update: Now, if the City will find some tactic to work on the real slackers....
The tactic of last resort is abatement.
According to a 6/9 DW article headlined "Ward meetings conclude", Hoquiam has "demolished 38 houses in recent years."
Per a 05/25 article, "The Hoquiam City Council voted to pass along $8,300 in abatement costs to the owner of a home that burned down last year, despite the owner’s protests."
01/29: "After nearly a year of abatement notices, the City of Hoquiam is charging an upset building owner more than $33,000 for the December demolition of his condemned building."
Abatements are seizures of private property and owners are entitled to due process. They shouldn't be rushed.
The costs involved have to be a limiting factor, though. Tearing down single familiy homes seems to run around $10,000. Demolishing the old Wirta Hotel cost the City of Aberdeen $113,000 in 2002. The city ended up owning the property and sold it last year for $70,000.
Driving around town, I see plenty of houses with overgrown lawns and we-turned-off-the-water stickers on the front door. I suspect the problem will get worse in the forseeable future.