Cleaning up our community and keeping it clean and safe is a priority for us all. Our Code Enforcement team is making that happen through their ongoing efforts to fight blight in many ways. This week, we are highlighting this hardworking team for our staff spotlight.
The team of 15 is led by Director J.T. Ricketson and composed of many talented people who truly care about cleaning up our neighborhoods and making them safe. Throughout the year, the team has been responsible for cleaning up blight in our community. From serving notices to issuing fines to getting blighted and dangerous houses ready to be torn down… this crew stays busy. Since the start of Mayor Lester Miller’s Blight Fight initiative, these “Blight Knights” have helped remove more than 80 unsafe and dilapidated houses.
“The results of that are people are now cutting their grass, straightening out their yard, and taking care of their properties more often like they are supposed to,” said Ricketson. “This team is really working hard to make a difference in our community.”
The work they do starts with a phone call into Code Enforcement’s office where they are picked up by Office Manager Kendra Flowers.
“It has been a tremendous impact to see what this department has done throughout the year,” said Flowers.
Once a service request has been made, Code Enforcement Specialists like Scott Dibble go out and assess the issue.
“Lately, we’ve gotten more responses, more productivity out of houses being put on blight,” said Dibble. “With what we do, it contributes so much to health and welfare and safety of the community. We’re not even done yet. There is so much more that we are starting to get into that is going to help the community a lot more.”
Thank you to everyone on this incredible team! – LeKitte Robinson, Audrey Stallion, Frederick Jackson, Richard Wolverton, Hilton Dawson, JT Ricketson, Kendra Flowers, Rodney Miller, Richard Powell, Sheila Williams, Craig Lewis, Scott Dibble, Johnny Crawford, Greg Howard, Michael Barnes, Kenneth Hester, Emory Yarbrough, Willie Pitts.