Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Code Enforcement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Code enforcement and animal control outline recent outreach, training and data improvements; Tri‑City shelter honored
Summary
Code enforcement and animal control managers told the council March 17 that they have updated standard operating procedures for animal control, launched a social media presence, completed staff training, installed a morale wall at police headquarters and are working with Tyler Technologies to replace legacy case-management systems. The department
Code enforcement and animal control managers gave the DeSoto City Council a six‑month update on March 17 covering staffing, training, new public outreach and a migration to a new case‑management system.
Manager Tammy Washington said her teams launched a dedicated Facebook presence, completed in‑house customer‑service training and produced new public materials to explain code and animal-control processes. Animal control staff recognized a private nonprofit, Friends of the Tri‑City Animal Shelter, for a recent donation that supplied humane‑handling equipment and safety supplies. Members of the nonprofit and shelter staff attended the meeting; the shelter plans a ribbon cutting May 3 for newly completed exercise yards.
Washington described progress on a new case‑management deployment with Tyler Technologies and said code enforcement configuration is about 85% complete and business‑license/rental configurations are about 98% complete. She said a contracted vendor has completed a first pass of data conversion from legacy systems and is correcting found errors before a second pass.
Other actions described included completion of an animal‑control SOP manual, plans to develop an educational alternative to fines (the staff called it a “Breakfast Club” class) as a compliance option for certain minor code and animal infractions, an improved community‑service-style placement verification process, and walk‑and‑talk neighborhood outreach to target recurring violations.
Washington said staffing remains a constraint: animal-control is not fully staffed, and the department has requested additional administrative support to handle high call volumes and paperwork. Council members who participated in ride‑alongs praised staff outreach materials and door‑hanger warnings and suggested enhancements to the new software testing process to preserve historical data during the migration.
Speakers: Tammy Washington, Code Enforcement Manager; Michelle Romaldo Ybanez, Animal Control Officer; Mary White and Friends of the Tri‑City Animal Shelter; and several council members who asked about staffing, enforcement and data preservation.
