Kelly Smith’s job is not for the faint of heart.
As Pauls Valley’s newest code enforcement officer, Smith spends her days working to ensure residents are taking pride in how their property looks, and in turn helping the city as a whole put its best foot forward.
In her first three months on the job she’s discovered Pauls Valley is a lot bigger than she’d realized, she’s read more city ordinances than she even knew existed and she’s encountered some resistance from property owners here and there. But when asked what the best part of her job is a bright smile spreads across her face in a flash and she doesn’t hesitate: it’s the people.
“The ‘correct’ answer should be, ‘All the properties that have been cleaned up,’ but it’s really the people,” Smith said. “I have met people from every walk of life, literally from some of the richest people to some of the absolute poorest, and they have both taught me something and that’s been awesome.”
Smith was hired as the city’s second code enforcement officer in July, with the primary duty of handling “nuisance” violations such as high grass, unsightly household trash around the exterior of homes and “junked” or improperly stored vehicles.
It’s not her first foray into helping to keep Pauls Valley cleaned up. Smith has previously served on the city’s beautification commission.
“That’s where the fire started,” she laughs.
A couple of years after her service on that board ended, Smith was approached about her interest in a code enforcement position. She jumped at the chance to pursue her passion for making the city she loves a cleaner place to live and work.
Smith said she’s trying to approach the position from a fresh perspective.
“I’m trying to put more of a human touch to it. That’s just how I approach it,” Smith said. “I want the citizens of Pauls Valley to feel like they can come and speak to us and be treated equally no matter what. That’s important to me.”
It’s also important to her for citizens to know her job entails enforcing city ordinances, not judging properties based on her own opinions or standards. Many of the ordinances she deals with are not just about beautification, but also address health and safety concerns. Grass that is too tall, inoperable vehicles parked in yards and trash accumulation around homes can be havens for mice, snakes, raccoons, insects and other vermin.
When an ordinance violation is brought to her attention, either by a concerned citizen or through her own observations, Smith’s first course of action is to make contact with the property owner or tenant. Often that is all that is needed.
“I just stop and talk to people. A lot of times people don’t know they’re doing something wrong until we notify them. If you don’t know something, how will you learn it if we don’t tell you,” Smith said. “There are so many codes that I never had a clue about. That’s why I keep saying we need to stop and teach people. In this job, I’ve met more nice people. People really are open and interested and want to learn.”
If she’s unable to make direct contact with the property owner after a couple of tries, the next step is to send a certified letter and post a copy of the letter in the yard.
“Just that way you know, ‘Hey, we’ve been here, we need this taken care of please.’ That part is a lot harder than people realize,” Smith said. “It’s not fun sending those. I don’t enjoy getting out and staking those in people’s yards.”
If the violation is not resolved within 10 days of the certified letter receipt being returned, the city can hire a contractor to clean or mow the property and the property owner is billed for the work. If that bill remains unpaid, a lien is placed on the property.
Since she’s been on the job, Smith said she’s sent about 120 letters to residents for yards with grass over 12 inches tall. About 80 of those have resolved themselves without further action being necessary.
Smith said follow-up is important to her. If someone turns in a complaint, she wants to be able to keep them in the loop on how that issue is being handled or resolved. She also welcomes calls from citizens and said she values their help as she works to identify issues in the community that need to be addressed.
“I love this town,” Smith said. “I’m doing this for the citizens of Pauls Valley. They deserve to have a clean town. They deserve to be able to be proud of it.”
