Multiple residents approached the Prattville City Council on Tuesday evening, accusing the City's code enforcement department of removing property from their homes without proper warning, only to be billed for the City's actions.
The matter first took over social media when Lori Herring, a Prattville resident who serves on the Board of Eagle Forum of Alabama, told her story.
According to Herring, she was initially contacted about a car in her driveway by a packet left on her front door. Herring says her son had the car towed, and the code enforcer came to her residence to verify the car's removal.
"The code officer did not tell us of any other thing we were needing to do at the time," Herring said. "So imagine my surprise several weeks later, when my son calls me and says, 'Mon. There's some people from the city here and they're taking everything off the back porch."
Herring distributed photos of her home to council members, noting that her fenced-in backyard and porch were not visible from the front. What's more, Herring's porch was reportedly filled with her deceased father's belongings, which she was in the process of sorting.
When Herring returned home to investigate, the code enforcer reportedly told her he had determined the items were "rubbish."
"He took antiques from my back porch," Herring continued. "He took my cake-decorating equipment that I use for my grandchildren and for friends. He took some of my dad's things. He took some new things that I just bought in order to organize the things I was going through. He cleared everything off my back porch except for a grill that doesn't work."
Weeks later, Herring states that she received a $560 bill from the City in the mail for removing the items.
Herring provided copies of the initial packet left on her door by code enforcement regarding the parked car, telling councilmembers that nothing from the City mentioned the back porch or the belongings.
Herring also stated that she was not notified that her property would be brought before the city council, where she would have disputed the classification of her items as rubbish.
Prattville Mayor Bill Gillespie timidly chimed in, acknowledging that the meeting was being live-streamed and stating his perceived duty to exculpate the City. Gillespie argued that Herring had been notified. However, pointing to the information she distributed to the council, Herring stated the notification she received was for the car in her yard, but made no mention of her back porch.
Gillespie did respond, and the city council, also seemingly reluctant to assign any wrongdoing to the City, tentatively acknowledged that the notice did not mention the objects on her porch.
Herring was followed by a renter with a nearly identical story. Eddie Edwards likewise claims that his tenant received a letter about the backyard, which he claims he swiftly resolved and confirmed with Code Enforcer Chris Johnson.
"I was under the impression this was resolved," Edwards said. "Six weeks later, end of April, they showed up to Stacy's house, they took a bunch of stuff out of the backyard, and then I got a bill in the mail for $700. I never received any other notices other than the notice I got at the end of February."
Edwards likewise claims he was not informed that his property would come before the city council, nor was he afforded due process.
"If I'd had known there was going to be a hearing for abatement, I would have come in here with these photos then and shown that we took care of what was to be taken care of."
He continued, "Everything that we were asked to do was done. I was trying, in good faith, to work with code enforcement to take care of these issues, and I believe we did. But, it was arbitrarily decided that it wasn't."
The tenant confirmed to the council that the items the City removed were not included in Johnson's initial notification. She also stated, along with Herring, that the code enforcer threatened arrest when they arrived to remove their property, which she claims included her grandchildren's toys.
'It is appalling," she noted.
After stating their case, Councilwoman Thea Langley acknowledged that the pair seemingly did everything the City asked of them and were subsequently penalized.
"I think we'll definitely look into that more," Langley said. "Our code enforcers are doing what the code says. And so, to me, they're not the bad guy. But it sounds like we really need to have a work session, and we need to be able to look over that and look at what some other municipalities do."
Since Herring's initial story gained online attention, dozens have made similar accusations about code enforcement, specifically naming Chris Johnson and Robert Johnson. The issue has also been a frequent topic on local radio shows.
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