The Observation Deck

Over the past three months I have gotten regular letters about past due parking fines from 3 and 4 years ago. Now while I get parking tickets, I generally pay parking tickets immediately so was more than a little dismayed. That turned to anger when it was found out I had receipts for each of the tickets and they had been paid.

I understand the city needs to generate funds, but a shakedown?

For the holidays?

Going back 3 years?

Anyone else?


.

they are out to get you, and you alone....

"Thank You for your interest in running for Mayor!"

I got one too. I am sure it was paid but haven't taken the time to look back 3 years!

I agree that this is crazy.

Jim O'Bryan wrote:Over the past three months I have gotten regular letters about past due parking fines from 3 and 4 years ago. Now while I get parking tickets, I generally pay parking tickets immediately so was more than a little dismayed. That turned to anger when it was found out I had receipts for each of the tickets and they had been paid.

Ryan Salo wrote:I got one too. I am sure it was paid but haven't taken the time to look back 3 years!

Did either of you pay with cash?

Charlie Page wrote:

Jim O'Bryan wrote:Over the past three months I have gotten regular letters about past due parking fines from 3 and 4 years ago. Now while I get parking tickets, I generally pay parking tickets immediately so was more than a little dismayed. That turned to anger when it was found out I had receipts for each of the tickets and they had been paid.

Ryan Salo wrote:I got one too. I am sure it was paid but haven't taken the time to look back 3 years!

Did either of you pay with cash?

Charlie

I normally pay with cash the day of the ticket. They give me a receipt which is filed as they
are tax-deductible. The problem is going back 3-4 years and looking for the stuff, while
trying to run a life in present.

As I said everyone has been backed up with a "paid receipt." Which means that I have a
better book keeping system than the city.

That is frightening. The same is now going on with taxes. I have been pulled in twice for
payments a couple years ago off. As soon as I present our paperwork, they apologize and
say "sorry for the mix-up." Frightening not really, but what about all of those that do not
keep receipts or records like I do? What is the recourse? Why did the city wait 3-4 years?
Was this some sort of bonus given to the new ticket company out of Long Beach CA?

File under insanity.

How about you Charlie? Cash or check?

FWIW

Jim O'Bryan wrote:How about you Charlie? Cash or check?

Me? Check

You paid in cash and have a receipt, yet you get a notice of non-payment. Hmmm


BTW, parking tickets are not deductible per page 16 of IRS Publication 463:

IRS Publication 463 Excerpt wrote:Fines and collateral. You cannot deduct fines you pay or collateral you forfeit for traffic violations.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p463.pdf

Charlie Page wrote:

Jim O'Bryan wrote:How about you Charlie? Cash or check?

Me? Check

You paid in cash and have a receipt, yet you get a notice of non-payment. Hmmm

Charlie

The go into a large receipt book, I do not think there is any hanky panky going on.

Also some have been checks, and certainly the taxes were by check.

I see this as what happened a couple years ago when many people were hauled in from of
The Lakewood Taxman for failure to pay, and we they had. At the time we were told, just
double checking their records.


FWIW

I'm not suggesting there is any hanky panky going on either. There are other questions to ask in order to determine the root cause of all this. Whether or not you paid in cash is the first question. Next question is what happened to the cash? Does the city have a big unapplied cash balance on their books? Could be an indication of lax record keeping. No unapplied cash? What happened to it (what was it applied to)? Are there others that paid in cash and getting reminder notices? How many others? A handful is not indicative of hanky panky. Need to look at some stats: Did parking ticket cash collections fall during this time in relation to historical rates of cash payments? If so, why? Many other questions but lets start here.

Here's another question for you: as a frequent parker at Lakewood parking meters, would you support a monthly parking fee to let you park at any City of Lakewood meter without having to having to carry around a bag of change? If so, how much would you be willing to pay? $60, $80 bucks a month? More, less? It would be completely voluntary on the drivers part. I'm thinking of this as a modest revenue generator and cost saver for the City as well as a convenience for the driver.

Charlie Page wrote:Here's another question for you: as a frequent parker at Lakewood parking meters, would you support a monthly parking fee to let you park at any City of Lakewood meter without having to having to carry around a bag of change? If so, how much would you be willing to pay? $60, $80 bucks a month? More, less? It would be completely voluntary on the drivers part. I'm thinking of this as a modest revenue generator and cost saver for the City as well as a convenience for the driver.

Charlie

For years I paid for a parking spot, and often thought that should give me free parking
elsewhere, as the rates were not much better than using quarters. However the fact
remains that the city is looking for ways to bring money in, and as I have asked for an $84
a month ($1000) a year fee to rentals, it would be cruel and unusual punishment to add
another $60 to park here. Housing is way more important than the red herring called parking.

What I suggested was far more controversial, but better for all including businesses. But
as the city just threw away a fortune on meters for an out of town company to monitor
and make money off of it might be moot. In simple terms, 5 minutes free, then tokens
that cost 5 for $1.00 available at any business downtown. They would pay the city $0.75
for the same tokens. Each one would be good for 30 minutes instead of 15. So while the
overall cost goes down to park, the city actually takes in more money. Also by getting
rid of the free 15 minutes. We have people with 30 minutes, and with the extra time
they might shop more, or in more stores.

Why tokens, why do game rooms use them? Over 30% are never used. They end up left
on dressers, lost, etc.

I still think I am the only person that has run for mayor with a plan and a platform out of the last 2 elections and 1 appointment.

FWIW


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Jim O'Bryan wrote:For years I paid for a parking spot, and often thought that should give me free parking
elsewhere, as the rates were not much better than using quarters. However the fact
remains that the city is looking for ways to bring money in, and as I have asked for an $84
a month ($1000) a year fee to rentals, it would be cruel and unusual punishment to add
another $60 to park here. Housing is way more important than the red herring called parking.

What I suggested was far more controversial, but better for all including businesses. But
as the city just threw away a fortune on meters for an out of town company to monitor
and make money off of it might be moot. In simple terms, 5 minutes free, then tokens
that cost 5 for $1.00 available at any business downtown. They would pay the city $0.75
for the same tokens. Each one would be good for 30 minutes instead of 15. So while the
overall cost goes down to park, the city actually takes in more money. Also by getting
rid of the free 15 minutes. We have people with 30 minutes, and with the extra time
they might shop more, or in more stores.

Why tokens, why do game rooms use them? Over 30% are never used. They end up left
on dressers, lost, etc.

That’s all we need is to create a 4 million welfare fund for slumlords. Slumlords don’t need to be coddled, they need a kick in the ass.

I suggested the monthly pass because it would be a convenience to frequent parkers, not as a red herring to your housing plan. It’s completely voluntary whether you buy one.

The parking token idea sounds interesting but adding another layer to the process would complicate things.

Charlie Page wrote:

That’s all we need is to create a 4 million welfare fund for slumlords. Slumlords don’t need to be coddled, they need a kick in the ass.

I suggested the monthly pass because it would be a convenience to frequent parkers, not as a red herring to your housing plan. It’s completely voluntary whether you buy one.

The parking token idea sounds interesting but adding another layer to the process would complicate things.[/quote]

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie

Settle down. "4 million welfare fund for slumlords" who said anything about that?

Why do Rs always think it is about transferring money to poor people or those that pray
on them? Maybe once in awhile it is about helping ALL retain value, through well thought
out programs that actually make sense, should one ever stop long enough to think. First
as i have said from day one. I was asked for controversial, and did not have an hour to
lay out the entire plan, which truly answers the city's needs on so many levels it is
amazing. But in this town we are slaves to single minded small thinking, and many have
staked their lives and even livelihood on keeping the status quo.

Besides it is not a $4 million dollar slush fund it is an ever growing slush fund. Which gives
the city more and more clout every year in dealing with slumlords and hopefully running
them and their ilk out of town. This is why the fund has got to be kept out of the general
fund anyway possible. I am not talking FREE money, i am talking about loans secured with
property. Ain't no FREE HANDOUTS in the VAL program.

As for the monthly pass, how many parking passes have you bought from the city? I
bought six month passes from the city for 5 years in the blue lot. While dealing with
Evelyn is always a pleasure (most know her as the woman that answers city hall's phone
when there is a human answering phones) it was a pain in the ass. so much so I stopped.
I agree that residents should get a break, but how it is put out there becomes the problem.

So we have from Cleveland Hts with vicious enforcement, to Parma with no meters.
Where do we cast our lot? The token system is actually a pretty easy money maker and
would promote parking and shopping. Just taking our meters to 30 minutes would add
revenue to the businesses. I have many a client that runs in and out because the 15
minutes is up. That system does not promote shopping, it promotes urgency, the deadly
foe to shopping.

FWIW

So if I need a new roasting pan, I can buy a lot of tokens and pay to park in Lakewood, only to find out that no one in Lakewood sells roasting pans, or I can drive to Westgate, park free, and pick from a selection of roasting pans. Not to mention buying one on-line.

Limited, expensive parking is what keeps merchants from locating in Lakewood, so all we have are old timers who haven't moved out yet, and hobbyists, trying to run their hobby as a business, and some skilled artisans who can attract customers despite the barriers. Owners of commercial property aren't putting a lot into their properties, because the glut of vacant space holds rentals down. Much of the commercial property is beyond its useful life.

I think Lakewood would be better off if we turned our commercial neighborhoods into pedestrian-only zones and down-sized the parking bureaucracy to a few metered lots adjacent to the commercial neighborhoods.

Will

Limited parking, is a read herring.

I would ask, why do you have us competing with Westgate, when Westgate is but 5 minutes
away? Makes no sense. Actually makes no sense for Fairview either, but they have cast
their lot for keeping a mall there.

As far as owners not putting money into their property. I would say within 20 minutes of
Lakewood, a fair commute there are not an excess of affordable, clean living units in the
best suburb in the county and "coolest" in the nation. Clean safe housing never goes out
of style, is always in demand, even in a region that has been mismanaged and not served
well by the "ED Drivers." Add affordable, fun, location and we really start to stack the deck
for both Lakewood and bringing the housing stock up to snuff.

So as I have often asked another young visionary. Do we completely change the city so
that you can buy a fry pan/pants. Or do we work for something unique that is not every
5 miles or even on line. A unique fun experience?

We have to stop competing, and start defining a new game.

As far as the parking, if you look at plan, you will see that very easily, the buyer gets at
least a free 30 minutes instead of 15. You would see that both the city and the businesses
make money off of the program. One could easily see how locals, could escape paying
anything but maybe pennies a month.

The only way we compete with Westgate, Legacy Village, Crocker Park, etc is by destroying
the history, the feel and what we have invested in for decades. I would say there could be
plans that justify something like that, but pant stores, pan stores, strip malls are not one,
nor is anything I have seen on paper yet.

But it is only my opinion, nothing more.

.

Jim/Charlie,

The theory behind parking meters is not to generate revenue, but to keep cars from being parked in one spot in commercial areas for a long period of time. So while a monthly permit sounds attractive and may increase revenue it defeats the primary purpose of the meters.

When I was on Council we surveyed businesses and asked constituents what would help local business and the constant refrain was that of Will Brown, PARKING. So that is the methodology that we applied when investing in new meters. We really took a good look at where to put those meters as well. Some old meters just didn't make sense and they were not replaced. Some reinvigorated commercial areas were in need of meters.

I agreed with Tom George on very little, but I think he was right on the money when it came to adding permanent median turning lanes and taking a comprehensive approach to parking.