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 On March 8, 2007, the City of Newburgh Codes Compliance Department launched an aggressive Targeted Enforcement Initiative geared to cleaning up the City's toughest streets. Codes Compliance officers Jesse Morrill, Felix Medina, Bruce Terwilliger, Bill Giametta, and Codes Compliance Supervisor Steve Hunter conducted external inspections of every property on City Terrace between Broadway and South Street. By the time they were finished, they had issued 60 violations for everything from broken sidewalks to garbage and graffiti.
 City Terrace is only the beginning, said Steve Hunter. "We have a zero tolerance policy on code violations, and we are going to use every resource we have to make sure that negligent property owners are held accountable. Our Codes Compliance officers have identified the worst streets in their sectors, and we will be hitting a different one every week."
This initiative is geared toward tackling quality of life-issues, said Hunter, but it is also about education. "Our goal is to get these properties cleaned up as quickly as possible, but we also want to help people understand why violations are being issued. We will be speaking to tenants and property owners about the problems with their properties and what they need to do to address them."
In addition to targeting new streets every week, the department will also be re-inspecting properties from the previous weeks. Property owners have one week to address violations, and if they are not taken care of, the matter will be referred to court.
 The weekly targeted enforcement initiative is going to continue indefinitely, said Hunter. "A lot of landlords and homeowners can look forward to seeing us at least once."
City Manager Jean-Ann McGrane added, "Strong code enforcement is the cornerstone of the revitalization of this City, which can only happen with a street by street approach. We are taking our efforts to a whole new level. This is one of several initiatives we will be rolling out- so stay tuned."
Top: Codes Compliance Supervisor Steve Hunter inspects a store with several violations including windows covered with posters.
Center: Codes Compliance Officer Felix Medina outside a house on City Terrace that received several violations in the March 8 sweep.
Bottom: Codes Compliance officers Jesse Morrill and Bruce Terwilliger confer on City Terrace.
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