City staff described April 15 the Good Neighbor Program, a cross‑department initiative that uses 311, 911 and CAD call data to identify single‑family residences generating repeated calls for service and to coordinate enforcement, service referrals and community outreach.

"The purpose of the Good Neighbor [program] is to address developing chronic nuisance residential properties that exert a high demand on city first responder resources and that cross the boundaries of city department responsibility," Maria Vargas Yates, director of the Integrated Community Safety Office (ICSO), told the committee. She said the current pilot uses a six‑month evaluation window and that properties must have recorded 12 or more calls in each three‑month period to qualify for the current candidate pool.

Staff said the program began as an interdepartmental effort in April 2023 and was refined after finding the initial scope returned too many addresses. When the scope was narrowed to single‑family residences with 12+ calls per quarter in a selected period (Feb.–May 2023), staff identified 707 single‑family addresses that together generated 15,888 calls; the top 100 addresses accounted for 6,418 calls. The ICSO said many high‑call addresses involved residents with mental‑health needs: among the top 100, 32 were described as active mental‑health consumers and eight were DART properties.

Vargas Yates described an index — the Good Neighbor Index — that ranks properties not only by call volume but also by call type variety and call source variety so the program prioritizes addresses showing a mix of problems (for example, loud music, junk vehicles, shots heard, illegal burning) rather than repeated single‑type medical transports. The top 25 candidates by index are assessed by SAPD SAFE officers, then ICSO and partner departments develop tailored action plans. Staff said the current top 25 properties (data run July–December 2024) averaged 78 calls each, with a range from 33 to 167 calls.

Council members pressed on enforcement and timetables. The ICSO said the six‑month window is an evaluation period and not a firm limit for enforcement: properties may remain active beyond six months if issues persist, and the program can escalate from warnings to citations and enforcement when appropriate, with involvement from the city attorney's office. Staff also said some properties are deferred for hardship or because the problem type (for example, repeated EMS transports tied to a resident's medical needs) makes Good Neighbor an inappropriate response; deferred properties are backfilled to maintain a roster of 25 active cases.

Council members asked how council offices and neighborhood associations could nominate addresses and how the program will connect residents to services. Vargas Yates said ICSO is developing outreach materials, an inventory of services, and partnerships (MetroHealth, Human Services, Neighborhood and Housing Services) to improve service‑linkage and will report progress to the committee in September. Staff also said the FY24 budget added positions for the program and that ICSO began phase 2 in January 2025.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the program; the presentation was informational and staff answered questions about process, prioritization, and next steps.