This story has been brewing for a few months and now it is coming to a head. Lawyers have been hired, the voters are involved. Perhaps jobs are at stake.
Briefly: The City of Miami needs money. The Parking Authority has money. The city feels that if it can get control of the Authority, it can use the money generated by parking to back a bond (loan) that it needs to balance the budget. No surprise so far.
The Authority says that the reason that parking runs so well in Miami is that it is independent from politicians and it can make decisions as to what’s best for parking, not what is best for politics. The City uses the same argument in reverse, saying that parking is in fact political and it should control the authority so when constituents complain, they (the city council) can get in there and solve the problem. (Heh)
All agree that the authority has done a stellar job and Art Noriega (the Parking Authority Head) and his crew are true parking pros. It goes back to that one little sticking point – money. The city needs it; the Authority has it.
There is currently a proposition on the November ballot that if passed, will transfer the Authority to the City.
I have a call in to Art and will report back when I talk to him, but my sense is that this is typical. We are seeing it in city after city: They need money, they manipulate the parking to maximize revenue, and then use it to cover expenses in the city’s general fund. Instead of a user fee, or a method of controlling parking policy, the parking and enforcement revenue become a tax to cover the costs of government. Pressure is applied to upgrade enforcement and raise rates without a thought to policy. “We are short $100 million and we have to come up with it somewhere. Might as well be parking.
I’m not privy to the politics of this situation, but I’ll bet my description above isn’t far off the mark.
JVH
2 Responses
These are some of the comments that are circulating in Miami.
Are you aware that the Parking Authority’s Director Mr. Art Noriega, yes the same person that is getting $300,000 per year (More than any City Manager in the State), went on a trip to Panama (the country) to do private business of his own as a consultant for profits and he use the Parking Authority to pay for all of his expenses?.
Are you aware that the Parking Authority paid for Mr. Art Noriega’s college courses to obtain his Masters, which had nothing to do with his work at the Authority. These are all taxpayer’s monies.
“”Why would the Miami Parking Authority hire a powerful attorney/lobbyist for $525.00 per hour, if it is not to try to stop these enquiries and also to try to stop the resident of Miami to be heard in the upcoming elections.
It’s shameful that their arrogance and above the law attitude…”:”:
This is a paid political advertisement paid for and approved by Arthur Noriega (Miami Parking Authority’s General Manager), trying to protect his $400,000 salary plus expenses. Let’s wait until the upcoming investigation’s results are finished. HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF MISUSE OF PUBLIC MONIES?……..Stay tuned.
The cities sure want the money, but they certainly aren’t about “maximizing their reveue”! I don’t think there is a city out there that charges the profit-maximizing rate (which, btw, is probably higher than the Shoup Value of Parking)