Redmond mayor urges action to clean up hoarder home

Redmond Mayor George Endicott is encouraging city officials and staff to take stricter action in their efforts to clean up a hoarder’s home.

NewsChannel 21 has been following this story since Monday. The home on Southwest 30th Court has trash and debris scattered across the driveway, charred remains from a March fire, dozens of abandoned cats roaming the streets and a stench of cat feces in the area.

” It just seems like this shouldn’t be happening in a city situation, ” Kari Sieler , who lives two houses down, said Monday.

Next-door neighbor Ashley Hauk said, ” We can’t really enjoy our backyard or have people over without having to deal with the smell. ”

The city of Redmond has fined the property owners 22 times since 2017. They still owe the city more than $5,000.

Another next-door neighbor, Stuart Grifftin , said Monday, ” Various people have talked to the owners, and they just don’t seem to care. ”

Sieler , Hauk and Griffith said people went to the home Wednesday to remove some cars from the driveway. It remained unclear Thursday who those people were, but according to city officials, they are in direct contact with the property owners.

Still, the scene at the home has not changed. In fact, some neighbors said it looks worse than before.

Endicott said he had no idea the house even existed until Wednesday. That’s when he visited it to get a firsthand look at what nearby residents were complaining about.

” When you came around the corner, went down the street and saw the cul de sac , it was pretty obvious which property it was, ” Endicott said. ” The driveway was jammed with vehicles and I’ll call it junk, because that’s what it is. It was just, in my way of thinking, in terrible condition. It was eminently obvious that we have to do something. ”

Deputy City Manager John Roberts said officials are considering drafting an abatement warrant, which would give the city permission to clean the home. On Monday, Roberts said there was no timeline on when that would happen. On Thursday, however, he said officials plan on presenting a draft to a judge early next week.

Endicott said, ” We were just going to have to figure out a way to deal with it. ”

Roberts said the long-term goal is to foreclose on the house, and possibly bulldoze it. He said that could take up to a year, or possibly even longer.