Upper Delta News

While much of the world is at a standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic, code enforcement continues in Little Rock.

The city has added eight code enforcement officers for 2020, bringing the total to 38. As code enforcement is stepped up, Little Rock has imposed a curfew, which restricts people’s ability to travel through the city from midnight to 5 a.m., in addition to people being advised to remain in their homes and avoid crowds.

Some also wonder if the city should focus on other issues beyond worrying about how messy yards might be or if all trash is being neatly handled.

Little Rock resident Jeremiah Stark said he has received a warning from the city’s Department of Housing and Neighborhood Programs on March 12 over a dumpster bag he had in his yard. The notice said if there was a citation, it could carry a $200 fine. Repeated violations could mean jail time.

“My first thought was, ‘Are you serious?’” Stark told Upper Delta News on Sunday. “I keep my place up.”

He said the bag is not overly large, about 6 feet by 4 feet. It cost $50, but once he opened it a few months ago, he learned it would cost $150 to pick it up.

Stark, a handyman who also does maintenance work, said business has been slow with the economic downturn, and he doesn’t have the $150 to have the bag picked up. Plus, it’s not full yet.

Stark describes the city staffers as “code Nazis.”

“I tried contacting the officer personally by calling him twice and leaving messages to explain that to him and ask for an extension. Instead of calling me back, he calls the landlord,” he said. “To this day he has not called me back.”

Stark, 43, has lived in Little Rock more than 20 years. He rents a house on West Seventh Street in the Hillcrest Historic District. He said homes and yards are kept tidy there and that is what he was trying to do with the dumpster bag. He said the notice hit him a tough time as a close family member had just died and he was struggling economically because of the pandemic and business slowdown.

Mayor Frank Scott Jr. has made code enforcement a priority. On his website, frankscottjr.com, the mayor says he wants to see an increase in enforcement.

“Even recent increases in code enforcement staff don’t seem to be enough to meet the city’s needs to identify, cite, and process vacant, abandoned, and/or delinquent properties and lots," Scott said. "Step one in putting these properties and vacant lots to productive use is identifying them and citing them properly. 

“In addition to hiring additional staff, the Scott administration would do neighborhood association 'code enforcement academies' such that residents completing the training could be volunteer code enforcement officers. This helps expand the department’s capacity at little to no cost and engages the people who know best what properties present the most problems to neighborhoods.”

Stark said he thinks the mayor’s priorities are skewed.

Last summer the mayor ordered two of the four public golf courses in the city to close, War Memorial and Hindman Park. 

Stark said he wonders about that decision, especially since despite the closure, money is still being spent to maintain Hindman Park. Now the mayor has ordered both courses that were still operating closed during the pandemic.

“A golf course, you figure, would be a perfect place to go get away from cabin fever during this pandemic, ” Stark said. ”I mean, wide open spaces, there's no surfaces to touch so no way of spreading the disease. Not our mayor! He has not only closed all the golf courses, but he blocked the roads to them and is paying city officials to stay there during the day to keep it secure, to make sure nobody comes and plays illegally.”

Stark said the mayor is wasting money on all kinds of things that the city does not need and cutting funding to things in the city people love.

“Another perfect example is he's the first mayor in our city’s history that has decided he needs a full-time protection detail, which are off-duty police officers,” Stark said. “Full-time protection detail here in Little Rock. Absolute absurdity. I don't believe a politician of any kind has ever even been threatened in this state, let alone the mayor.”

Scott is the first African-American to be elected mayor of Little Rock, winning the 2018 mayoral election. Two previous black men served as mayor but they were chosen by the city Board of Directors, not voters.

Stark said it seems ironic that Scott closed War Memorial, since it reportedly was the first golf course in the city that allowed black golfers to play there back in the 1930s.

“This is the first course that blacks have played on,” Carl Hines, an employee, told TV station KLRT. “I would say it’s history.”

Stark said this is an example of what he considers mismanagement by the mayor. Excessive enforcement of code issues is another. The city plans to inspect 20 percent of all rental properties every year.

“All it’s going to impact is the people who can’t afford to buy houses. The landlords will just kick people out,” Stark said.

Still, he doesn’t want to be fined, so he plans to close the bag up and somehow have it picked up. Stark said he also is worried about repercussions from talking about this publicly — but he felt compelled to do so.