A local reporter in Philadelphia has it “in” for the PPA. She is seeking out problems and then writing about them. Oh yeah, that’s what reporters are supposed to do.She was also the source for a list of “rules” I quoted here in the blog that she said the PPA could take to heart.
In this case, her paper ran a contest asking readers to provide their nightmare stories about the parking authority. They gave away $75 debit cards to be used in parking meters in the city.
This winning story was as they say, Kafkaesque. The driver received a citation for parking in a space that was reserved for vendors only. When he asked the PEO how he was supposed to know that it was a reserved zone, he was told that there were signs there before but they were torn down.
At his appeal, he was told he had to prove it wasn’t a reserved zone. He then got affidavits from the police, planning commission, and probably the defense department saying that there had never been any reserved spaces in that area. When he returned with the “proof,” his ticket was revoked.
This is like the stop sign that had ivy growing over it. No court in the land would uphold a ticket for running a stop sign that couldn’t be seen by the driver. A simple photo would tell the judge the story, and bingo, that ticket would sail right out of the window. But how do you prove a negative, as the driver noted? He did, but it was difficult.
These are the kinds of stories that don’t need to be told.
I just got an article from Doug Holmes, about his experiences as a parking manager at a university. It will run next month in PT. In it, he quotes Rina Cutler, who at one time ran the PPA. She said: “Parking should be friendly, not free.”
Her successors in Philadelphia could learn from her. I wonder if this little incident will be featured on “Parking Wars?”
JVH