Topeka City Council applicant Nicholas Trammell brings 'new perspective from the outside'

Other cities for decades have dealt with the same types of issues Topeka faces in terms of enforcing its property maintenance codes, said Nicholas Trammell.

Saying he offers "a new perspective from the outside," Trammell described code enforcement solutions that have worked elsewhere in the application he recently submitted seeking a vacant seat on the Topeka City Council.

Trammell came here during the pandemic as a "COVID-19 refugee from Los Angeles," he said in his application.

"Los Angeles is a city that doesn't work," he said. "Topeka is a city that works very well, and I am excited and enthusiastic to contribute to our city."

More:District 9 candidates Mike Lesser and Gregory Bland Jr. give their views about issues facing Topeka

Nicholas Trammell is among five applicants for Topeka City Council seat

Trammell is a "civically engaged team player who has always volunteered in and around whatever communities that I have found myself in," his application said.

He is among five people who applied Nov. 18 and 21 for west Topeka's District 9 council seat left vacant by the resignation of Michael Lesser.

The others are Michaela R. Saunders, Joe Cheray, Michelle Hoferer and Janel Johnson, who have all been featured in separate Capital-Journal articles.

Unless an alternative date is set, the mayor and council will interview the applicants Dec. 6, according to the city website.

More:Mike Lesser resigns seat he holds representing District 9 on the Topeka City Council

Nicholas Trammell is active in Democratic Party, Topeka ADA Advisory Council

Trammell is a bail bondsman and private investigator. He made news last week when he publicly raised questions on the family's behalf as to why no one has been charged in last November's death of 15-month-old Jameson Mosca, which remains under investigation by Topeka police. Trammell is being retained by members of Jameson's family.

Trammell is also a musical recording artist who performs under the name Nic Nassuet. He has received various awards for his work and been interviewed by publications that include huffpost.com. His website says his music "blurs the lines between the energy of punk, the intimacy of folk and the dark aesthetics of dark/goth music."

Trammell is a Shawnee County Democratic Party precinct committeeman, a member of the city of Topeka's Americans with Disabilities Act Advisory Council, a substitute teacher for Topeka USD 501 and a member of the board of editors and board of publishers for the Kansas Bar Association, according to his council seat application.

It said he formerly was an American Legion executive committee member, a Coast Guard Auxiliary flotilla vice commander, a skid row tutor and a member of the board of directors and the national performers with disabilities committee for the Screen Actors Guild.

Trammell is in the process of earning a bachelor's degree in legal studies from American Military University, Charles Town, West Virginia, and an associate's degree in paralegal studies from Ashworth College, Peachtree Corners, Georgia, according to his resume.

Trammell's father, Clark Trammell, was general manager for Denver Metro Taxi Inc. and later Topeka Yellow Cab, and has run unsuccessfully for Topeka's mayor's office and the District 6 city council seat.

Nicholas Trammell suggests taking steps regarding code enforcement

Nicholas Trammell expressed concern in his application about the "frequency and sweeping nature" of code enforcement issues here, including a "litany of fires" at abandoned properties that included the former White Lakes Mall and houses on S.W. Jackson Street, S.W. Central Park Avenue and S.W. Topeka Boulevard.

He spoke positively of steps the city has taken recently "to overcome the safety, quality of life and aesthetic issues that accompany our known code enforcement issues."

Trammell recommended in his application that the city take additional take steps that include the following:

• Pairing code enforcement officers with specific prosecutors to focus attention on areas of high importance, as was done in Dallas.

• Better integrating code enforcement with social services and municipal court, which he said was first studied in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

• Charging owners of blighted properties, who are currently charged with violating city ordinances, under a Kansas law that prohibits habitual code enforcement violations.

• And avoiding the practice Baltimore maintained unsuccessfully in the mid-20th century of taking "a soft-handed approach to code enforcement in order to appease moneyed interests."

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Nicholas Trammell among applicants for vacant Topeka City Council seat