Is fact checking still a thing?
According to WTAW, on April 17 “City Manager Bryan Woods reported at the end of last year a proactive code enforcement effort contributed to 180 violations for all of 2022. Woods said, ‘half of the violations led to criminal convictions.’ ”
Rewind the tape. Woods actually stated that “180 is not 180 that have been deposed of … 100 gone through process … 90 got convictions… . Still some in progress.”
Based on the Middle Housing presentation to the Planning and Zoning Commission on March 23, “183 cases were investigated by Code Enforcement.” Here’s a breakdown of the 183 cases:
Eighty-seven cases had “no violation found” by Code Enforcement (47%). 96 cases were sent to the attorney’s office (53%).
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Out of the 96 cases, only 67 were accepted by the attorney’s office (37%). Only 58 out of the 67 cases went to court (32%). Nine are not accounted for. Out of the 32%, 5% of the cases are in deferred status.
So, in conclusion, only 27% went to court with a possible conviction or fine. In addition, the actual compliance rate (following the law) is completely unclear.
The media reported that half of violations led to criminal convictions. Fifty percent is very different from 27% — and an even bigger question is: how many of those cases are actually in compliance today?
Frustrated residents want the facts. Council, residents and media should always get them.
LIANA VINCENT
College Station