Petition Drive To Repeal Parking Meter Deal Kicks Off Saturday
There’s another front developing on the battle against the parking meter lease deal.
And it comes in the form of volunteers armed with pens and clipboards.
A group called ANSWER Chicago is spearheading a petition drive to help Chicagoans voice their distaste for the parking meter lease deal with the “Chicago Parking Meter Campaign.”
According to John Beacham, coordinator for ANSWER Chicago, the group plans to gather as many signatures as possible and present them to the Mayor and aldermen at City Hall sometime in late summer or early fall.
“Our intention is to collect tens of thousands of signatures, and bring it to the attention of the Mayor and City council,” explains Beacham. “We (also) want to flood the Mayor’s e-mail box and fax machine.”
According to their website, the campaign’s main goals are to roll back current meter rate hikes and stop future rate hikes, reverse the deal that privatized the parking meters, and stop the installation of new meters and pay boxes.
“There’s a lot of frustration (with the deal),” says Beacham, when asked why his group began this campaign. “If you want things changed, you have to do it yourself. The Mayor and City Council are not concerned with what people want. People feel helpless.”
While the group has already has dozens of volunteers and started collecting signatures, the main push begins this Saturday.
At noon, volunteers interested in the Chicago Parking Meter Campaign, will meet at the group’s Albany Park offices for a short training session before hitting the streets, neighborhoods and weekend festivals to collect signatures. ANSWER Chicago’s offices are located at 3334 W. Lawrence, #202, which is right off the Kimball Brown line stop.
“We’ll be all over the city basically,” says Beacham. “Our strategy is to go where there are lots of people. ”
Not surprisingly, according to Beacham, reaction to the petition has been overwhelmingly positive so far.
“We’re getting a favorable reaction,” says Beacham, a community college teacher and former Green Party candidate for Illinois State Assembly. “People are happy someone’s out on the street, doing something about it.”
Chicagoans frustrated with the meter deal, also have the option of signing the group’s online petition, located on the group’s website.
For more information or to volunteer, check out the website for the kickoff meeting or call 773-463-0311.
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Lets get ready for property taxes, city sticker tax and sales tax to go up.
People tell me how the city is going to repeal this parking meter deal.
The city is broke and has no money. I am for the repeal. It just will piss more people off, the only way to pay the parking meter company back it to raise taxes.. Love it….
I will sign it….
D
“Working people, especially the poor and oppressed, shouldn’t have to pay more for the things they need during a time of economic crisis in which millions of people are being laid off. The city should be funding jobs, health care, transit and education, not selling us out the banks.”
How poor and oppressed could you possibly be and still have a car, gas money and insurance? Sounds like someone didn’t get “their piece of the action” and is applying a little “poverty pimp pressure” for their “fair share” of the American Pie.
They even have a link so you can donate to their “cause” via PayPal? I’d rather donate to the Geek, at least he provides me with entertainment value. Well most of the time anyway.
folks, let me clue you in….the city of chicago is not broke. it has over 2 BILLION dollars in rainey day fund. no employee should be laid off, no taxes should go up
Thanks for the kind words PP.
I like what these guys are doing with the parking meter petition, even if the fact that it’s a Socialist organization behind it, makes me a bit squeamish.
I believe they are sincere in their goals.
Geek,
I recently asked my neighbor’s little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President some day.
Both of her parents, who happen to be staunch Socialists were standing there, so I asked her, “If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?”
“I’d give food and houses to all the homeless people.” she quickly replied.
Her parents beamed proudly.
“Wow…what a worthy goal.” I told her, “But you don’t have to wait until you’re President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, sweep my yard, and I’ll pay you $50.
Then I’ll take you over by the highway exit ramp where the homeless guys hangs out, and you can give them the $50 to use toward food and a new house.”
She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Why don’t the homeless guys come over and do the work, and you can just pay them the $50?”
I said, “Welcome to the Republican Party..”
Her parents still aren’t speaking to me and the house has a “For Sale” sign on it.
PP:
SP members don’t get it…they think they can fix the world by Giving it away. And they don’t understand what True Socialism would be like.
People scream for this and that…….but they just want to stick their hand out for a free lunch.
I wrote almost 300 tickets this week….and I see people complain that ” Oh the economy is too tough for you to be out here now.”
My response is simple and consistent….
IF the Times are so hard…………..why don’t you keep your car current and not park illegally?
People put their car on a Hydrant to grab a cup of Starbucks or Hit that Bank o’ America ATM…but complain when I start writing……..”Oh…I was only 4 minutes…”
Courtesy died Friday.
DoR,
A very good friend of mine is a cop in New York City. Before becoming a cop, he worked as a Parking Enforcement Agent for almost two years.
To this day he says that writing parking tickets without a gun was the toughest job he ever had. Mostly because of the lack of respect and little understanding from the public and media about what it is that they do. Mind you he wrote tickets in the Bronx not in glitzy Manhattan. Mostly busy commercial strips consisting of hard working private owners and the occasional chain store. He told me a story about how he was ready to fight off a carload of hoodlums that he had just cited. They were going to jump him when several shop owners came to his aid with bats and tire irons in hand. They knew that without him out there writing tickets the cars would be there all day preventing their customers from parking.
It’s not about “class warfare” or “ripping off poor people”, it’s about taking personal responsibility for your actions. I don’t like to pay for parking or getting a parking ticket, but I expect to find a parking space when I drive downtown. I know that I can’t have it both ways.
PS
I have actually thanked a Parking Aide placing a ticket under my wiper after returning late to my meter. I knew I was pushing the envelope, threw the dice and lost. Not her fault but mine. I did kind of creep her out though. I guess she was prepared for hostility and the “Thank you” with a smile threw her off her game.
PP…..people like you are the exception…I also appreciate the sense of humor you have for thanking a PEA for a ticket.
I have been thanked before……..while sweeping RP Zones….and Loading Zones……
I’m just sick and tired of the morons that refuse to take personal responsibility for their actions and prefer to whine about the PEA’s that are just doing their jobs.
I cited a few cars yesterday for being too close to stop signs (30 Ft Clearance required by Muni Code 09-64-100(g)) and got a “WTF? I’ve been parking that close for years”
And got the same reaction for a couple Vans that were too close to a Crosswalk ( Vehicle 6′ tall or taller’ within 20 feet of a Crosswalk: Muni Code 09-64-170(c)) and for cars that were parked IN the bike lane (09-40-060)
DoR, I agree with most everything you said, and flagrant parking abusers deserve every ticket they get. That said, I doubt that not even 1 in 10 people could tell you that the muni code requires a minimum 30′ distance from stop signs, or cite details of most of the other parking codes. I think most people rely on painted yellow curbs or “no parking here to corner” signs to know where the line is drawn. I can tell you that in my neighborhood the yellow curbs (when you can still see them) and the “corner” signs do not extend even close to 30 feet — almost 2 full car lengths — in front of the stop signs. At the intersection near my house, cars in all 8 corner spots typically park roughly 1 car length (often less) from the cross-walks/stop signs, and I have never in 9 years seen a ticket on any of these cars. So this being my everyday experience, I would have NEVER guessed that I would have to park 30ft away. So I completely identify with the person who says “WTF? I’ve been parking that way for years.” I’m not saying wholesale ignorance of the parking code should be excused, but when inconsistencies like this exist, who can really be blamed for not being able to recite the code details for any number of parking scenarios? We often rely on what seems reasonable, and I think people generally expect to be treated reasonably in return. With what lately appears to be stepped-up enforcement of all parking laws, it seems people are getting aggressively cited for things that were rarely ever before enforced to the letter. I don’t think it would be very difficult to understand the level of frustration.
Incidentally, I’m confused by the two codes you cited above: the stop sign and cross-walk rules. At intersections, stop signs and cross-walks would be in essentially the same place….actually, I think the stop sign is usually placed BEFORE the crosswalk. So if you have to be 30′ from a stop sign but only 20′ from a cross-walk, then I don’t get it – wouldn’t you effectively have to park 30 ft from the crosswalk. Could you be in compliance with the cross-walk rule but still be breaking the stop sign rule? And if you parked 15 feet from a cross-walk where there was also a stop sign, I assume that technically you could be issued TWO citations. See, now THAT would piss me off.
PP, I love your story (is it literally true?). Socialists piss me off. But many (if not most) Republicans piss me off too. I believe in personal responsibility. But then I also believe in society having high-minded ideals. I don’t know what that makes me. I guess some would probably say it makes me someone with a lot of opinions but no answers. Anyway, I went to ANSWER Chicago’s website to see what it was about and consider signing the petition, but after reading some of the opinions there I realized I couldn’t conscientiously be associated with their cause. I’m as pissed off about the parking meter situation as so many others are. But it’s not the fact that rates increased 4-fold that bothers me — rates SHOULD have been higher. Parking was a damned steal at 25c an hour. No, it’s that I think it was a stupid, short-sighted idea, and the city got a bad business deal. I’m angry about THAT.
I think the city could have accomplished their intended goal more effectively by instead contracting out the management of the meters, and keeping the rights to the higher meter revenues. I’ve heard it said, though, that the real windfall is the revenue collection from the stepped-up enforcement of the parking regulations. Well, this also could have been accomplished without selling the cow (or leasing it for 75 years, as it were). I think the city got rooked, I think it was a misguided “solution” to the city’s budget issues, and I blame the mayor and the aldermen (or the 45 of them who rubber-stamped the deal).
To cancel the contract at this point would be even worse, as I imagine the penalties for doing so are severe. (And so they should be, says the Republican in me: It’s a contract, after all).
If anyone is pissed off about the whole parking meter fiasco, the recourse, in my opinion, is to vote out of office the mayor and all the alderman sheep who for too long have kowtowed to him. And then, take a look in the mirror and ask themselves why as citizens we demand more from city government than basic services and protection, and then be willing to vote for people who will draw the line on excess spending and, not to mention, by doing so serve the interests of the citizens by protecting against spiraling debt and taxes.
I did it again Geek. Sorry.
Justin….actually its simple.
Firstly…its Vehicles Over 6 Ft. Tall that are within 20 feet of the Crosswalk…..Not ALL Vehicles.
Secondly….Yellow Curb Paint does Not signify a Violation area…merely that there might be something posted near by to look for.
Thirdly…….Stop Sign/Stop Signal; 30 Feet Clearance Required. If there is a Tow Zone/No Park Anytime sign 5 feet from the Stop sign, the Tow Zone Sign supersedes the Stop Sign Violation and there would be no violation….
But yes….you park a Dodge Sporter or a Hummer or a Chevy Van, etc….. within 20 feet from a Stop Sign And there are Painted Crosswalk Lines…you can be cited for Both violations. Are we PEA’s all that mean? No.
Most of the time…if your Vehicle is greater than 15 feet from that Stop Sign/Stop Signal, we exercise discretion and Don’t Cite you. But if your too close in that range…your at risk…Period.
For that matter….I am running into PEA’s that don’t know about these violations and didn’t know they were allowed to write them….and these PEA”s have been on the job as long as Ticketmaster, Ldypea and myself….if not longer.
So as for never seeing this ticket or that violation before….Revenue is telling us to enforce the entire spread more now than before, instead of walking by them.
Deliver trucks, Work Crews in Alleys, Blocking Sidewalk Access while parking in your driveway, Blocking a Driveway Entry (even if you live there), CTA Bus stops, the whole nine yards and change.
Courtesy Died with the bullshit contract they offered us.
I’m tagging everyone…….Civilian or M Plate.
As for “why as citizens we demand more from city government than basic services and protection;” that has a simple answer as well….
The Citizens don’t control this city.
The Mob Does.
Hey everyone!
Thanks for the nice input here.
Thoughts…
PP & DOR, I like what ANSWER Chicago is doing to bring attention to the lease deal, but I am vehemently opposed to socialism and communism in all it’s forms.
PP’s story had me on the floor in convulsions of laughter. Is their house really up for sale?
I have friends who are socialists, honest to God real socialists, I love them dearly, but we never agree politically.
I agree with you guys about personal responsibility. So few people have the guts to be responsible for their own actions. Too many people want to run to Mama Govt. everytime something goes wrong. PUSSIES! I say. Our nation is getting weaker and weaker with all these pansy-ass new bills being passed in Congress.
Justin!
Dude, never apologize. Rant all you like. I LOVE it! Totally cool.
Thanks again everyone.
Thanks, DoR. All three of those things you mentioned are things I didn’t know. I had no idea that the horizontal distance would differ based on vertical height. But I get it now, as I think about every time a Hummer or any other beast is parked right at the intersection, making it impossible to see if any traffic is coming so I can make a turn. I’d LOVE to see a ticket an all those vehicles.
I also didn’t know that the yellow curb markings weren’t a violation area.
But, you have to admit, it sort of proves my point when you mention that you run in to PEAs that don’t even know about these things.
Also, I think I missed something: I don’t follow what you mean when you say “Courtesy died with the bullshit contract they offered us.” What does this refer to?
Oh, and your point about who runs the city….well taken.
hehe…Justin.
PEA’s are members of SEIU (Service Employees Internation Union) local 73. The City…a criminal conspiracy if I ever saw one; has threatened to Lay Off in any Union that doesn’t Knuckle under and “offer” to give up Paid Holidays.
But the Aldermem got a cost of living Raise…and they have a 1 million dollar slush fund for each ward.
55 million per year for the aldermen and the ward total….but the mayor is whining over paid holidays for union employees.
So…to do my part…
I am now doing the following..
I don’t see an Expired Meter.
I am looking for Anything that is wrong with Every M plate vehicle that I see…..
DoR,
“Courtesy died on Friday”? Really? I seem to recall on a number of occasions your responses indicating that we shouldn’t “kill the messenger” for the actions of the higher ups but you have no hesitation to stick it to the citizens. A bit ironic that you’re looking for sympathy from us for your contract woes. Cry me a river. There is almost 10% unemployment. I am on the board of directors for a community health provider that just let 60 people go and those remaining are taking furlough days AND kicking in more for their health care. They will also be unable to provide meds to normally stable people – someone in the DMH forgot to calculate the ROI on keeping people sane. Keep that in mind as you patrol for every violation and whine about your holiday pay. Who knows how many more unstable people are going to be out there, off their meds and really pissed about a BS “violation” that was never a violation before.
Unions protect the weak at the expense of competent workers. If you don’t like it, join the private sector and work for a non-union company. Otherwise, don’t complain when both sides push each other around while your livelihood hangs in the balance.
BTW
The little girl, house for sale thing is an old joke. Still funny every time I see it though.
TAC…….
You want to talk about BS Violations that were “never” a violation before?
I meet people daily that think it is their GOD Given RIGHT to park on a Hydrant while little Suzie gets Starbucks, and then say “Oh…I’m not actually parked…I’m waiting for….” Horse shit.
Or, just swap out the Hydrant for a CTA Bus Stop or in a Crosswalk.
People that get nailed for an Expired Meter have my Honest sympathy….
For example you ask?
Life Happens….Court Runs long…the barber talks to much….explosive bathroom visit needed….etc…
I give the majority of my Courtesy passes on Meters.
Oh…don’t get me started on Private Health Care Programs.
Managed Health Care systems are a get rich quick scheme that can cost a loved one their life.
Britain and Canada have the right idea with Govern-mentally Provided Free Health Care.
America is one of the Last Countries on the Planet that still makes its Citizens PAY for health care.
DoR-
I think you, The Angry Chicagoan, myself and a few others here, may share more than a few political views.
I find that absolutely astonishing as I thought I was one of the only nitwits in the city of Chicago that doesn’t make it a habit for voting for Democrats.
PTG,
I’m pretty sure based on DoR’s advocating government health care for everyone that he and I are on polar opposites of the political spectrum. I am a Libertarian and have never voted Democrat except in primaries.
Check out the tax rates and cost of living in the UK. In Canada everyone pays taxes. In the US the lowest earners get a pass. We have 230+ million people. The UK has 66M and Canada 33M. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population) There is virtually no way to manage nationalized health care on our scale without massive increases in taxes and decreases in quality of care overall. If you’d care to actually dig up some facts to refute that I’d love to have a reason to dig further.
The initial reason for ticketing for parking hydrants was safety. Now it’s all about revenue. Enforced by the Department of Revenue ipso facto NONE of the violations are being enforced for their original intent. Therefore, it is just another tax. Don’t get on your moralistic high horse about someone running in for coffee. They paid 10% sales tax on their coffee and helped employee the Starbucks barista, manager, delivery driver, coffee grower, etc. You ticketing them helps Daley in power and deters people from running in to spend money. It is a drag on the economy. But so long as you’re happy with nabbing little Suzie to secure your job, that’s your prerogative.
I forgot to address the violations that weren’t before comment. In my hood (and a lot of others I know) the city came around and put in no parking signs that are a full 8 feet (I measured) farther from the corner than the yellow paint was. That’s at least 2 less parking spots for every corner or 4 per block. The city of Chicago’s population increased by approximately 50,000 in the last 2 years. And the city took away parking spaces… and the unleash a herd of revenures to harass everyone. I predict when the economy turns the floodgates open as people flee.
DoR Employee wrote:
“…Revenue is telling us to enforce the entire spread more now than before, instead of walking by them.
Deliver trucks, Work Crews in Alleys, Blocking Sidewalk Access while parking in your driveway, Blocking a Driveway Entry (even if you live there), CTA Bus stops, the whole nine yards and change.”
I was crossing a crosswalk one day and a delivery truck had its trailer sticking out over the crosswalk and into the intersection probably 8 feet, thereby forcing pedestrians to walk around the truck, OUT OF THE CROSSWALK and IN THE INTERSECTION. One lady was pushing a stroller, and as she walked around the truck, a car making a right turn almost ran into her. I happened to see a cop car, and flagged him down and pointed out the situation, and all he did was shake his head, dismiss the problem, and say, “I’ve got something else to deal with right now” and drove away.
If he was on the way to a 911 call to stop some violence, then of course he couldn’t stop and deal with the situation. But he honestly didn’t care. And I doubt he had something else to do that was so important that he couldn’t deal with this very dangerous situation, at the very least, call it in.
Another story.
I was walking my son to school, and the crosswalk light turned to “Walk”. As we stepped from the curb, a Bus rushed by at a high speed. We stepped back onto the curb to get our of the way, it splashed a pretty big mud puddle that nearly got us wet, went RIGHT THROUGH THE RED LIGHT, IN FRONT OF A COP who was about to go through the green light. The red light camera never flashed, the cop sitting there didn’t stop the bus, but leisurely proceeded through the intersection and pulled up to the McDonalds and talked to another cop who was sitting there.
My son thought it was all very funny.
And a question:
Why aren’t buses given tickets for stopping in the middle of traffic instead of pulling completely over into their supposed “bus stop”? I’m so sick of waiting behind a bus that has room to pull over out of the way, but the driver is too lazy to do so, and makes us all wait behind them. But boy, we better not park in that bus stop, or we’ll get a ticket.
None of this is about safety and rules. It’s about money. Things are just not right, that’s all there is to it.
-John Adams
John Adams….
If you recollect the Beat Number off the Squad…call in a 3-1-1 complaint…..Dereliction of Duty.
As for writing CTA Vehicles…….personally…I’ll do it….when they are parked.
BUT….your talking about a moving violation…not a parking violation.
Everybody know the Department of Revenue is a lean and highly efficient machine bound and sworn to serve in the public’s best interest. Each and every employee is highly educated, has a unique skill set and is obviously underpaid and overworked. If anything…we should be hiring more personnel to lift the burden they carry every day in this great city.
TAC:
First off……I don’t care what you think the motivation is; Illegally Parked is Illegally Parked.
If I do it…I know I run the risk of a Ticket.
The Department of Revenue..for what its worth….prey’s upon the STUPID members of Society in Chicago, and also the people with bad luck as well.
And about Democrat/Libertarian/Republican/Fascist-Anarchist or whatever…
I don’t vote by Party, I vote on the Issues.
As for “Britain has xx Million and America has 250 million.”
A FLAT Income Tax rate with NO exemptions across the board would do nicely.
Everyone Pays (hypothetically speaking of course) a Flat 10% Income Tax. Get Ride of All Tax Free Bank Products excluding CD’s and Annuities and the 401 series retirement plans.
You make 25k a year…you pay 2.5k in Tax.
You make 250k a year…..25k Tax.
2.5 million……..250k tax.
2billion…….2m tax.
America Has the Highest number of Millionaires in the World…
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/10/1018_millionaire/index_01.htm
Over 4,585,000 house holds with more than 1,000,000 in assets.
And :
Total $100 million+ households: 2,300
And America currently has over 250 Billionaires that live here as Citizens.