Yakima hopes to use 'Code Rangers' to clean up the city
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YAKIMA, Wash. -- Messy yards and tall weeds are hazardous and ugly and, more importantly, they're illegal.
"A lot of the areas, I'm sorry, just look terrible," said Daniel Newbrough who lives in Yakima. "Looks atrocious."
It's up to Yakima's three code enforcement officers to enforce this law. They take hundreds of complaints and issue citations. But it's an uphill battle with complaints on nearly every block.
"Something needs to be done," Newbrough said.
The city agrees. Yakima hopes to enlist a large group of so-called "code rangers" to volunteer as compliance officers. These rangers would knock on doors and politely tell neighbors about the problem.
Another idea is to have those code rangers leave a to-do list for the violators. It's a non-confrontational way to make the homeowner clean up."
"Some people will equate low income with low class," said KC Webber. "I don't think that way."
Webber thinks the program can work. He's already a member of a block watch and says the concept is a good one.
"We're here to say, no we do care. And, we can make a difference," he said.
KC believes crime and a trashy yard go hand and hand.
"I'm a true believer that if you have a messy house or messy yard or messy neighborhood, you're basically saying 'come one, come all bad guys' because they're going to look at that neighborhood and say 'oh they don't care about the way it looks.'"
The city hopes the code rangers will help the city's image and turn the atrocious into clean, safe neighborhoods.
"A lot of bad things that go on, has a lot to do with the image of the area, of the city," Newbrough said. "If you clean that up, it's not going to get rid of it but it's going to help."
Code rangers will go through a training program. Yakima is still working to finalize the details.
Action News will let you know when you can sign up to be a code ranger.
"Code Rangers" What are we, 12? This is one of the most ridiculous ideas I have heard. Whose bright idea is this? Neighbors should not be asked to do a job that the City of Yakima pays people to do. The serious problems do get reported. I do not see this making for happy neighborhoods. I think it could be hazardous for the "code ranger" knocking on their neighbors door. And......it is not legal to put anything in a mailbox except mail.
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The situation has degraded so far down now, you would have to go door-to-door. There was a glimmer of hope with the new city manager when he had a chance to make his mark. Instead, he denied the Starbuck's business application downtown, and this sent a chilling, rippling effect through the business community. It is clear that Yakima is truly anti-business, and always has been. The correlation between increased revenue and the ability to finance improvements through business has been lost. Plus, too many years of non-compliance and apathy have now taken their toll. With a huge crime problem, coupled with unbelievable social degradation, Yakima has become unsavory. The nicest building in town is DSHS on 16th, and so the money flows out to folks who have no incentive to improve their lives or community. Yakima is the no.1 welfare county in the state by a huge margin.Â
 The graffiti problem alone runs off most new business, and now most, if not all commercial space in town has lost value. It's not the code enforcement that's the problem, it's the clientele, and your not going to fix that. "The city HOPES the code rangers will help the city's image" is not going to work.  Hope is going to change nothing, and the cows have gone on to greener pastures...