PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The fallout from a condemned apartment building in Pahokee keeps getting messier.
Forty residents were left displaced, and Palm Beach County leaders are at their breaking point on failed communication with city leaders, and the way it was handled.
WATCH: County mayor suggests taking over city's code enforcement
Palm Beach County Mayor Sara Baxter says she can’t even get a call back from city officials. And that silence could cost Pahokee its $45,000 annual county funding for code enforcement.
“When people are living like that, that upsets me,” Baxter said. “The only word I can think of is disgusting, it was atrocious, no one should have to live in those conditions.”
Accountability
County leaders are questioning how conditions at Parker Apartments got so bad, and why the city’s code enforcement didn’t step in earlier.
“They’re not enforcing code from what it seems and we’re getting a hard time getting return phone calls from anyone with the city,” Baxter said.
She’s now suggesting the county pulls the $45,000 it gives to Pahokee for code enforcement, and for the county to take over the city's code enforcement completely.
“We care about our residents and want to see what’s done best and we are filling gaps that the city of Pahokee is not currently filling,” Baxter added.
Calls That Aren’t Coming In
Jonathan Brown, the county’s deputy director of Housing & Economic Development, says he hasn’t heard back from new city manager Brenda Bryant — who was just appointed permanently last week, beating out interim city manager Tammy Bussey (widely credited by residents for helping during the transition).
Palm Beach County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo says Pahokee’s city attorney has also been unresponsive.
Despite the silence, the county has moved quickly to help residents.
Deputy County Administrator Tammy Fields says everyone displaced has been placed into housing, though some are still in temporary situations.
This has been an effort from the county's community services, along with many nonprofit agencies and the School District of Palm Beach County, as some displaced families had children.
Fields said Bryant was on a call with 30 different agencies trying to address the immediate need of those displaced, but that the city has not specifically sheltered anyone.
WPTV was there listening to residents last week as they were forced to leave, putting their belongings on the curb.
"I don't think this was planned for and that's what's really upsetting," said resident Dannie Ward on the city's lack of solutions.
Pahokee
Community rallies to help displaced residents after apartments condemned
“It has fallen to this board to help shelter them, take care of them and link them to nonprofits,” Baxter said.
Giving the City One Last Chance
For the county to formally take over code enforcement, there needs to be an interlocal agreement and changes to Pahokee’s municipal code. But commissioners could still stop funding right now if they choose.
If the county steps in, it means they’d be checking up on everything from building exteriors to the inside of county-invested properties — ensuring residents aren’t stuck in conditions that Baxter calls “atrocious.”
More Transparency on the Horizon?
The county is considering an online portal for residents to report code issues directly, and exploring legislation to protect tenants from retaliation if they speak up.
WPTV has reached out repeatedly to Bryant and Pahokee Mayor Keith Babb — and has yet to hear back.
The future of Pahokee’s code enforcement will be discussed again next week.
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