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Baltimore committee presses DHCD for data, timelines and accountability in code‑enforcement oversight hearing
Summary
At a December legislative oversight hearing, councilmembers pressed the Department of Housing and Community Development for 12‑ and 24‑month datasets, firm reinspection timelines, a public enforcement dashboard and a council‑only camera map, while DHCD described staffing shortages, SIU camera use and new tools to prioritize repeat violators.
The House and Economic Development Committee held a legislative oversight hearing Dec. 19 to review code‑enforcement inspector accountability, and councilmembers demanded clearer data, timetables and operational SOPs from the Department of Housing and Community Development. Chair James Torrance introduced Bill LO25034 as a vehicle for that review and said the committee wants 12‑ and 24‑month datasets and a publicly accessible dashboard to track enforcement outcomes.
The DHCD chief of staff, Scott Davis, told the committee DHCD splits code work between Property Maintenance Code Enforcement and a Special Investigations Unit (SIU), and characterized the work as physically demanding and historically understaffed. He said the department conducts thousands of inspections annually and that, in calendar year 2025 to date, DHCD issued 34,760 citations after issuing…
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