Ensemble refuses traffic fine increases
Mayor Plante is proposing to increase fines for parking illegally in handicap spots or in bus lanes, but Ensemble is somehow blocking the motion, with Arif Salem bringing out a tiny violin over fining people who can’t afford food (but can somehow afford to own and run a car).
A couple of things puzzle me here, which is: since Projet has a majority, how can Ensemble block them, and why is it that parking laws are not the same in all parts of town. Is it that such a change has to be made borough by borough so that an Ensemble‑dominated council can block it?
DeWolf 22:50 on 2022-12-21 Permalink
I don’t think Ensemble is able to block the motion, they’re just voting against it and Plante is making a big deal of it.
Salem seems to have inherited Perez’s strategy of opposing the Plante administration at all costs. What’s the political game here? Do they really think there’s a big group of voters who think people should be allowed to park in handicapped spots?
Joey 09:48 on 2022-12-22 Permalink
What DeWolf said. The main thrust of the opposition argument, as was stated here by Kevin IIRC, is that the city should hire more ticketing agents before raising fines. Why not both?
Kate 10:13 on 2022-12-22 Permalink
What happened to the squad they used to call the Green Onions? They ticketed parking infractions only, but they somehow came into existence even though I bet the police brotherhood wasn’t keen. I don’t think I’ve seen any in operation for a long time, although as a non-driver I may not have been paying attention.
Spi 10:31 on 2022-12-22 Permalink
If I remember correctly the academic research is pretty clear on this subject, there is a much greater reduction when the odds of being fined/caught are increased than when the penalty for doing so is. If $234 ticket wasn’t a big enough deterrent then I doubt the extra $37 makes any difference besides putting more money in the city’s coffers.
Tim S. 11:02 on 2022-12-22 Permalink
They’re out there Kate, but they operate weirdly. I complained to one once about a car parked dangerously on the corner near me, and she explained that that wasn’t her beat – she only gave out to tickets to people parked in street cleaning zones.
I lived in Philadelphia for awhile, and there the parking wardens work on foot and cover small, specific beats. And they are very, very efficient. I got two tickets even though I didn’t own a car at the time (one time a rental, the other an out of town guest).
Joey 11:53 on 2022-12-22 Permalink
Tim S., did you ever watch Parking Wars? It’s incredible. “CAN’T PARK NOWHERE IN PHILLY”
DeWolf 12:21 on 2022-12-22 Permalink
@Kate I see them all the time. But they’re fast and sneaky. And as Tim S., they seem to have specific briefs that they can’t diverge from.
The one and only time I got a ticket is when I rented a car and parked it right in front of my place in a vignette zone. It’s residents only except from 11pm to 9am, and it was 10pm so I gambled and thought I’d be safe. The next morning I discovered a ticket had been issued 20 minutes after I had parked the car.
Since then I never take any chances. Maybe some people are rich enough to brush off $90+ as the cost of parking wherever you want, but not me.
Tim S. 16:34 on 2022-12-22 Permalink
Joey: a few episodes. Philly is special in its way.
Strict enforcement also leads to a kind of fatalism. A friend owed hundreds of dollars in parking tickets at any given moment (on a grad school stipend) and didn’t seem too bothered. Just another way Americans get nickled and dimed.
(Of course, also very American that she owned a car at all, given that she lived in the middle of a dense city a 25 minute walk from school)