COVINGTON, Ga. — Councilwoman Hawnethia Williams believes some areas within the city are “deplorable” due to a lack of code enforcement and a slow-paced court system, and said it was past time to find a resolution.

However, the city is limited in what it can do because of state and federal restrictions. 

Williams, who represents Covington’s West Ward in Post 2, said she’s heard of problems with the city’s code enforcement “trying to get things resolved through court.” She said it seemed as though the process was taking such a long time and nothing was being accomplished. Williams asked the council to collectively take interest and look into the issue because it was becoming a matter of quality of life.

“Quality of life of those who want to do right are affected by those who don’t want to,” she said during a Nov. 1 Covington City Council meeting.

Councilman Kenneth Morgan quickly voiced his support and agreement with Williams’ comments, but he went a step further by requesting Municipal Court Judge M. Qader A. Baig be scheduled to speak with the council about the issue.

Baig was appointed by the city council and sworn in as municipal court judge in December 2018 by former mayor Ronnie Johnston. 

The Covington resident was chosen from a field of applicants to fill the position after the death of Judge Billy Waters. 

Baig is the founder and managing partner of Conyers-based law firm M. Qader A. Baig & Associates, LLC. He has served as a special prosecutor in Covington and Porterdale, and is also the county attorney for Rockdale County. Baig has also spent time as assistant district attorney for Cobb County, assistant district attorney for Rockdale County, and solicitor general for DeKalb County.

City Manager Scott Andrews said he and staff members could coordinate with Baig and the council to set up a work session for the discussion, but Morgan said he’d prefer the discussion be had during a council meeting to allow residents the opportunity to hear what is said and be completely transparent.

“We’ve got to get a handle on this,” Williams reiterated.

Councilwoman Susie Keck asked if a list of addresses for the areas of discussion could be given to be reviewed. Williams replied that a list of addresses had been given in the past but not much had been done, but she was open to having another list provided.

Williams said it would be good to speak with Baig to better “understand what is his vision for what it is he’s doing in line with what it is we want to have done in this city.”

“Because some areas of our city are just deplorable as result of a lack of us as a city cracking down on these landlords,” Williams said. “[Just] because we’re doing well does not eliminate our responsibility of assuring the quality of life of other people in our community, and that is not happening.

“It bothers me when I hear people crying, concerned about their neighborhood going down, people not following ordinances and never getting any repercussions for it,” she added. “That hurts. It really hurts … We’ve got to get a handle on this.”

Mayor Steve Horton agreed and supported Williams’ request to have Baig speak with the council was a good idea, but he believed talking with the judge about specific cases and residences was inappropriate. 

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for us as individuals, whether we are on the council or not, to talk about specific locations that may already be on the court docket or have been reviewed … because I don’t think it’s our job to tell the judge or even inquire how he’s adjudicating cases that are pending,” Horton said. “But I do think you can talk about general code enforcement and how the judge functions on that and seek comments from him … on what does it take to speed up that process or get things fully reviewed and discussed. 

“But the one thing I do know: once the case is written it becomes his, and he’s the judge,” he added. “If you’re not happy with the judge, there’s a process for dealing with the judge.

“Perhaps having that conversation can help us understand, again, you know, how he approaches a case,” Horton continued. “Is it a warning the first time, or a second time, or is there some severity level he may be looking at for how he starts off with it? What he’s thinking when he sends somebody back out to do some work or whatever. I think we have some important questions to get answers to, but in the same sense, he has a job to do and we need to be respectful of that, too. But I certainly support that, and I’m on board with you 100% to get him in here and do that.”

“I understand that judges have a certain responsibility, but they are not gods,” Williams later said in response to Horton’s comments. “I guess he needs to come before us, and, you know, we will respect him and he respect us as to what we are needing from him in order to move forward. As I mentioned before, he is an appointed person, and the vision of the city should be in line with what he’s trying to do as judge. We appointed him for that, then we definitely need to talk with him about it.”

During an October candidate forum, former city council candidate Scotty Scoggins highlighted some of the code enforcement issues Williams referenced during the Nov. 1 council meeting. During his campaign for West Ward Post 2 — a seat eventually won Tuesday, Nov. 2, by Charika Davis — Scoggins said he saw firsthand the poor conditions that landlords of West Ward properties were making people live in.

“It shouldn’t matter whether you’re Democrat or Republican if the sewers aren’t working, or if someone’s plumbing won’t be fixed and they can’t get their landlord to — you, know what the landlord told them? They said, ‘We don’t fix plumbing because we get them at the lowest rent in the city’ … There was a 6-year-old girl in [one house] living there, and a lady came to me and said, ‘You see the outside  of this house?’ Want to come in and see the inside?’ I did. It was falling apart. The whole place was falling apart, and she’s a renter. That shouldn’t happen.”

During the same forum, Councilwoman Susie Keck said the stories were true, saying there were people living with dirt floors. But, Keck said there were limitations in place that prevented the city from taking action.

“When you hear these horror stories about these rental properties around Covington, it’s true,” Keck said. “There are people living on dirt floors. But did you know we, as a city, cannot walk across that threshold. The state of Georgia keeps us from going into that house and inspecting it unless we’re invited. If we’re invited, we can go in and we can make the landlord go do something. But what do you think happens when the landlord is told they have to raise the utilities, fix the plumbing and fix the wiring? They raise the rent, and the people can’t pay.”

City Attorney Frank Turner Jr. confirmed to The Covington News that the city was, in fact, limited as to what actions could be taken.

“There are federal and state constitutional limitations on what the city take regarding private property and procedure that have to be followed in order to comply with the owner’s constitutional right to due process,” he said.

As for what legal options the city does have:

“Georgia law allows the city to cite properties which are unfit for human habitation or for commercial, industrial or business use if the city code enforcement finds conditions exist which are dangerous to health or safety of the occupants,” Turner said. “Such conditions include defects that increase fire hazards, lack of adequate ventilation, light of sanitary facilities, dilapidation, disrepair, structural defects or uncleanliness.”  

Turner said warrants could be obtained for inspection of a property if the municipal court judge determined there was cause for such an inspection.

“Following service of a complaint upon the owners and a hearing in municipal court, the municipal court judge has the power to order repairs or to order demolition of the structure if repairs would cost more than one-half the value of the structure,” Turner said. “If the owner fails to comply, the court can authorize the city to repair or demolish the property with a lien against the property for the cost.”