COSTA MESA : Homeowner Reports Housing Violations

A city government watchdog, battling to stay out of jail after violating housing codes, is flooding the city department that oversees building code enforcement with reports of other possible violations by turning in addresses of other homeowners who may be guilty of the same thing.

Sid Soffer said he started driving up and down city streets last week looking for older homes, taking down addresses and asking the city to investigate whether those homeowners have all their permits in order. So far, he has turned in about 60 addresses.

“I’m just getting started,” he said. “I’m not trying to give any homeowner a bad time because I know that the city will not be able to process these.”

Instead, he said he is trying to prove that the city has unfairly singled him out in prosecuting him for violating housing codes.

“They’re maintaining property that is illegal, therefore they should go to jail just like me,” he said. “I want to make sure I have good company in there.”

Soffer was convicted in 1990 for the violations on property he owns in the 500 block of Bernard Street. The lot has a single-family house, two apartments, two trailers and several vintage cars.

The city contends that Soffer never obtained the proper permits to convert the garage and upstairs playroom into apartments. He also never received the proper permits for the trailers, officials say.

Soffer’s campaign to turn in other property owners will not erase his duty to bring his own property up to city standards and obey the judge’s order to clean it up, said Tony C’de Baca, assistant director of the city’s Development Services Department.

“He firmly believes that the city and Lady Justice have turned on him in this case, but regardless of what the records show on other properties, Sid’s property reflects” violations, he said. “There’s a total of four units that are living quarters on that property, where by permit we can only see one single-family residence with a garage and playroom.”

C’de Baca added that his department will look into the properties Soffer has turned in as time permits.

“More than likely it is going to make the homeowners upset in the community, but the public’s wrath should not turn toward the city because we are not initiating this. It is being initiated by Sid,” he said.

Soffer was sentenced to 30 days in jail, which was to have started Jan. 3, but his lawyers successfully argued to Harbor Municipal Judge Susanne S. Shaw that Soffer should be allowed to post bail while he appeals his conviction. Shaw set the bail hearing for Tuesday.