Oakwatch: The Oakland Code Enforcement Project Meeting Minutes April 17th, 2013 Mission: Oakwatch: The Oakland Code Enforcement Project seeks to improve the quality of life for residents, employees and visitors by enforcing codes on negligent property owners, housing violations, parking violations, disruptive behavior, excessive noise and underage drinking in the Oakland neighborhood. I.
In attendance: Maria Bethel, Lawrence Robinson, Officer Daniel Cox, David Manthei, Bob Kollar, Mark Oleniacz, Carol Mitchell, Blithe Runsdorf, Janice Lorenz, Alicia Lakomski, Lizabeth Gray, David Zwier, Kannu Sanni, Ron Jardini, Gloria Sciulli, Marjory Lake, Commander Kathy Degler, Officer Matt White, Barbie Arroyo, Celeste Compomizzi, Holly Dick, Rebekkah Ranallo, Blair Kossis, Jim Peters, Liz Style, Nathan Hart, Candice Gonzalez, Hanson Kappelman
II.
Introductions; Brief new members (Hanson Kappelman, 5 minutes)
III.
Pittsburgh Sociable City Plan Update from RHI consultant on how the plan will directly affect Oakland, Q&A (Jim Peters, Executive Director of the Responsible Hospitality Institute, 30 minutes) a. Early RHI work: training service industry workers b. 2009 Largest graduating high school class in US history. Population that wants to be urban and responsible c. History of nightlife: Oakland >> Strip >> South Side >> Lawrenceville d. Four areas of applicability for Oakland: i. Policing: better coordination and communication between city and university police. ii. Common code of conduct for off campus housing, across universities iii. Save the party: how to communicate to students the need to live cohesively in the neighborhood iv. Working with student groups and organizations (convened in June): examples of ways social hosts have organized responsible party planning… create guidelines that will encourage responsible parties. e. Blair: is there any way the Pitt police can have more “teeth” i. Commander Degler: working to establish stronger partnerships with other universities police departments including those outside of Oakland (Point Park, Duquesne) f. Gloria Sciulli: how many citations are given to students on a given weekend i. Degler: There are constraints due to court rulings, citations are issued routinely, and university police also cite students. Citations are often processed in the station rather than on scene. ii. Gloria: are landlords notified? iii. Degler: not usually, only when they’re “nuisance properties” g. Jim Peters: have the block parties contributed to an improvement this year? i. David Manthei: has seen improvement on N Dithridge St, the street is quieter this year