It's Official! We Have A Parking Captain! But "How The Heck Were We Supposed To Know?"

If, like me, you've been wondering who is supervising the city's ambitious new paid parking system since HPD flipped the switch early this year, there's no need to wonder anymore.  Just as I assumed all along, the person who we are all counting on to make the parking system a smashing long-term success is the second-in-command at HPD, Captain David Miller, the same fella I've been somewhat facetiously referring to lately as Parking Captain (or PC) Miller.  I'm afraid it's not a joke anymore. But, really, in the grand scheme, it is a joke. It's got to be!

The 7-Inch Sidewalk Cliff Not Tall Enough For The Public Works Board!

 

Tiff, Gary, and the gang at the PWB require a 9-inch cliff minimum before they act. 

Can't You See A Child Slamming Their Forehead or Eyeball Into This Thing?

Of course you can!  And then what?  The parents sue the City of Hudson and Galvan?  Sure, why not!

Sorry About Your $25 Overnight Parking Tickets. Too Bad About That Tree, Isn't It?! Be Glad The Price Hasn't Increased To $35 Yet!

 

Depending on what street your car commits the heinous crime of being in the way of the DPW street sweeper early in the morning, HPD will issue you and your car one of two overnight parking tickets.  On State, Warren, Allen, and many north-south streets where there are no posted overnight parking rules, HPD officers issue $15 WRONG SIDE PARKING tickets.  (No signs = $15.)  However, on streets such as Prospect (see pictures), Washington, Union, and others with posted special overnight parking rules that typically don't apply every night of the week (referred to as, I believe, local street rules), HPD officers issue $25 NO PARKING ZONE tickets.  (Yes signs = $25.)  Even though your car is parked on the "wrong side," you will not be issued a $15 WRONG SIDE PARKING ticket where local street rules apply.  You've committed the same crime of parking on the wrong side of the street, but a different ticket with a higher fee applies.  And to add the confusion, if HPD finds that someone has parked their car during the day or night alongside a yellow curb and/or in front of a NO PARKING ANY TIME sign, they issue the same $25 NO PARKING ZONE ticket.  Different crime, but same ticket and same fee.  This makes all the sense in the world, doesn't it? 

Who Will Save Us? Or Is It Too Late (After 4 PM)?

At 10 am this morning, no one was available at the so-called Parking Bureau, and the same unhelpful "we are temporarily closed" sign that was on the window last Friday was still there. (Shouldn't the sign be on the front doors of the building or at the entrance to the parking lot, or, better yet, at the corner of 7th & Union posted on a stop sign or two?!!!!)  There is still no indication on the sign when or if a human being will return to occupy the office behind the window "M-F 9AM-5PM."  The closure is temporarily ambiguously indefinite.  It's just temporary, mind you!  

Can you imagine?

Sure you can!

What's The Opposite Of A Sinkhole? A Volcano?

I first noticed the strange wet problem on Spring Street on July 31st, nearly two months ago, if only because someone had marked it with spray paint.  That paint is long gone, but the problem has been ignored (likely by DPW) and it has only worsened.  A lot.  The asphalt in front of 6 Spring looks ready to erupt at any moment.  The well-cracked large hump, which slowly releases water constantly, is now two or three inches high at its apex.  (Pictures can't convey the severity of the hump very well.)

Sure, Doubling The Ticket Fee To $20 Sounds Appropriate! We Need The Extra Money To Fix The Kiosks!

During Thursday's Legal Committee meeting, chair Margaret Morris, with the help of council attorney Ken Dow, made it clear that she really wanted to get in order and on paper her proposal to raise the price of every parking ticket so that the council can vote on the proposal tonight and get the new ticket fees codified. There's a whole lot to say about the proposed increased initial fees and late fees (the latter is beyond absurd!), but I will just stick with one aspect of the fee overhaul and juxtapose it with reality on the ground.