There’s construction going on in my neighborhood. They are replacing curbs and gutters, and soon a water main and then the streets. Chaos reins.
The city in its wisdom has told us in writing that there would be no tickets issued for minor parking infractions (wrong side of the street on street cleaning day, etc). They would still ticket for parking in red zones, blocking fire hydrants, etc. Fair enough. This was to continue until October.
We came home the other day to find all the cars on one side of the streets issued tickets for blocking the street sweeper. My neighbor accosted the enforcement officer and she told him she had a list of streets where restrictions were lifted and we weren’t on it. She showed him the list, and gave him the ticket. She was right.
However, the city bureaucrat who made the list was wrong.
After a bevy of emails to local authorities, an apology came down from the city, and also a recommendation that each of us so ticketed ‘fight’ it and show the judge the letter from the city.
Huh? I have to pay the ticket, then go to a hearing and spend half a day to get my day in court, then show the judge the letter, get the ticket waved, and then wait for my money to be refunded. And think about the folks who just automatically paid the ticket. We all get caught sometime.
And you wonder why parking enforcement is hated.
Why the hell can’t the city just find the tickets that were written on my street improperly and void them. Probably take a clerk somewhere an hour to do so. Might even drop a note apologizing for the error, and make some good PR.
Never would have thought of that.
Isn’t there a movie title that fits here, oh yeah — Dirty Rotten Bas…..
JVH
