The Observation Deck

I stopped by the Root this morning and found that the free 15 minutes on the parking meters
has disappeared. The button you hit has been taken away. Has anyone seen this anywhere else?

Betsy Voinovich

Betsy,

There was a discussion by council members at one of the council meetings last year that they were thinking of making people pay at the meters at night and on the weekends. I am not sure where this proposal stands at this time.

I have noticed this as well and it's a shame. People from out of town and out of state were amazed that this was the case in Lakewood for years, remarking on how it is a very pro-business approach to limited downtown parking. It was one of the things that made Lakewood so appealing and unique. As with most things that are changed by city hall, it's all about the $ now.

I have no time to figure out those parking kiosks! I am probably not the only one either, much to the detriment of our local businesses. Sorry guys, I wish I was paying more attention when mayor/council thought it was OK to eliminate the free 15.

I'm going to see for myself but it looks like another legacy of the Summers administration - one that might swing votes if it is made known.
This one is stupid because it is anti-small business and anti-citizen, and I don't see helping the City's finances as much as it hurts the City's commerce.
So Council was involved? What was that word Eric Sandy used? Was it "bumbling"?

At this moment I don't know for sure about the elimination of the free 15 minutes. But if it is true, I suggest that Mike Skindell convene a press event ASAP at a convenient parking meter. This doesn't have anything to do with the hospital, but defeating the incumbent mayor does,

I was talking to a couple of "regulars" at the Root a few weeks ago and was told the parking enforcement person warned them that the free time would be taken away if they kept pressing the button for people. They were doing this as both a courtesy to people who park there and forget to push the button, and in response for prior parking tickets they had received. I won't mention any names but we had quite a discussion about it at the time. I haven't noticed if it's happening anywhere else (the reduced free time) but i'm not happy about it or the fact that they converted the free parking lot between Gladys and Cook to "pay". I also haven't noticed yet if that lot's free time has been reduced.

I find it amusing that the city is worried about losing chump change in a parking meter yet thinks losing million of dollars from the hospital closing is, as Jennifer Pae said,

"Although this may sound daunting, it is not insurmountable or devastating to the city government,"