Thanks for your comments. The goal of the city of San Diego’s Children’s Right to Lead Safe Housing Ordinance is to prevent, identify and remedy lead hazards in housing before children are poisoned. The ordinance seeks to ensure that children living in pre-1978 rental and owner-occupied homes are protected from the dangers of lead-based paint and dust. The ordinance also protects workers by banning unsafe lead work practices.
LBC, in response to your comments, the federal disclosure rule is only a notification. It does not require landlords to make the repairs. Therefore, properties are either being rented or transferred without ensuring the lead hazards are being repaired. The current system is allowing for new families to move into properties that may poison their children.
In response to Theresa Quiroz, children should not be treated as lead detectors. We must test homes before testing children’s blood. Once children are exposed to lead, the damage has been done. Focusing on strategies that prevent childhood lead poisoning is the most effective manner to solve this problem. Code enforcement officers play a critical role by including lead among hazards they address, significantly increasing the identification and control of lead hazards. The Lead Citizen’s Advisory Taskforce for the city of San Diego designed a system to share responsibility between the city, homeowners and landlords to ensure pre-1978 housing is made lead-safe.
-LETICIA AYALA