The Public Health and Safety Standing Committee, chaired by Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero and joined by Councilmembers Denzel Anton McCampbell and Mary Waters, held a dangerous buildings hearing on February 9, 2026, to review approximately 50 properties recommended for demolition. The hearing served as a legally required administrative appeal from earlier informal hearings at the Department of Building Safety, Engineering, and Environmental Department (BSEED). Many property owners and residents expressed frustration with the city's aggressive demolition process, particularly for occupied or marginally maintained properties.
Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you all for being here. I would like to call back into session our public health and safety standing committee for today, February 9th, 2026, for the purposes of our dangerous buildings hearings. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero. Present. Councilmember Denzel Anton McCampbell. Present. Councilmember Mary Waters. Madam Chair, you have a quorum. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Given a quorum, we'll go right into the hearings for this afternoon. As mentioned earlier, we have around 50 properties before us for hearings for today. I will turn it over to the administration first to share with the public what they can expect before I turn it over to our legislative policy division. Good afternoon to the chair. For owners of property here today, if City Council orders your building to be demolished, you have the opportunity to go to the building safety and environmental engineering department located in room 418. I request a deferral of the demolition order. This means that you must do the following. Pay all required inspection fees. Secure all openings on your building from trespass and elements and remove all exterior debris, abandoned vehicles, overgrowth, etc. Pay or make arrangements regarding any delinquent city taxes. Obtain the necessary permits to bring your building into compliance with all applicable codes and submit a completed deferral application. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Washington LPD. Thank you, Madam Chair. In addition to the important information just provided by the administration's representative by the nature of these hearings and the consequences and options and so forth. People should be aware that these are legally required administrative appeal hearings from previous informal hearings held at the Department of Building Safety Engineering and Environment. This is the as I say it's legally required the local legislature through this committee, either give the thumbs up or the thumbs down to the department's recommendations as to the 50 or 60 buildings on today's list as to whether they should be continued on the demolition list in order to assist the committee in their deliberations and to provide due process. Representatives of the department are here with photos and the files. Thank you. Thank you. If the clerk can please note we've been joined by Member Waters. Thank you. We will now turn it over to B seed to introduce themselves. My name is Dili Patel. I'm the assistant at the property maintenance uh building and safety department. That's very dangerous buildings, clerk. Thank you both for being here. And as had been mentioned, these are hearings for folks who may not have done these with us before. Uh we do have a number of properties before us. I try to keep these hearings at about five minutes each to respect your time and to ensure that we help you however we can. If you are at this point and you would like to uh prevent your building from being demolished, we will ask you some questions to see whether or not we can help you. If you decide that you want to demolish, we will support you in those efforts as well. Uh we will discuss um with our hearings when we're in our hearings. We're going to take the folks that we have here in person first. Uh so anyone that is here in person, if you are here for a hearing, please raise your hands now. I see one person with their hand up, two people with their hand up. I'll go with the people that I saw first. So, gentlemen with the glasses.