Benicia artists get notice to clean up their act
A fire inspector -- accompanied by two police officers -- went to individual artists and taped folders with violations on doors, said
"I don't mean to sound negative, but his appears to be bad and I'm an optimist," Kendall said earlier this week.
The original inspection of the Jackson and Tyler street buildings was in June and undoubtedly in response to the Ghost Ship fire in
"That's the premise," Kendall said Thursday at his studio, 933 Jackson St.
The Oakland blaze on
Hough's father
Benicia community activist
Benicia Fire Chief
"There are some people down here who will be hurt," Kendall said, emphasizing that landlord
The inspector's findings from June were signed off by
Chadwick said he and the inspector "identified the most critical life safety threats" and that "we felt that they could be easily corrected with a three-day time period" and the the remaining items would take longer to "get them corrected in a reasonable time frame."
Kendall believed the presence of two armed cops with the inspector was a way of showing the city "meant business," believed Kendall.
The officers, explained Chadwick, are "not standard" procedure.
"Our Code Enforcement Officer is normally who posts notices. She was on vacation on Monday, so we used the Fire Inspector. We generally prefer two staff members present during posting. We asked police for a Community Service Officer, but she was in training, so he sent a regular officer. The officer he sent had a trainee with him that day. I understand the optics were bad, but it was unintentional," Chadwick said.
As fire chief, "my No. 1 priority is the safety of the residents in my community," Chadwick continued.
Ideally, it wouldn't have taken 2 1/2 years after the Ghost Ship tragedy to inspect the Benicia Arsenal, hinted Chadwick.
"Benicia is a very old city with a large number of historic buildings. Unfortunately, I do not have the capacity (staffing) to immediately address every occupancy. That said, I have a responsibility to try. Over the last several years I have watched and read many news and investigation reports regarding the Ghost Shop fire. I have spent nights lying awake thinking of different occupancies in
Vallejo has done "a lot around building and fire code enforcement following Ghost Ship," acknowledged
The most common code violation in the three Benicia Arsenal buildings on Jackson and Tyler streets were the illegal use of temporary electrical wiring, lack of smoke alarms, and blocked fire sprinklers, Chadwick said.
Kendall was asked to remove a partition wall that separates a bed -- "I take naps three times a day" -- with his office space as well as removing any extension cords. A smoke and carbon monoxide alarm were also required, though Kendall said "I already had them."
Word of the fire inspector's actions Monday "went viral pretty quickly," said
Smeland, believing the method of information the artists was "heavy-handed," said the city manager "made it clear that most of the significant improvements are the responsibility of the landlord and they are working directly with him," Smeland said.
The majority of violations will be the owner's responsibility, though "there are a few items that will likely fall on the tenants," Chadwick said. "If a tenant brought in an extension cord and is using it illegally, they would likely be the one to remove it. There are a couple of units with unapproved stoves."
Chadwick said that no tenants were cited or evicted, adding that he hoped Tuesday night's meeting "cleared up some misinformation. I believe many tenants thought they were receiving eviction notices. In reality, the notices were not addressed directly to the tenants but instead to the property owner. The main reason each tenant received a notice is because once the city became aware of a potentially hazardous situation, we had an obligation to let the tenants know. It would be wrong to keep that information from them."
After Thursday's
"Going forward, we have to wait and see what is worked out with the city and the landlord about building improvements," Smeland said. "Hopefully, we find out more about the plan of action at our community meeting."
Smeland said the "most important take away for me with this whole incident is just what a great, supportive arts community we have here in the Arsenal. It really is a 'village.'"
While Benicia artists contemplate a course of action, the Ghost Ship trial continues.
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