by @BarryRafkind in Announcements, Government Reform
Posted on March 8, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Last Modified on March 13, 2009 at 8:43 pm
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My neighbor, Dave, got so fed up with the unfairness of Somerville’s parking regulations, he started an online discussion group to collect stories of similarly aggrieved residents.
So far the stories touch upon a variety of issues, including:
- 48 hour rule
- The high cost of the tickets as compared to other cities
- Traffic & Parking’s (T&P) lack of evidence to defend its tickets
- The high cost and difficulty of contesting a ticket
- The large backlog of contests to parking tickets
- The city’s view that its Parking Control Officers are infallible
- Unfair enforcement following snow storms
- Tickets from night street cleaning
- Unclear, inadequate parking signs
Group Description:
A group dedicated to people fed up with the over aggressive Parking Control Officers. We have heard too many stories from people complaining about the unfair practices that have gone on. We figured it was time to get people together. Hopefully we can make some changes.
Do you think Somerville’s parking system is unfair? How should it be fixed?
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Anything that makes it more expensive and inconvenient to own and operate a car in Somerville is ok by me. There are way too many people still driving in a city you could WALK completely across in about 45 minutes (and I’m talking the long way – you could walk from North to South in most sections in about 15 minutes). I’m sick of the pollution and the hazards to pedestrians and cyclists.
So as far as traffic and parking goes, the more ruthless the better.
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Steve:
Do you like the rule that requires a car be moved every 48 hours? It seems like that rule discourages people from leaving their car at home, thus creating more traffic and pollution.
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This rule should be abolished. It serves no legitimate purpose. When people leave their cars parked instead of moving them every few days, this is a GOOD thing and the city should actively encourage it.
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Maybe the reason is to avoid having cars abandoned?
I wonder how this rule can be enforced. If I park on the street in my usual spot and I drive off for short periods, that must be legal. How does anyone know whether I’ve moved it or not, except after a snow storm?
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Two very different issues. First, the group Barry notes above doesn’t take new members, for whatever googlish reason.
Second, I bet I’ve got the best 20foot-from-intersection story: the metermaid spent 10 minutes reading the stickers on the back of my car (reading slowly, as was his wont) before giving me a ticket – and I made a photo of the distance (22 feet) and still lost the appeal. It’s not parking: it’s a tax.
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I couldn’t agree more with Joe Beckman. When this mayor was elected, there were 18 Parking Control Officers. Now there are 34.
This city has a structural fiscal deficit because we have so little commercial development. The mayor was elected by developers who wanted to build big boxes in Assembly Square, undermining its potential to support high-value development. The first month that he was office he submitted legislation to gut the zoning code so that they could do so.
The ticketing strategy is a pathetic attempt to raise revenues for a city that is on state welfare and now suffering from a $12 million dollar cutback in welfare payments.
To my friend Alain Jehlen, I would say that neighbors should decide when a car has been abandoned and is a nuisance. Then, they could call T&P who would come ticket it.
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I’m all for reforming parking enforcement in Somerville. There is no legitimate reason for the current level of enforcement and ticketing.
I just received a “denial” letter from a ticket in October ’08 that I never received and disputed after receiving a letter by mail. It took two letters, a fax, several voice mail messages, a number of phone calls and 4.5 months just to get any response from the parking clerk. I even get to pay late fees for the dispute time!
The number of residents and visitors claiming illegitimate ticketing cannot be entirely coincidence.
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What does “a city on state welfare” mean? That Somerville receives state aid like 364 other cities and towns?
There may be some merit to removing a rule that requires more driving, but I still think that the more poeople that complain about parking enforcement, the better.
(I apologize for the tyos, I suffered a minor stroke during heart valve replacement surgery last week and it will take time for me to get my proof-reading sills back.)
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It’s wishful thinking to believe that bad parking regulations will reduce driving.
I, for example, commute by bicycle from Somerville to Lexington (19 mile roundtrip), and often leave my car parked in the street for days on end while doing so.
Erik
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We’re a car-free household, yet even we have not escaped problems with the city’s ridiculous parking regulations!
I’m all for anything that genuinely reduces car usage and ownership. But, I seriously doubt anyone has decided to forego car ownership because of parking regulations. And the 48 hour rule definitely penalizes those who choose to leave their car at home while commuting by foot, bike or T. This rule serves no purpose other than to increase revenue for the city.
Let me also add that the fact the visitor’s parking permit can only be used 2 days a week is equally ridiculous. Two days! I can’t be the only one who has out-of-state family members who drive here to visit and stay for –gasp!– a whole week at a time. And are thus guaranteed at least one ticket unless we remember to go to the parking office to get a “special visitors permit”, which, for an extra charge, will allow them to park for a week. Assuming they want to spend part of their vacation waiting in line at a city parking office.
Now here’s a real-life scenario. Relative arrives Thursday evening, exhausted after a 12-hour drive. Sleeps late Friday and then I remind her we have to go to the parking office to get that special permit. We get there at 1pm, only to find that the office closed at noon and she’s therefore guaranteed a ticket, since Saturday will be considered the 3rd day. And unless on Monday she takes more time out of her vacation to go to the parking office, she will get another ticket on Wednesday.
I can’t get my relative this “special permit” beforehand because you need to have the car’s registration papers with you to get it. And these special visitor passes are only good for 3 weeks, nonrenewable. So no long visits allowed.
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I do not understand the “anything that reduces car use is a good thing” crowd. Like I’m real proud of you for finding a job you can bike to and all, but cars take people to work at the other 99.999% of jobs that pay Somerville housing costs. Also, light rail (like the T) is a notoriously terrible way for a city or state to spend its money. More money spent on busses (instead of yuppie-centric solutions like light rail) would allow for more spending on things that actually matter (education, care for the disabled, fixing potholes). Or, heaven forfend, tax breaks for real business offices to start setting up in Somerville neighborhoods (making more jobs that people could bike to!)
ANYWAY, Somerville parking enforcement is clearly predatory. Where else on Earth could people even *afford* to pay $50 and $100 fines for infractions that have zero to do with public safety?
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@Julia: Hey, at least it’s not Brookline. They should change their slogan to “no one here has any friends or relatives.”
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I agree that the parking policies in this city seem geared for revenues rather than for traffic management. The explanation for this being due to a structural deficit precipitated by mayoral corruption as alleged by Bill Shelton above and in his 6/20 SN op-ed Parking Extortion, could be a serious scandal if proven to be true. It certainly merits an investigation.
Steve, I hope you are recovering quickly from your stroke and surgery. Like Erik, Julia, and Jared, I disagree with your assertion about the value in making car ownership more expensive and inconvenient, because many people rely on their cars to drive outside the city to work, to transport family and groceries, and do so many things that are unfortunately impossible or highly inconvenient with public transportation.
Jared, why do you think light rail is a bad investment? Why are buses better? As a proud yuppy and regular light rail rider, I believe light rail works well and has certainly allowed my family to live here for several years without a car.
Some of you may be interested to know that there is now a group called the “Somerville Parking Advocacy and Reform Coalition” http://www.SomervillePARC.org , “a collaboration (of) businesses and individuals interested in developing well thought-out parking regulations in Somerville, MA.”
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@Barry:
I’m not claiming that light rail is bad, I’m merely claiming it’s an inefficient use of taxpayer money. While I don’t have hard numbers at hand for the T (and the proposed Green Line extension in particular) I strongly suspect that a comparison of “dollars spent per additional riders gained” would show that here as it has many other places. I happen to like riding the T, and I happen to also be a yuppie whose property values would be positively impacted by the Union Square Green line extension, but I sympathize with all the non-T-riding MA residents watching their tax dollars getting flushed into my property values and wishing they had a choice in the matter.
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Regarding car usage, we find the following data about Somervillians’ work transportation choices:
Of the 24,614 working Somervillians included in one data link (below): 19% of working Somervillans ride/carpool to work. 53% take public transportation. The rest use a bike, walk, or work at home.
data analyzed from this Somerville Profile:
Regarding the unexpected popularity of Light Rail, here’s a short video about Phoenix’ surprising Light Rail usage (thanks to Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership’s discussion thread (S.T.E.P.)/JI for this link)
Regarding a knowledgeable and engaged crowd that integrates proud yuppies AND proud non-yuppies, here’s the S.T.E.P. link: http://www.SomervilleSTEP.org
Sure hope you are doing OK, Steve.
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I totally understand that Somerville is a victim of this current recession. I just don’t get how they can have my car towed (property seisure) without a written sign anywhere. It wouldn’t be too difficult to put up signs with the 48 hour city ordinance. What’s worse is that the city received less than 20% of the total cost of my fine. 110 dollars went to the towing company, the ticket is only 20 dollars.
I’ll be moving to Cambridge soon and will never come back to spend a dime here. It’s a shame because I liked Joshua Tree and some of the restaurants, however, any money I give them, Somerville gets its share. Plus it encourages businesses to move here instead of going elsewhere. Hopefully Joshua Tree and others go to Cambridge or Alewife.
If only I drove my car to work everyday instead of taking the T, then this problem never would have happened.
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“Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now, that’s the system, Mr. Rearden, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.” – Dr. Ferris
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@eila:
Thanks for sharing that link; I have to admit the data blew away some of my basic assumptions.
Still, if 50+ percent of the workforce is already riding public transportation, how much is that number estimated to increase after the construction of the proposed Green Line extension? Let’s assume a ton of people make the switch, and an additional 25% of people start riding public transport. If the total population of Somerville is on the order of 100,000 people, lets assume they all commute so the T gains 25,000 riders.
If the extension costs $25M to construct, that’s $1000 a head. If it costs $100M to construct, that’s $4000/head. If it costs $1B to construct, that’s $40k/head.
so pretty quickly, we’re in the orders of magnitude where instead of extending the T, we could be buying every new rider a Prius. Or for every 10 or so riders, we could buy a bus that runs on natural gas, or fix every pothole I’ve hit since I moved here.
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The “Prius per additional rider” trope isn’t mine. It’s Coyote’s:
http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2009/05/phoenix-light-rail-fail-half-my-light-rail-bet-settled.html
Curiously, he also cites Phoenix for his example.
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I have tried to quit this site (because Barry indiscriminately removes posts that offend his friends, while leaving up equally offensive posts, so long as they are attacking the administration or it’s would-be defenders). Since Barry has pointedly refused to disconnect me from getting these timely responses to a post over 3 months old, I feel compelled to respond. (You win, Barry, but only on this post).
@Jared: Do you think “Coyote’s” analysis includes the cost of maintaining ALL the roads you will drive on in your Prius? Do you think the gas tax pays for the Somerville DPW budget and local road projects? Do you believe it even pays for all the MassHighway projects?
@Barry, the mayor has said publicly that traffic and parking fines are a needed source of revenue for the city in this difficult time. When a PDS member runs for mayor on a platform of paying for city services by raising taxes and reducing hack pensions (and thereby alienating the hack unions), I will definitely consider voting for that person. Until then, you are just taking potshots without ANY constructive alternative.
@Alex: Please take the Joshua Tree and all it’s patrons when you go. And don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
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@Steve:
a) I don’t think he includes those costs, but should he? Won’t those roads require maintenance whether light rail goes in or not? Is the gas tax alone *supposed* to pay for fixing roads, or is basic infrastructure something that ought to be covered by normal revenue?
b) The “difficult time” plea falls flat for me. It’s a difficult time for everyone, not just government. Lots of people have lost jobs. Property isn’t worth what it was last year. And yet, there’s been a year over year increase in the budget. A constructive alternative is to spend less money.
c) “Reducing” hack pensions is laudable in the same way as “reducing” masked, armed robbery by government employees. Let’s start the conversation at zero hack pensions, and aim for repayment. After all, these are difficult times in need of extraordinary revenue generation measures.
d) +1 on the Joshua Tree dig.
Bad use of space and no giant subwoofers to drown out the banal conversation (mine included).
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Thanks, Jared for teaching us the “@” format!
SO, @Steve: So glad to hear your voice again! But, I think you are taking pot shots @Barry! I’ve seen this hard-working, dedicated moderator remove posts that may have harmed people personally- and also seen him return posts that he had removed because of a misunderstanding. Seems there’s an effort to balance humanity with transparency. I’m also Barry’s friend, so I’m biased. IMHO, this is a fellow with integrity- which, from the little I’ve read so far, seems to be a shared factor between you two, Steve.
Sorry for the distraction, everyone! Back to the post…
What kinds of revenues does the city collect for public transportation amenities? I know we collect some kind of advertising revenue for the Cemusa shelters. What else ?
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Well, I certainly have an opinion of whether light rail is a good investment, my opinion is moot, The Green Line and several other projects were court mandated as part of a consent decree resulting from a Conservation Law Foundation lawsuit in response to the enormous ($13 billion+) investment in the Big Dig that produced a relatively small expansion of I-93 capacity.
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I got a $50 parking ticket atfrom City of Somerville at 9:40 pm for permit parking restriction. The street I parked was pitch dark and parking restriction sign (if any) was not visible at all. Under the traffic sign regulations, it is required that the signs must always remain visible to motorists. I sent a letter to City of Somerville disputing the matter and they cashed the check and completely ignored my protest.
I just got another ticket from City of Somerville for “no cover on trash barrel”. The trash barrel lid was destroyed because the Somerville trash collector throw the lid to the street and a car smashed the lid. I didn’t have time to get another trash barrel because I was the week of our final exams.
Instead of harassing their residents, Somerville should try to get funding the right way, i.e. recent $8M government grant to 7 Massachusetts cities and towns with the greenest initiative.
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Here’s the deal- Somerville’s parking enforcement is predatory in nature and the city knows it. The appeals process for tickets issued in error is evidence to the fact. There is no question that appeals are denied immediately even if you may have a reasonable case for dismissal.
After putting up a fight, you are directed to the Woburn Superior Court where it costs $275 to have your case heard by a judge.
Madening
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If people were really concerned with parking problems they’d (a) create a committee-of-interest and begin to formulate a plan, (b) push their aldermen to change the rules, and (c) figure how to raise at least as much money in a less regressive way.
It’s not even that hard. Why do Tufts and Lesley get parking spaces? they don’t pay taxes. Is it because they make the Mayor an adjunct to something? Is it because they give better deals to political families? Or is it because you don’t have the clout they do, in spite of your taxpayer and ticket-payer status? Why do residents pay the same rates as visitors? Why not a resident discount, or two free tickets a year, as an incentive and benefit to residential users? Why no resident preferenced parking places in high turnover locations?
It’s not rocket science, just a little discussion that could produce plenty of alternatives to paying high bills to Stan Koty’s kid for garbage pail tickets, or to some other bully for forgetting it’s the wrong Tuesday!
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I agree the 48 hour rule is stupid. For those making the transition from subway/walking/bike travel and they still own a car it totally discourages them!
Both Cambridge and Boston had them in the 70′s and abolished them before the 90′s. Why is Somerville special?
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I just moved to Somerville. My friend parked the car in front of my house on Sunday night. We need to use the car before 8am on Monday morning. It’s a small road and don’t have many traffic except neighborhood cars. Next morning, we found a $50 ticket that issued on 1:30AM. $50 parking ticket? 1:30AM!
Wordless….
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…welcome to Somerville
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