Code violations are supposed to help maintain safety and hold the powerful accountable on behalf of community members, however they are most often enforced in neighborhoods against residents that have a desperate need for infrastructural and economic help. The communities who are targeted in these violations are typically low-income, yet despite interacting with code enforcement the most frequently, they rarely have a seat at the table. Specifically in San Antonio, the San Antonio Property Maintenance Code is updated every three years, and this time around, residents wanted a say.
In A Little Louder Buzz Session #5, Texas Housers’ community equity analyst in San Antonio Uel Trejo was joined by communications manager Michael Depland to discuss her work in shaping this most recent SAPMC, how residents feel Code Enforcement abuses its power and does not provide residents proper information, and how everyone learn more about these sorts of violations. You can read Uel’s recent editorial on code violations at the San Antonio Report as well as the Ousted report which also deals with similar issues. You can contact Uel here.
You can watch our latest Buzz Session of A Little Louder above, or you can listen to our latest episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or find us wherever you get your podcasts.
