Taking their cue from Minneapolis, Woodbury and Duluth, St. Paul officials are seeking the authority to enact fines for breaking city ordinances.

When a landlord, business or homeowner runs afoul of the St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections, Director Ricardo Cervantes already has access to a handful of enforcement tools, depending on the violation.

A questionable site plan, for instance, might be referred to the city’s Planning Commission for further review.

Warning letters are sometimes enough to gain compliance. A business license infraction — such as a bar that serves minors — can be hit with suspensions. Animal Control can issue criminal charges.

Nevertheless, Cervantes would like to add one uniform tool that his 100 inspectors can access across the board: administrative citations, otherwise known as fines.

“We have several different divisions that do enforcement, and some divisions don’t have very good tools at all,” Cervantes said.

The Department of Safety and Inspections on Monday presented the St. Paul City Charter Commission with what Cervantes considers a modest request — the ability to levy administrative fines to rule-breakers.

An amendment to the city charter would allow his department, working with the city council, to create a fine ladder for violations. Minneapolis, Bloomington, West. Paul, Woodbury and Duluth already have such powers.

“We have not yet developed what the fine structure would be. And depending on the violation, it would vary,” said Cervantes, in an interview. “Some of the fines could begin at $50, and some of the fines could begin at $250. Other cities have a cap, such as $2,000.”

An administrative citation would, in some cases, allow his department to avoid the criminal process while still allowing for escalating penalties, he said. In other cases, it could be an alternative to condemning properties and displacing tenants.

DSI officials have pointed to the example of a large office building with a leaky roof and a parent company that is unresponsive.

To correct the problem, DSI might currently have to issue a criminal citation, which would be referred to a Ramsey County judge, who might then issue a fine. That alone still might not be enough to force compliance.

“It’s a good idea,” said Joe Spartz, president of the St. Paul Building Owners and Managers Association. “Essentially, you’re decriminalizing an offense. It turns it into a fine. The reality is, only a small group of individuals are going to be impacted — that small group that ignores warning letters. And DSI, as long as you’re making a good-faith effort, they’re going to work with you anyway.”

ST. PAUL TRASH SPEAKS OUT

The citation proposal received the support of the charter commission, but only barely. It passed on a 5-4 vote, and will soon go before the city council for refinement, public hearings and further discussion.

Among the concerns: Was the language overly broad, allowing the city council to levy fines for any and every violation of city ordinances?

Commission member Matt Freeman said he had some questions about “criminalizing poverty,” but felt reassured that fine structures would be vetted and approved by the city council.

“There was some concern about the scope of the powers,” said Charter Commission Chair Richard Kramer, who did not cast a vote. “People were concerned it might apply beyond DSI things.”

Charter Commission member Bridget Faricy, who voted against the proposal, said the issue should have been put to voters through a ballot referendum, or narrowed to focus exclusively on Department of Safety and Inspections issues.

“A lot of times civil penalties are regressive, and they tend to affect people who are least able to pay them,” she said.

She noted that a representative of the city attorney’s office discussed how civil penalties could potentially be used to enforce recent $15 minimum wage and paid sick leave mandates.

There’s nothing to stop the city, Faricy said, from also citing residents who fail to shovel their sidewalk or pay their trash bill.

“Not that they’re going to do that, but this just gives them authority to do that,” she said. “Maybe they should talk to voters first.”

The charter amendment indicates “the council shall have full power and authority to establish, enforce, alter, amend or repeal a procedure by ordinance to impose civil penalties for each violation of a city ordinance. This procedure must provide an opportunity to be heard by a neutral party.”

TRASH CONCERNS

One of the loudest critics of the proposed administrative citations has been St. Paul Trash, a coalition of property owners critical of the city’s decision to move from a free-market system to organized trash collection last October.

A group of about eight critics attended the charter commission meeting on Monday, and four of them spoke in opposition, Cervantes said.

They expressed concerned that the citations may be used to force residents to participate in organized trash collection. Cervantes considers that an apples-to-oranges discussion, given that the city already has the authority to levy unpaid trash bills onto property taxes.

“There are already provisions in law for collecting assessments,” said Cervantes, who said trash collection never entered into the reasoning for citations. “Having worked on the administrative proposal for over two years, that was not at all part of the discussion.”

Whether the citations would be used in some other way related to trash collection — such as penalizing property owners with overflowing bins — remains to be seen.

“Could it ever be used for some other purpose around trash? I guess that’s possible,” Cervantes said. “I just don’t see what that would be. Writing an administrative citation really would be only after we’ve given them proper notice, providing them additional time if necessary to contract with somebody to get the work done.”

The administrative citation proposal has the support of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Rules without penalties are basically suggestions, so this proposal would give the city the ability to better enforce the law,” said chamber president and CEO B. Kyle, in a written statement. “The vast majority of employers are consistent in complying with city ordinances. … It allows DSI to put teeth into their citations and rightfully so. We support DSI having this additional enforcement tool.”

Cervantes said he hopes to have a procedural process outlined for the city council’s consideration by the end of April, and a list of violations that would be eligible for administrative citations by the end of July.