Mission Statement

The Code Enforcement Department works to encourage recovery by making sure that neighborhoods are vibrant and safe.

Strategic Goals

The Department has identified seven strategic goals that will help it fulfill its mission for the public.

• Reduce blight.  The Department works to remove all blighted property from New Orleans.  Initially the department works with property owners to get them to make repairs.  If this does not work, the Department can get the property back into commerce by expropriating it or selling it at a Sheriff’s sale.
  
• Make sure that properties do not pose health threats to the community.  The department enforces strict health and safety standards.  This includes making sure those mosquitoes and rodents cannot breed, grass and trees are maintained, pools are secured, trash and debris is not on the lot and properties are not open to the public.
  
• Make sure that properties are structurally sound.  The department does not allow deterioration that might endanger a structure’s integrity.  If a property is in danger of collapsing, Code Enforcement works with private companies to safely demolish the property and clear the lot.
  
• Work with residents to repair their properties and make them livable.  The goal of the Department is not to take away resident’s property.  The Department wants all residents to return to the city.  Additionally, seizing property creates additional costs to the City because the property stops generating tax revenue and the City becomes responsible for maintaining it.  While the Department wants all residents to return home, it requires that their homes meet reasonable living standards.
  
• Create stabilized neighborhoods that will encourage recovery in the areas around them.  During a sweep, the Department focuses on a particular area and works every property in violation through the enforcement process.  By addressing all of the blight, the area becomes attractive for new families, investors and developers.  Once that area is stabilized, it will hopefully become an anchor of growth and recovery in the areas around it.
  
• Improving neighborhoods for residents who have rebuilt.  Blighted property next door is very discouraging to residents who have rebuilt.  The Code Enforcement Department supports these residents by targeting blight in their area and using all of the enforcement tools available to get blight owners to repair or sell their property quickly.
  
• Treat every resident with courtesy and respect.  Whether taking in a complaint or interacting with blighted property owners, our staff strives to treat everyone fairly, equally and respectfully.
  
• Maintain transparency.  The leadership of the Department believes that taxpayers deserve to understand how the department works and what it is doing.  Over the last six months the Department has taken a number of steps to increase transparency.  This includes building this website, giving regular reports to the City Council, attending a number of neighborhood meetings and creating a Resident’s Handbook and regular Code Enforcement Newsletter.  The Department is looking to further increase transparency, including developing software that will allow residents to go online and view every property in the City’s enforcement system.