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.

Margaret has decided that the fee for a so-called "meter violation" ticket should be raised from $10 to $20.  This, of course, would double the revenue for those tickets, of which many are issued 6 days a week.  (I suppose the time would be now to change the name of that ticket, not just the price!)  According to the document on the Legal Committee's webpage that lists the new fees, the purpose for "increasing the penalties for certain parking violations" is "the passage of time" and "to deter illegal parking."  (I don't think that's how it works!)  Meanwhile, for the past 8, 9, or 10 weeks -- while Morris has been readying her updated ticket fee proposal for a vote by the council -- THERE HAS BEEN A DEAD, UNRESPONSIVE, BROKEN AND USELESS $10,000 PARKING KIOSK ON WARREN STREET JUST EAST OF PARK PLACE WITHOUT ONE BIT OF EFFORT FROM PARKING CAPTAIN DAVID MILLER (OR MARGARET MORRIS) TO ADHERE AN OUT OF SERVICE SIGN TO IT!

Last I checked, there is still an unwritten, implied rule inherent to all financial transactions that goes something like this: YOU DO YOUR PART AND I'LL DO MINE!  

The nearest lamppost does not have
any scannable paid parking signs!  What 
is one to do?  Standing on the sidewalk
next to the car, that's the only visible lamppost!

This past Thursday afternoon, just east of the Spotty Dog, I noticed a HPD parking enforcer issuing a 14-inch-long $10 "meter violation" ticket to a parked Volvo.  No news there, right?  Except that when I stood on the sidewalk next to the ticketed car moments later, doing what I thought the driver of the car might soon do (or may have already done), I scanned the sidewalk for an indication of anything related to paid parking.  Alas, for the life of me I could not find a parking meter, parking kiosk or parking sign anywhere along the sidewalk near or far.  In the distance to the east, I did see a lamppost displaying two banners with a tree just beyond.  I also saw a tree to the west just beyond the Spotty, perhaps 75 feet away.  No, not one bit of paid parking infrastructure in sight.  Hmmm... what would I do about paying for my parking space if I were visiting Hudson for the first time?  How about not a friggin' thing!  

Voila, how about a $10 parking ticket for you, friendly visitor with your money to spend in Hudson!  We shall teach you a lesson!

What's the matter with you, sir?  Are you 
blind?  Or just dumb? Can't you see the f'ng
 sign behind the lovely tree?  Put your glasses on!

What Captain Parking David Miller and others seem to not know or care about is the fact that Hudson is a destination city known favorably around the world and featured in the glossy magazines favored by the wealthy.  Given that fact, it is well known to most people paying attention -- or intuited by people who can put two and two together -- that first time (maybe only time) visitors to Hudson arrive by vehicle every day, with dozens or hundreds arriving on weekend days.  Welcome to Hudson, glad you could make it.  First time visiting?  We don't care.

Nearest signs to the west, about 45 paces away.

So, let's say that the driver of that ticketed car was a first-time visitor to Hudson, which clearly is not at all a far-fetched notion.  The driver, and possibly passengers, got out of the car, made it to the sidewalk, assumed they had to pay for their space, looked around for some clue as to how to pay but saw nothing at all to help them.  "Well, parking must be free in this town.  That's a relief.  Let's walk, shall we?"  No meters, no signs, no kiosks, no nothing near their parked car and the others parked nearby.  And a parking enforcer issued that visitor's car a $10 meter violation ticket?  For doing what wrong?  For failing to see the little scannable paid parking signs 100 or 300 feet away and 9 feet above the sidewalk that were both obscured by trees and impossible to see from the sidewalk next to the car?  For seeing no parking meters or parking kiosks (that may or may not be working) and assuming parking was free, as it is in some cities?  What violation did they commit?  The violation of being uninformed, clueless newcomers to Hudson?  And Margaret Morris wants to punish such uninformed, clueless visitors to Hudson by doubling the fee on a meter violation ticket?  Does Parking Captain David Miller think Margaret's idea is a good one?  How about the mayor?  How about the supposed part-time employee who may or may not be overseeing the new Parking Bureau but is definitely our full-time police clerk?  

Nearest signs to the east, in front
of Nolita's!!!  Notice tree in background.

And what if the driver of that ticketed car was visiting Hudson for the second time or third time and, for the first time, noticed that the parking meters were gone with nothing having taken their place, including signs?  Ticket them!  Don't ask any questions!

And what of the people who can't get a parking kiosk to work, let alone find one?  Should their vehicles also be ticketed?  Sure, why not!

Is Margaret Morris aware that there are only two scannable paid parking signs in the entire 600 block of Warren on the south side, and that both of them are on one city lamppost directly in front of CVS?  Is PC Miller aware of this?  How could they be?  At least 3 months ago while standing in that block, Henry Haddad acknowledged to me that he was aware of the missing parking signs in that block in his ward.  Is Henry also in favor of doubling the fee on a meter violation ticket?  Does he agree with Margaret Morris that a $20 parking ticket will do a better job of preventing illegal parking than a $10 ticket has or hasn't done for decades?  Is that Henry's solution to the problem of people not paying for their parking space, including those who have no idea how to pay for their parking space or simply can't pay for one because a $10,000 parking kiosk has been out of service for months without a sign on it telling them that that they are SHIT OUT OF LUCK?  

How does $20 sound for your troubles, pal?

If you see Margaret Morris downtown, possibly eating a salad at a cafe just after "accidently" ramming her car into a building next to a parking lot and just beyond a 5-inch curb without notifying the Hudson Police Department about it, please ask her the following question for me.  "Can you tell me what city official is in charge of the new Parking Bureau and the new expanded paid parking system?  Can I assume it's not the ticket clerk behind the window at the police station who takes money for parking tickets?  Is it full-time and longtime Police Clerk Doreen Danforth, who also apparently works part-time for the Parking Bureau but whose title is unknown?  Or is it the second-in-command at HPD, Captain David Miller, the busy guy who gives the very brief and short-on-details monthly parking reports to the so-called SAFETY Committee?  It has to be one of these two people, doesn't it, Margaret?  It can't be both of them, can it?  It can't be no one, can it?  Is there a full-time supervisor overseeing the new paid parking system that you are aware of, Margaret?  And, lastly, did that person, if they exist, approve of the parking ticket fee increases you are so keen on codifying?  Or is this your work alone?  (Actually, Margaret has been working on this for, I believe, about two years; yes, she began the task prior to becoming the council prez.  And, yes, she's had help from the likes of Vicky Daskaloudi and Rich Volo!)