fines on the vulnerable

Fines on the vulnerable:

An investigation into Ontario's code enforcement fines

For months, the City of Ontario, Ore. has been imposing extreme fines on homeowners and businesses that don’t obey city directives to cut tall weeds, clear out junked vehicles, or otherwise rid property of garbage and debris.

The idea is to help beautify Ontario, but upon closer examination, the city fails to follow its own rules and standards, resulting in what is essentially a free-for-all for officers to place fines wherever they choose, citations as vague as "attractive nuisance" as acceptable reasons for fines.

The result is a disproportionate impact on poor and Hispanic communities.

With some fines totaling tens of thousands of dollars, in one case $227,500 on one home-owner, both the city and its residents know the homeowners cannot afford to address their debts. But if they don't pay, they'll be removed from their property.

In total, city records show that $976,227 is owed by 83 accounts.

"The 'helping the city' statement is bull***t," Della Warren, one victim of these fines said. "They just want us out, and they know they will succeed."

Ruth Uranga stands outside her northwest Ontario property, which has accumulated $74,250 in fines since November 2019, on June 7, 2021. Uranga, single mother of two, and her family have been on the property for generations but whose space is now under threat.
"This is our sanctuary and it's blessed area. Our faith is strong and we don't give up easily, we won't give up," Uranga said.
Uranga said her home was originally cited for two campers on her property she had just torn apart and was planning to sell for scrap parts.
Well-known in the Hispanic community for her help with the homeless populations or people suffering from addiction, Uranga believes she was a specific target for the fines.
"All I do is help people that need it. Just because we look poor or look a certain way doesn't mean we aren't human beings that love," she said.

Eugene Cole, 86-year-old resident of Ontario, Ore. on the porch outside his house on June 7, 2021. Cole used to work on junk cars to make a living until he began getting repeatedly fined for having these cars on his property. He was unable to reach the city.
"I'm too old to be chasing down officials," Cole said.
Unable to pay the fines but also unable to work on the cars anywhere else, his means of income came to an end.

Della Warren gestures around her lawn on June 7, 2021.
Warren found herself in debt to the city partly as a result of the scrapping her estranged and homeless husband did, using her lawn to dump his belongings.
She faces a $28,300 penalty dating back to 2020 on this property, one that is valued at $2,970.
“I wasn’t trying to ignore it, I didn’t know how to respond,” she said. “There was numbers there and names on the letter, but every time I call it’s ‘We’re out of the office, leave a message.’”

Code enforcement notices are pasted to an abandoned and empty house in Ontario, Ore.

Officer Richard Reyna presents information about hazards encountered in code enforcement work to the Ontario City Council at a meeting on Thursday, June 3. He framed these fines as for the good of the entire community, and a necessary efforts to remove "derelicts" and brought up photographic examples on the board of needles and other dangerous items on properties. However, he later admitted in an interview that such objects were more uncommon than he made it seem.

Ontario City Councilman John Kirby responds to Reyna's presentation in favor of code enforcement fines at the City Council meeting on Thursday, June 3.

Uranga proudly stands by a tree painted with the words, "I do what I do." One of Uranga's charges was based on the "graffiti" on her property, but she explains that this is her art.

Warren's property is now fully cleaned up and freshly mown, yet the city still refuses to back down on the fines.
"I’m going, ‘How do you dispute this? What do you do?” Warren said. She also works three jobs, her main one a job as a nurse, and thus has long and unpredictable hours that don't give her the free time to battle senseless code enforcement fines.

"2020 was the worst year ever. I got hit within a week, I lost my baby, I lost my mother, (Child Protective Services) took my children, I almost lost my brother who is now disabled, I got in the worst relationship of my life, and now these crazy fines," Uranga said. "But I've brought myself up and doing whatever I have to do to get my kids back to where we all belong and hold on to our sanctuary. I have to be strong."

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