Gaithersburg Receives Excellence Award for Code Enforcement

Gaithersburg citizens have let it be known that the city has improved on its efforts to enforce city code, and two national organizations handed out some hardware as a reward.

The city was one of 20 recipients of the "Voice of the People" Excellence Award for Code Enforcement from the International City/County Management Association and the National Research Center, Inc. (NRC), according to a city release.

Gaithersburg received the award based on ratings received from a community-wide survey conducted in the fall of 2011. The city's Code Enforcement division asked for feedback on efforts to control such things as weeds, junked cars and abandoned buildings. 

With 74 percent of responders rating Gaithersburg's Code Enforcement service as Excellent/Good, the city finished within the top three of all eligible jurisdictions participating in the survey, according to the city.

Gaithersburg is also in the top ten percent of more than 500 jurisdictions in the NRC citizen survey database. 

The 74 percent approval rating in 2011 is 12 percentage points higher than the 2009 survey, showing an improvement in Code Enforcement over the last three years.

Other jurisdictions receiving the Voice of the People Awards for Excellence in various categories were: Ashland, OR, Benbrook, TX, Coronado, CA, Farmington Hills, MI, Hanover County, VA, Oak Park, IL, Oviedo, FL, Park City, UT, South Lake Tahoe, CA, Urbandale, IA, and Winter Garden, FL. 

In Gaithersburg, Code Enforcement is a division of the Planning and Code Administration. More information and the full results of the 2011 citizen survey can be viewed on the city website.