housing Inspector.
According to Verveer, this new plan will have a significant effect on University of Wisconsin students, as many live in old buildings or homes. The inspectors will be able to do more random inspections of rental properties to ensure landlords are taking care of their buildings.
If landlords fail to maintain their property, they could be cited by the inspectors, fined by the city and ordered to appear in court.
"Right now they're trying to get to every house or apartment about once every six years," Verveer said. "I think that that's way too long to wait."
Verveer said over the years the city has occasionally increased its number of property inspectors, but it has never added three in one year.
"This is the biggest increase we've had–as long as the City Council goes along with this," Verveer said.
The City Council will vote on the mayor's proposed budget at a meeting tomorrow evening.
