Owensboro, KY, is going to void out of state parking tickets if the tickets are validated by the local visitor’s bureau. However I guess if someone visits from Maceo, or Henderson, or Bowling Green, all nearby Kentucky cities, they just suck wind.
I’m sure that the city and the visitor’s bureau had a great idea and were attempting to make visitors feel a bit more at home but if you are going to do that, why not make it the case for every person getting a parking citation.
Owensboro is only voiding the first ticket someone receives, so they obviously have a way of tracking them. Why not void the first ticket everyone gets. Think of the great PR, plus when they bring in the ticket for validation, the errant driver can be given a nice brochure as to the rules of parking in the city, and in this age of modern computer communications, can be verified on the spot as a "first offender." If its not their first offense, they can pay their fine right then.
I’m sure someone would say that the 400 or so voided out of state tickets a year doesn’t hurt the budget, but if they voided the first offenses, the city couldn’t stand the revenue loss…Sigh
JVH
