Rusk’s newest code enforcement officer on the job

Rusk’s new Code Enforcement Officer Brandon Scarborough is already elbows-deep in the inner workings of the city of Rusk, and he’s only been on the job since mid-March.

“Brandon has really hit the ground running,” Rusk City Manager Jim Dunaway said. “He’s already started a complete review of the city’s ordinances and policies and is recommending updates and changes to me. He’s fully knowledgeable and we’re proud to have him here.”

City officials hired the Nacogdoches resident after longtime Code Enforcement Officer Cliff McElfresh took a position in Henderson.

“I’m very pleased to be here,” Scarborough said of his first month in Rusk. “I’ve met some great people already and I’m looking forward to helping the citizens do positive things inside the city limits of Rusk.”

Scarborough, who worked for the city of Henderson before coming to Rusk, said he grew up in a small town very similar to Rusk, so he feels like he has a good idea of what the city’s issues might be.

“Right now, mowing and yard maintenance is going to be the biggest issue,” he said. “That’s the seasonal matter. Another issue that needs to be addressed pretty regularly is the junked cars and things like that.

“It’s becoming more of an issue with all the new environmental laws that are coming down the pike. But what we want to do is work with citizens on getting these things taken care of.

“The main thing is I don’t want to go out and just write tickets. My whole goal is to get residents’ voluntary compliance on whatever needs to be addressed.”

Scarborough said he’ll issue a notice on any code violation first. Then the resident has a set amount of time, depending on what the violation is, to rectify the problem or contact the city about it.

“The minimum is seven to 10 days, but things like substandard structures obviously are going to take longer than that to deal with, so we allow at least 30 days on that,” he said. “I want to work with anyone, but if anyone who’s issued a notice doesn’t contact me within the allotted time-period, I will file a case against them and take it from there.”

Scarborough said he’s continued working with the Revitalization of District 2 committee to push forward on cleaning up and demolishing condemned properties in that district.

“He’s new and playing catch up but he’s been working closely with the Revitalization Committee to make sure he’s got all the information he needs to continue the city’s clean-up efforts in my district,” District 2 Councilman Walter Session said. “We’re already working well together in that regard and I feel confident he will work hard to keep the momentum going on getting these old houses demolished.”

He said he also wants to start offering ways for citizens to contact city officials with code enforcement issues on the city’s website.

“I’m very tech savvy myself,” he admitted. “I want to make it as easy as possible for anyone in the community to contact me with any issues they may have.

“I’m working as hard as I can to keep a contact’s anonymity, except in the event charges are filed for non-compliance.”

Contact Scarborough via email, bscarborough@rusktx.org or call Rusk City Hall, (903) 683-2213.