City has new code compliance officer

Central Oregon native Jacob Smith has assumed the duties of Code Compliance Officer (CCO) for the City of Sisters. This is a new staff position.

Smith comes to his job in Sisters after working for the City of Redmond for 15 years, 13 of those as the code compliance officer, which was a new position in Redmond when he started. He built the program from the ground up, which is what he will be doing in Sisters. During his time in Redmond, Smith reported there were 15,000 code violations with a 96-percent voluntary compliance rate.

He was attracted to the position in Sisters because he likes small towns and the challenge of establishing a new program. Redmond has grown larger over Smith’s 15 years there, and he is happy to be working in a smaller town now. His supervisor at City Hall will be Community Development Director Scott Woodford, with whom Smith shared an office at Redmond City Hall for two years when they both worked there.

A graduate of Western Oregon University in Monmouth with a degree in law enforcement/criminal justice, Smith’s first job was briefly at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution in Madras, before any prisoners were there. He quickly realized that wasn’t for him and became the community service officer in Redmond for two years before the opportunity arose to become the city’s first CCO.

Smith has been happy to stay in Central Oregon, having been born in Prineville and raised in Redmond. He and his wife and son live in Crook County. His wife teaches school in Redmond, and his son attends school there as well.

“I enjoy all the typical Central Oregon activities like hunting and the outdoors,” Smith said. “We also enjoy going to all of our son’s sporting events.” He confessed to being an NFL fan as well.

Smith and his family are big-dog people – lovers of their English mastiff, Neapolitan mastiff, and St. Bernard, who take turns sleeping on his son’s queen-size bed.

Familiarizing himself with the Sisters codes is his first order of business. Then he will be making recommendations regarding any deficiencies in the codes and ensuring he has the necessary tools within the codes to enable enforcement.

“A code compliance program is only as good as the mechanism available to encourage voluntary compliance,” said Smith. He explained that addressing issues when they are small can keep them from getting bigger and harder to correct.

Smith sees one of his most important duties as establishing the lines of communication between citizens with a possible code violation and the City.

“The number-one most important thing for residents to know is, if you get a letter from the City regarding a possible code violation, call the code compliance officer right away,” advised Smith. He said he will work with people to help bring them into compliance. “We are shooting for getting problems resolved,” Smith added. He also indicated that if people are physically or financially unable to correct problems, he will help them find resources, including church groups, volunteers, service groups, students, and nonprofits.