For Alan Melzer the final straw was the $20 ticket he got for parking at an expired meter near Michigan Avenue. Actually, he says, the meter had not expired–it was broken. So he shouldn’t have been ticketed.
Daley’s new parking enforcement program, enacted last September, has drastically reduced the time violators have to pay off their tickets. “Previously, you were given the option of going to court six to eight weeks after you were ticketed,” says Holden. “If you missed that date you were sent a reminder in another four to six months. All together you had a year to think about paying.”
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Nowadays city-operated computers notify alleged offenders within two weeks that they have another three weeks to either pay up or request a hearing. If they don’t respond, the computer sends a second notice explaining that within a month the fine will double. If they choose to contest the ticket, a hearing is held before a special parking-ticket judge. After five unpaid or uncontested tickets, they are eligible for the boot.
“There is a law on the books that prohibits parking in the Loop,” says Berman. “But there are parts of the Loop in which no-parking signs are posted. That would lead someone to conclude that they can park in any spot where there is no such sign.”
Don’t tell Melzer that; he contends he has received at least five unwarranted tickets. On June 13, for instance, Melzer says he parked his car at 1151 S. Jefferson, fed the meter two quarters (good for an hour), and then left for lunch. Forty-five minutes later he returned to find the meter expired and his car ticketed.
There’s no rule against giving a ticket at a broken meter, says Holden, but contesting the ticket by claiming the meter was broken usually gets you off the hook if it’s true. The city keeps a record of meter status based on regular surveys.
He went to Room 107 in City Hall, the central office of the Bureau of Parking Enforcement. “It’s unbelievable in there,” says Melzer. “You’ve got all these guys waiting in line, complaining about their tickets. One guy started screaming at the clerk, ‘You’re full of shit!’ I tell you, one of these days there’s gonna be a fight down there.”
