By Glenn Rolfe

GEORGETOWN — Town officials have formed a committee to address rental housing inspections and concerns in the vein of public health and fairness.

During Wednesday’s council meeting, Mayor Bill West nominated the four-person committee, including Town Council members Penuel Barrett and Christina Diaz-Malone; town resident Linda Dennis, who chairs the Planning Commission; and Cassie Asher, property manager for Crestwood Garden apartments and other properties owned by Bamdad Bahar.

“We’re not here to put people out of housing. But we are here to get them more precise information (about) the way things should be done in the town of Georgetown,” said Mayor West. “With this committee, they’ve got to look at who, what, where, when, how and why and put all those pieces together and come back to us with a general (consensus) as to here is what needs to be done, and here is how we need to do it.”

Ms. Asher agreed.

“The goal shouldn’t be to uproot these families that have been in this community,” she said. “But then again, the goal should also be to bring some order.”

Some seeds were sown at a June 29 workshop, Town Manager Eugene Dvornick said.

“One of the outfalls from that was: ‘Let’s form a committee that can look at what exactly would it take to put in some type of rental-inspection program?’ You need to look at things like how you handle a (Housing and Urban Development)-qualified property, an income-subsidized property, a single-family home or a state house or something run by a nonprofit,” said Mr. Dvornick. “They will be looking at all of those aspects. Then, they will make recommendations to the mayor and council.”

Hundreds of units affected

Currently, inspections in the town are required before license issuance for new rental units, lapses of license and changes of ownership.

As of May 26, there were 1,214 rental units and 537 rental licenses in town limits. By ward, rental licenses included 240 in Ward 2, 149 in Ward 3, 98 in Ward 1 and 50 in Ward 4.

“This task is going to be very large,” said Ms. Dennis. “But at the very beginning, I think what we have to do is sit down and try to decide or try to outline how far we are going to go with this and what assistance we are going to have, for example, either from Gene (Dvornick) or the planning office or the code enforcement officer.”

This initiative is generally called proactive rental inspection. “So instead of waiting for there to be a problem, you are doing it upfront,” said Mr. Dvornick, noting that Milford and Middletown have these programs.

Ms. Dennis conceded that it’s going to be hard work.

“But it is so long overdue. It really is,” she said. “And not all landlords are created equal. We know that. There are some people that run very wonderful housing options for people here in Georgetown, and there are those that are in it — it’s entrepreneurial in the worse sense of the (word). They are in it for the money. And they really don’t do what they are supposed to do in terms of keeping the property maintained, keeping them safe. So we have a big job.”

Various options

The committee may be addressing inspection alternatives, such as:

• Self-inspection, certification and random sample (landlord completes inspection, submits inspection form with license renewal, then the town pulls random samples for First State Inspection Agency to audit).
• Owner hires a licensed inspector, using the town form and submits proof of inspection.
• Wards inspected by year (inspections in the four wards could be rotated over a four-year period).
• Periodic inspection (semiannually, annually, biannually or triennially).
• Hybrid inspection methods.

Other considerations for the committee evolving from the June workshop were landlord training/education; additional code enforcement staff (Georgetown currently has one code enforcement officer, Michael Picarello); adoption of a mandatory “tenant rights” lease addendum; adoption of a mandatory “crime-free” lease addendum; establishment of a fund for emergency home repairs; and a fee-waiver program for low-income homeowners.

Leveraging community engagement is another consideration, possibly incorporating a CommUNITY initiative or a partnership with the Kimmeytown area.

Any proposed changes to the code will require legal and Delaware State Housing Authority review, plus action by mayor and council.

“What they will do is very similar to our transitional housing task force, where they will dive into what all is involved and then bring recommendations back to the mayor and council,” Mr. Dvornick said. “There is a whole gamut, and that is part of what they are going to have to look at.”

Councilwoman Diaz-Malone, in her first term, said she welcomes “the opportunity to learn more about our code system, how people who are tenants and people who are landlords are treated by us, by the public and what our expectations are of those renters and landlords and our expectation of the town.”

Councilwoman Angela Townsend asked, “How long is this process going to take? This is August. I would like to start inspections this year, whether we do the different wards every other year, or we rotate every four years.

“I don’t want to reinvent the wheel. I know other towns are doing inspections. Why can’t we contact their towns and see exactly what they are doing and try to get the process going?”

Mayor West explained the upcoming plans.

“Here is what we can do. The committee has to report back to us by end of September and by November have something in place that we can start moving forward with … this year,” he said. “These people are going to move forward with the committee. They’ve got a lot of things to look at. We’ve got to look at the different ways people live. We’ve got to look at the conditions of the houses because we’re hearing a lot of rumors about the conditions. These are all things that have got to be looked at … and get this town straightened out.”

Ms. Dennis continued, “If we could take some time by having our plan together to present by September, I would feel comfortable with that. At least if we can come together and outline what we think … our mission is going to be and the specific tasks involved, I think we would all feel more comfortable.”

Ms. Dennis said she welcomed the perspective Ms. Asher brings to the committee from the property-management sector.

“I am so thrilled. As a resource person, you (Ms. Asher) have exactly the kind of experience that we need,” Ms. Dennis said. “I think we are on the same page when it comes to what we are supposed to do, and that is to keep people in safe, comfortable, habitable housing.”

Ms. Asher said Mr. Bahar is committed to maintaining codes and just being a part of this community.

“Mr. Bahar has been a property owner here for 30 years, and I manage these rental units,” she said. “I have knowledge of how their inspection process works. I am bringing the knowledge of ‘I am a property manager. I am seeing what these units look like. I am understanding of the community that lives here. These are people’s homes.’ So I am kind of bringing that knowledge with me.

“I am the boots on the ground, in the real world here, in the trenches … with tenants each and every day, communicating with them, communicating with the town.”

The committee will have to weigh differences in properties and rentals.

“One of the challenges that we have is that there is this smaller property owner that has maybe one or two units versus those that are out there like The Oaks (at Georgetown apartments),” Ms. Dennis said. “So what we have to realize is … there is things like public housing that if they are federally funded, they have their own standards for inspection: self-inspection (that) has to be done yearly. We’re looking at that group of people that fall outside of self-inspection or federal requirements and what do we expect them to do to provide decent affordable housing to people? There is a whole other section that goes with code enforcement and that kind of thing. We will probably need to talk to the code enforcement officer … because he does a lot of the inspections.”

Information gathered will be used for comparative purposes.

“What did we do well in the past? Where did we go wrong, so we don’t do this again?” Ms. Asher said. “And how can we make it even better because we want the town to grow and improve?”

Ms. Dennis said the “core” of the issue is on-site property management. “A lot of it’s common sense. It’s like, ‘How do I want to be treated if I was living in this place? What keeps me safe? What keeps my kids safe?’” she said.

“There is a lot of people here that don’t care about that. They are in it for the buck.”

Ms. Asher agreed.

“The purpose of this committee, I believe, is gathering up the information and saying, ‘What is a good plan for the town to put in place that is going to try to eliminate some of the problems that are safety-related but also realize that we are a community of people?’” she said.

“We don’t have a town without people. We don’t want to look at this like robots — here is a bunch of laws. These are real people. These are their homes. These are renters. These are people who contribute to the community. They are buying from your stores. Their children are in the schools.”

Mayor West was optimistic for change this year.

“I think we can get this done and be on track by November,” he said. “I really do.”