University Times

Pitt and city officials, including Chancellor Mark Nordenberg and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, hit the Oakland streets this month for another “redd up Oakland” inspection tour designed to counter landlord abuses and identify dilapidated properties.

Joining the top officials were city code inspectors, who fanned out in central Oakland on May 9 and south Oakland on May 10.

According to Ron Graziano, chief of the city’s Bureau of Building Inspections (BBI), the two-day inspection crackdown revealed many fewer violations than were detected in last summer’s similar go-round, which had identified 277 code violations in central Oakland alone.

“In central Oakland, where last August we found the 277 violations in just one day, this time we cited 112 addresses with 144 code violations,” Graziano said this week.

“Those include 87 for weeds and debris, 31 for graffiti, 21 for bad sidewalks and five other violations. So, compared to last August we were really pleased to see the number go way down.”

On the other hand, he said, the 111 violations on 100 properties, again most for weeds and debris (69), cited May 10 in south Oakland were higher than expected, because many dwellings are owner-occupied.

Cited property owners have until August to abate, that is, to correct, violations or face fines, Graziano said. Of last summer’s violations a large majority were abated by spring, he said.

“We will go back out in August when the students return and do it again,” he added. In addition to looking for violations, inspectors hope to educate renters about their rights, and to get permission from tenants to inspect apartments for code violations, Graziano added.

Pitt continues to pay half the salary of the city building inspector assigned to Oakland, Graziano noted. In addition, he said that the BBI shifted assignments to enable the code inspector to spend more time in the Oakland area.

Two Pitt law students from the Community Economic Development Clinic have been serving as interns in the city’s legal and building inspection departments, helping to identify and locate absentee landlords while they study enforcement laws, Graziano said.

John Wilds, assistant vice chancellor for Community and Governmental Relations who joined in the Oakland inspection tour, said Pitt has a number of off-campus housing initiatives now up and running.

Pitt has launched an expanded web site — www.ocl.pitt.edu/ — through its Off-Campus Living Office. The site includes a renter’s guide and information on apartments, sublets, roommate-matching and landlord services. As a central source of information regarding rental properties, the site lists only apartments and houses that pass BBI inspection, Wilds noted.

Pitt also worked through the Student Government Board to develop an online survey rating rentals and landlords. The survey was launched in April, Wilds said.

Wilds said that efforts such as the “redd up” tour to improve the conditions in Oakland have a two-fold benefit. “First, it’s an attempt to educate our students on their rights and responsibilities. Our first priority is our students and their safety,” he said. “Second, for landlords, it sends a clear signal that the city intends to strongly enforce code violations.”

—Peter Hart