Wow! Florence is a small town, but to me its Baghdad by the Bay

This article just reeks with issues. It could be an entire series of blogs, but I’ll only address a few.

The city of Florence, AL, charges $2 for a parking ticket. If that’s enough to get people’s attention, fine. But as you read the piece, you find that it really isn’t.

The enforcement officer has a policy of letting people pass if he knows them and is sure they will “return” soon. OK, I know that hard bitten officers in LA or NY are rolling their eyes. But in reality, it’s not a bad policy. The problem is he gets no credit for it because no one knows he does it. Let the officers give a gently worded warning and keep track of them. After a while you will know who the scofflaws are and you can take action against them. They know they are breaking the law, the rest will appreciate you for it and most likely will obey the law next time.

But the real stickler is this:

Steven Barnes, owner of Barnes Health Care Pharmacy, said his customers are often caught without change to fill the meters. And he contends the officers aren’t very forgiving.

“They aren’t fair,” he said. “They are here all the time waiting for the clock to hit zero.”

Barnes admitted he had a financial motive behind his gripe. His employees have racked up 50 tickets. If a ticket isn’t paid in seven days, the fine jumps to $25. Barnes owed the city more than $1,000. He settled for $125, he said

First, this nincompoop can’t seem to understand that his employees, to keep from walking a block, are taking space away from his customers. I suppose he also lets them all take breaks at the same time and his customers just have to wait.

But, worse, he “settled” for $125. Huh? So if you are a merchant you can negotiate with someone in city hall and “settle” you fines for a lower amount. What the hell is that all about?

So for this and other incredible parking activities, I’m nominating Florence, Alabama as a potential recipient of the coveted Baghdad by the Bay award given to those cities that are scraping parking rock bottom. My apologies to Frank Charney.

JVH