Vallejo resident says home with trash piling up outside is causing safety concerns
By CBS Bay Area
As Lillie Hurd approaches the first home she purchased in 1954, memories flood back, along with a sense of satisfaction.
“I was 18 years old at the time. I’ve been in Vallejo ever since. Much pride here,” said Hurd, a Vallejo resident and landlord.
Yet, just steps away from her home lies a problem that she says has taken over the neighborhood. The Indiana Street property is not exactly discreet, with trash, debris, and junk filling up the front lawn.
For Hurd, the site is only part of the issue. She led CBS News Bay Area to the back of her property, which she now leases out, and showed the area where she claims strangers cut through like a passageway.
“Jumping over there. Annoying her at all times of the night,” she explains.
Her tenant, she said, is terrified, prompting them to build two massive fences in an attempt to establish boundaries. Unfortunately, that hasn’t helped, and Hurd notes that neither she nor her tenant has reported each issue to the city for months.
“We need somebody to do something. Police department. Code enforcement. We need help,” she pleaded.
Officials from the Vallejo City Management have confirmed that there is an active code enforcement case against the property. They shared that just last week, the Indiana Street home received its third citation and added that it is also registered to their vacant property program. However, the case itself remains unresolved.
So why hasn’t more been done? San Jose State Professor Jeffery Hare explains that even with multiple citations, the process to take action is complicated.
“Since the ultimate goal is compliance and not just collecting money, they are willing to wait it out and take care of it. But if there is illegal activity, then it becomes a police matter,” he said.
Hurd said she understands there may be limits to what the city can do, but as a long-time property owner, she insists that staying quiet is not an option.
“And my poor tenants are devastated; there is nothing they can do,” she added.
The problem persists, but so does Hurd. At 91 years young, she is on a mission to do right by a neighborhood she has always been proud of, and more so for the people who call it home.
