President's Message - January 2026

Happy New Year, California Association of Code Enforcement Officers!

2025 has come and gone, and the association and our profession have achieved many notable successes. I am incredibly proud of each of you for continuing to make our communities a better place.

Your CACEO team is already hard at work to ensure that 2026 is packed full of amazing things to look forward to. I am very excited and humbled to have been selected as your President, and, along with the entire CACEO Board of Directors and our management team, I look forward to an incredible year.

One of the new opportunities that your CACEO Executive Committee will bring you is a quarterly meet-and-greet and information-sharing virtual platform. This will give CACEO members a regular opportunity to ask questions and make suggestions to improve our profession and membership. The Executive Committee will provide current updates after our most recent board meetings so that YOU are in the know in real time. Remember that you are always welcome and encouraged to join our board meetings during the public comment session, and you can now access our meeting minutes online on our CACEO website. Our next meeting is virtual on Friday, January 23^rd.

Over the next three years, as your CACEO President, I envision an association that not only enforces codes but also educates our communities. Education is the key to empowerment. CACEO will be working on programs to reach out to homeowners, landlords, and business owners to help them understand, as our profession does, the importance of compliance.

CACEO understands that there are some Officers who pay for their own education, and that a jurisdiction's budget is at times a factor in obtaining the required Continuing Education Units (CEU’s). Previously, to stay current as a CCEO, you had to receive 48 CEU’s every three years. We have recently updated this to 40 CEU’s every three years to help with these various challenges.

CACEO is also restructuring its approach to managing recertifications. CACEO will no longer offer our Amnesty program, which was designed for individuals with current certifications who would not meet the 48-hour CEU requirement available on a one-time basis.  We are now working on a new recertification testing process for Officers to help our members come into compliance within a specific timeframe.

2026 will also be a year focused on giving back to our members in more ways than ever before. Our Scholarships Committee will focus its efforts and CACEO’s funds on ensuring that more members can attend Modules, Conferences, and other educational opportunities. We heard from you, the members, that there needs to be more tangible benefits to being a CACEO member.

The Membership/Sunshine Committee, chaired by Board Member Irma Gowin and Ruth Belmonte, will keep the fun and engagement going in 2026 with more giveaways on our social media platforms, roundtables, and in-person classes. The committee will be working on a member-only discount page to provide discounts to CACEO members. These will be available at restaurant chains, amusement parks, and many more opportunities! This committee is working on CACEO’s first-ever podcast to spread more positive information about the code enforcement profession.

Our Education and Curriculum Committees chaired by first Vice President Abraham Duran and Board Member Seth Dressler, are working on several projects, including a new CACEO Supervisor certification course that will align with our path to continue providing quality Education. Our Leadership symposium was a great success last year and we are excited to have it for a second year in the Spring. All of our CACEO Modules are also being reimagined and updated, not only for our in-person courses, but also for our online modules. It is crucial that our Association remains ever-evolving and consistently provides the most current, relevant, and innovative content to our members.

The Education and Curriculum Committees will work on providing more resources for our members, such as various form templates, policies, and a library of our Education content, with on-demand classes available.

Did you know that you can obtain your Associate's degree in Code Enforcement or Public Administration with Santiago Canyon College? CACEO has partnered with Santiago Canyon College for several years as a third-party provider of CACEO Modules. Now, Santiago Canyon College offers these incredible programs for our profession! For more information, click on this link Get an AA Degree in Code Enforcement! - California Association of Code Enforcement Officers .

This year’s Annual Conference will be held at the Sheraton Universal in Universal City, November 3-6. Conference Chair Sara Kelley, Co-Chair Sarrah Patton, and their committee are already working hand in hand with the Education Committee to provide our members with quality breakout sessions and are also planning fun-filled networking events for us to enjoy.  2025’s Mixer was phenomenal and I am excited to see what is in store for 2026!

Legislation is led by our second Vice President, Matthew Silver and Board Member Rey Lozano. This committee is focused on monitoring, analyzing, and responding to laws, regulations, and public policies that affect the association and its members. Legislation will track proposed and enacted legislation and regulations relevant to the association’s mission, coordinate with lobbyists, and inform our members of legislative developments and their implications.

It has been great to see each of our areas connect and send CACEO photographs of what you are doing in your jurisdictions to promote the Code Enforcement profession. Regarding outreach, please send us information about the positive things you do in YOUR communities to pr@caceo.us . Remember, each of us has the power to control the narrative on what we do to help our communities each day. I know firsthand that many of you have done incredible things for your cities and the people living there.

Here is to a great 2026, and please do not hesitate to reach out to the Board of Directors or me for any comments, questions, or concerns. We are here for you and because of you! Thank you for all that you do each day!

Sincerely,

Jamie Lenos, CCEO
President
California Association of Code Enforcement Officers
jlenos@caceo.us