Outgoing code enforcement officer shares his insight

I would like to thank Mayor Kadlec and the City of Ritzville taxpayers for the opportunity to fill the Building Inspector and Code Compliance Officer position this last year. I am sorry funding was not made available to continue the position for this next year.

As this has been a subject of some conjecture, I’d like to offer some facts.

• After Sept. 30 the city will once again contract with Adams County to do all building inspections and permit approvals. We will go back to limited access to inspections. (In the past with this arrangement the inspector was in town part of Tuesday and part of Wednesday.)

• The position was discontinued due to lack of funding.

• The city by law (WAC 51-51) is allowed to hire a building inspector to do any inspections that are required.

• Electrical inspections have always been done by Labor and Industries in Adams County. Only larger cities ever employ an Electrical Inspector.

• The Building Inspector is not required to have any certification by law. The job description calls for “experience in the field.” I have been in the commercial building industry for 26 years and have worked the Seattle, Portland, Boise areas and many small towns in between, on jobs large and small. I have owned homes and done work on a budget. I know what it is like to be on the other end of the permit process. Over the past year I have dedicated myself to the study and understanding the code and have spent my own money toward certification.

Funding of a Building Department is sustained from fees collected on projects that require inspection. When fees are not collected from building projects that by Washington State Law require a permit, the city is failing to collect what is due to them and the county is losing revenue from improved values of property. A permit and an inspection for the work done is proof that the work was done up to code, which is important when you try to sell your house. In short, code compliance helps the community as well as the individual.

Our city over the years has attracted people who buy a home and move here only to find that changes are not willingly made to help rectify some of the underlying problems in our community and they move on to other places. It is tough to attract new businesses to fill the empty buildings when this environment continues to drive people away. In serving the community of Ritzville I have tried to listen, be reasonable and to be part of the solution, not the problem. I hope this was appreciated.

The city staff and council members do a great job dealing with the responsibility of keeping the city running. But serving in this position over the past year I have come to believe that all of us need to be more active and require action from the city council members to follow through with programs that are in place already. There is no easy fixes and there is not always the Big Project that will turn things around. Let’s deal with and fix what is in place now! We can improve upon the system that is in place and demand more from those already employed. That means public involvement daily and not just a show of force after the bomb drops on you.

The community of Ritzville has been a good place to live and raise a family. My family and I have appreciated the many good people we have met here and hope that you count us among those that work to make it even better place to live.

David Chapman, Ritzville