Baltimore City housing inspector has a message for city residents: If you call 311 with a housing code violation, a dumping problem, or even an overgrown lawn and an inspector doesn?t show up within 15 days, call him.
“I absolutely guarantee it,” said Baltimore City Housing Commissioner Paul Graziano. “If it isn?t done, call me.”
Graziano is touting what he calls a “major improvement” in the lag time for response to problems with excess trash, chipping paint, and other hazards. The city?s top housing official said his department has been reorganized top to bottom, and that agency is now responding quickly to resident?s complaints.
“We?ve fundamentally re-engineered the total shop,” Graziano said.
Statistics released by the Housing department indicate marked improvement. The 90-day, 2,000 case backlog for boarding over abandoned houses that existed in 2001 has been cleared up. The 9,000 case backlog for other problems such as illegal dumping or waste has been eliminated as well. Graziano said that the new response time has been helped by a tracking number system that allows residents who phone in a complaint to check on its status.
“We?re actually finding that the vast majority of calls we?ve already identified,” Graziano said.
David Tillman, a spokesman for the Housing department, said that the city has focused on response time as a way to compensate for past problems.
“In the old days you never knew when the inspector was going to get out or what the outcome of the inspection was,” Tillman said.
As a result, both Graziano and Tillman are touting the progress of the department as a way to make sure residents are aware of the service.
“People should know that we will respond now,” Tillman said.
The end result, Graziano said, is a better place to live.
“The city is much, much, cleaner now,” he said.
