Hessler said that if inspectors visit a property and observe a problem, they hold the property owner accountable.
If properties have been long vacant, "We won't simply wait for the owner to clean it up," he said.
Instead, code enforcement agents will place a work order with Public Works' division of solid waste and put a lien on the property to recover the cost of the work - if anyone ever buys it.
Real estate owners are supposed to register properties they do not occupy so officials can contact them should problems occur.
Since April, Housing and Community Development has issued 2,200 citations for unregistered properties. But Porter couldn't say whether that had happened in this case.
So the barrel is still spilling its greasy contents, more than a year after the first citation.
WHO CAN FIX THIS Eric Booker, director and division chief, housing code enforcement, city Department of Housing and Community Development, 410-396-4170. Residents can call 311 to report problems.
Liz F. Kay
UPDATE
Watchdog has two happy endings to share this week.
Towson resident Charles Callow called to report with pleasure that two brand-new green metal benches had been installed at the bus stop on Goucher Boulevard at Acorn Circle.
The seats replaced two wooden benches at that location - one that was completely missing the wooden slats forming the seat, the other also in disrepair.
Callow and his neighbors had spent months calling the Maryland Transit Administration and other agencies to try to get replacements, to no avail.
But his call to Watchdog got results that he discovered after running an errand last week.
"When I came home, here's two beautiful new metal benches, clean and green and all," he said. "I was surprised when I got off the bus."
And let's not forget the listing cabin cruiser in the harbor at the end of Thames Street.
Colleague Rob Hiaasen, who first wrote about the abandoned craft in May of last year, discovered at the end of June that the city had paid a contractor $16,000 to get rid of the hulk.
The city will be reimbursed through a state grant, according to a July 9 follow-up article by Hiaasen.
