Citizens shoulder the burden of budget deficit with unfair, increased parking fees

Think quickly: Can you name five free parking locations in Los Angeles?

Sure, there is the Broxton Avenue lot before 6 p.m., the Century City parking structure for a few hours. But how about a truly free, unrestricted (i.e. for more than two hours) parking area that is not overcrowded to the point that calling it “free” isn’t really telling the truth?

The fact is, there aren’t many, and if you know one, you certainly aren’t likely to spill your secret.

And yet, lawmakers are pushing to increase parking ticket fines, eliminate what free parking is left and increase meter rates.

Increasing high ticket costs and parking rates is a lazy and insulting way for an inept city and state legislature to close a budget shortfall that comes not from the citizens but from the committee’s own inability to manage the government’s money.

The legislation follows 2009’s parking-meter price hikes and hours-of-operation extensions. Some areas in Los Angeles cost as much as $4 per hour, requiring one to swipe a card or lug around more than 30 quarters for two hours

Parking tickets should serve as reminders of regulations, not as a bloated, unofficial tax.

Street-cleaning parking violations in Westwood already run upwards of $60 ““ an awful lot of money for a simple mistake.

In Westwood ““ where city officials somehow found it fit to quarter off a handful of parking spots for private companies offering rental cars (and no parking garage exists for residents) who do not have parking within their own building, the new parking laws would be especially cruel.

City legislatures are pushing a bill that would put wheel “boots” on cars after just three unpaid tickets. (It is currently five.)

Though the city estimates it could take in $61 million in unpaid tickets if cars are booted after three tickets ““ meaning they can’t be driven away ““ this is more unfair than it appears.

It’s not that difficult to get three tickets in the 21 days allotted to pay a parking violation fine. Imagine one day you forgot about street cleaning; one day your meeting runs long and since in this economy you can’t risk to be anything but overeager at work, you don’t leave; and a third day you were at a show in Hollywood, and your two-hour parking runs out.

You are now down about $160, since meter fines are currently $50. If you could not even drive home or to work the next day, you stand to lose a lot more ““ even if you fully intended to pay the fine as soon as your paycheck arrived.

This legislative trend is sweeping the state. Not only have L.A. lawmakers increased meter rates and fines in the past year, but they are also looking to sell 10 parking garages with more than 8,000 spaces to private companies ““ a move that is sure to increase the already ridiculous prices in some of these areas.

Again, the city is undoubtedly paying a heavy sum for the construction and maintenance of these garages. The Hollywood and Highland garage has cost nearly $60 million in debt.

But the city must have faced these facts before the creation of this service. It’s foolish of California lawmakers to build something that is supposed to aid the citizens, and then, because they are incapable of doing their job correctly, make it a cost-prohibitive profit machine.

Even more troubling is the ideology behind State Senator Alan Lowenthal’s, D-Long Beach, wish to eliminate free parking, which is often subsidized by the state.

“Free parking has significant social, economic and environmental costs. It increases congestion and greenhouse gas emissions,” Lowenthal told the Los Angeles Times.

The idea is that charging more for parking will push people onto public transit ““ as though there are any truly viable public transit options for those with even moderately long commutes.

The bus system works, barely, for those who must use it. But frequent riders know that in some areas, buses don’t arrive more often than once every half an hour, compared with New York or Paris subways that have less than 10-, if not less than 5-minute intervals.

Lawmakers must move past the misty eyes they seem to get when they see a multi-million dollar opportunity in privatization or increased costs, and instead focus on preventing future fiscal collapses.

From de-funding education to hiking up parking costs, the state has exhibited a pattern of irresponsibility that borders on neglect.

It is important that the citizens of Los Angeles and the state speak out against what is frankly just lazy legislation that takes advantage of a passive, paying citizenry.

Terrified of those white envelopes on your windshield?

E-mail Makarechi at [email protected]. Send general comments to [email protected].