Curtoons Characters in the Press

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Codes Krew Helps Decode Regulations For Ordinary Citizens
By David Davis
Managing Editor
Published March 02, 2007

Officer Regs is neither a super hero nor a caped crusader but he and his two sidekicks, Codi and Zoey, are in the forefront in the effort to help clean up the town. The fictitious city codes awareness team is the brainchild of a real city codes enforcement officer, Joel Prince. Curtis Tucker of Shaggy Duck Studios in Enid, Okla., developed Officer Regs, Codi and Zoey into visual characters. “They were line drawings just like you see in the coloring book and I colored them,” Prince said.

Local Web designer Frank Cottone of Normandy Media Group created an Internet site where kids can go to play games, downloads and codes. “We paraphrase the codes and put them in language kids can understand,” he said. “I think it will help adults learn the city’s guidelines about property maintenance.” Prince bounced most of his ideas off his son, Caden, who is in the second grade at North Lee Elementary School. “I used him as my test subject the whole time we were doing this,” Prince said. “If he liked what I showed him, we pretty much went with it.” Caden had suggestions of his own. He wanted to download images for his computer desktop, e-mail Officer Regs, print out coloring pages and a membership certificate. There are also video games. Older people will recognize “Alien Attack” as a version of “Asteroids.” Prince said the entire project cost $7,000, which he considers a very good price considering it took about four months to put together. He also believes Codes Krew will eventually be able to solve the biggest environmental problem of all — awareness.

The biggest issue he and Codes Enforcement Officer Criss Caywood face is that many people don’t understand city codes. “People typically find out through a certified letter letting them know they are in violation,” he said. Prince and Caywood talked about the need for a codes awareness program. That is the premise of Officer Regs, Codi and Zoey, three characters that make up the Codes Krew, a special team chosen by Mayor Tom Rowland and the Cleveland City Council to help solve some of the city’s toughest environmental problems. They are assigned to the city’s Codes Enforcement Office of the Community Development Department. In addition to the Web site, an eight-page coloring book featuring the Codes Krew is designed to help children understand the importance of putting garbage away or cutting grass. “The coloring book covers situations in kids’ language we see on a regular basis,” Prince said. “We hope parents start looking through the coloring book and we can reach both groups.” Mayor Tom Rowland designated March as Codes Awareness Month in the city of Cleveland.