PETERSBURG − Petersburg’s Code Compliance Division is housed under the city’s Neighborhood Services Department. Among other responsibilities, the division is responsible for enforcing city and state code on Petersburg’s properties “ … in order to help protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens and visitors of Petersburg.”
But in a monthslong investigation including former and current city employees and hundreds of pages of emails, recordings and other documents , The Progress-Index found that city employees felt pressured to prioritize the inspection and code enforcement of certain properties in Ward 4, often while struggling to keep up with an already overburdened case load amidst low morale and severe understaffing.
The investigation found the prioritization of inspections and enforcement at these properties was based on the interests of one city council member: Charles Cuthbert. Some employees pushed back, but said that put a target on their back. One was eventually fired. Another quit after struggling with severe panic attacks from feeling pressured “to do things that I felt were illegal or against the code,” he told The Progress-Index.