City to take another (concurrent) look at Code

Could the city’s Code Department soon return to the fold of another department? Maybe. Yesterday, City Council unanimously approved a resolution that asked the city manager to investigate redundancies and potential efficiencies for the department, including the idea that the department could merge into the Development Services Department. Speaking of redundancies, Assistant City Manager Robert Goode confirmed that the Office of Performance Management is currently in the process of conducting a review of the Code Department. When asked to identify how this resolution was different, he said that it was more specific and raised the question of consolidation. Through the public testimony, it was clear that there is some community dissatisfaction with the department. A handful of Austinites spoke to Council about their frustrations in dealing with the department and worried that the current state of things was only encouraging problems and facilitating a lack of accountability. The history of the Code Department, of course, involves a lot of name changes and also a lot of shuffling. The department first became a standalone department in 2010. Prior to that, the various enforcement duties were under the control of other departments.