It has been over a year since Pascual A. Ruiz transferred from the Lawrence Fire Department to head the office of Inspectional Services. Of his 30 years working for the City of Lawrence, 28 were in the Fire Department and in 2006 he was promoted to Fire Investigator/Code Enforcement Officer performing fire investigations.
Mr. Ruiz has received a plethora of training certifications as well as commendations for his performance on the job.
In his new position, he has produced changes; some widely accepted by residents, others consider them as harassment.
“It is not harassment,” he clarified. “We do it all for customer service and people are realizing that.”
He is tough and has implemented rules, indeed, but in the process has found many things in need of corrections. He hopes to influence the City Council into drafting certain ordinances that the city is lacking. The most obvious one is for barber shops. He was surprised to find no regulations for barber shops.
“We have a big problem with barber shops. They have no set closing hours and sometimes you can find them open after midnight,” he explained. “They have become gathering places for social activities, not just doing business.”
Among his findings, many barber shops have no certificate of occupancy, no license from the city, no workmen’s compensation and no barber license from Boston. They are supposed to have a master barber under whom the other barbers can work and they don’t have one. That poses health problems for the community and they must be brought into compliance and for that, we need to have rules established.
That is exactly what happened with the proliferation of hookahs in the city; once the city council took action, they disappeared. While recognizing that there is a cultural element to the use of hookahs as we see during the celebration of St. Anthony’s Mahrajan, Pat believes it is a health hazard. “There’s the possibility of them being used with synthetic marihuana and it could be very dangerous.”
Still, the public must be made aware that, while traditional hookahs can be used in private homes, they cannot be smoked on outdoor patios attached to an establishment. “You can smoke cigars and cigarettes on a deck, but not a hookah pipe,” Pat explained.
The new challenge is the electronic cigarettes. There are regulations for the regular cigarettes but they don’t include the electronic form. The e-hookahs and similar products are currently not prohibited in establishments and their outdoor patios. However, as the sale of flavored liquid or substance used in these products is restricted, a permit from Inspectional Services and the State must be issued by DOR. This could result in penalties ranging from $100 to $300 and suspension or revocation of the license to operate.
Recently, bar and club owners complained that establishing rules against e-cigarettes and e-hookahs would be the reason for their closing their businesses. “We are concern about the health hazards mainly because no one knows the chemicals they contain. Besides, bars and clubs existed long before these items so I doubt they will have to close,” said Mr. Ruiz.
Pat sees his job more like educating the community. Building inspectors fine people for safety violations in their homes and that forces them to come to the office to complain. “That gives me the opportunity to talk to them and explain how the regulations work and why they are important for their health and well-being. Then, I forgive more than half of the fines issued.”
His major headache continues to be the illegal dumping issue. “We have been waiting for the Legislature for seven years to approve the illegal dumping bill before them that will allow the city to impose a $10,000 fine to anyone dumping trash within the city. We have cameras all over the city and people keep getting caught but paying a small fine is cheaper than the cost of legal dumping.”
