The installation of daily fee machines would address the concerns I have about unfair ticketing practises at Nokomis, as long as the machines are accessible all the time.
In the meantime, I hope the park police will stop the practise of ticketing people for not having permits at those times when there is no way to purchase permits on site. I consider a ticket fair when someone is informed that he must have a permit, he can purchase the ticket on site, he chooses not to purchase the permit, and then is ticketed for not having the permit. I consider the ticket to be unfair when someone is informed he must have a permit, there is no way to purchase the permit, and then he is ticketed for not having the permit. Jay Clark Cooper "Siggelkow, Donald E." wrote: > > Jay, > > We will continue to make improvements to the parking system. I'm not sure anybody > perceives a parking ticket as "fair". We are installing daily fee machines at > Nokomis that will eliminate the need for the parking attendants. The parking > attendants are there during peak periods to provide the convenience of a daily fee > as opposed to the season pass. The lots are for season pass permit holders and we > are accommodating daily users. If there are not attendants on duty - the lot is for > permit holders only. The daily fee machines will be a great improvement for the > daily users. We are also improving the signage to accommodate the visitors that do > not know that we charge for parking (and have since the mid 90's). > > Let me know if you have any other concerns, questions, Don Siggelkow - Assistant > Superintendent. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Annie Young [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2003 11:57 PM > To: Jay Clark; Minneapolis Issues > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; > [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Siggelkow, Donald E.; Merrill > Anderson, Mary E.; Merrifield, Norman C.; Schmidt, Michael P.; Hill, > Dianne S.; Rietkerk, Judd H.; Ero-Phillips, Emily N. > Subject: Re: [Mpls] Nokomis Ticketing and Permit Parking > > Thank you Jay for your comments on the parking problems. I have forwarded > your message to staff and will get a clearer (I hope) explanation to you > regarding the several issues you brought forward. I will also maybe > attempt myself tomorrow when I am not so "ready for bed". > Thanks for your comments, > Annie Young > citywide Park Commissioner > > At 07:20 PM 6/21/03 -0500, Jay Clark wrote: > >In the past week or so, I have seen many people visiting Lake Nokomis > >who are being unfairly ticketed. I want it to stop. I describe here > >what I have seen at Nokomis, but I think there is a good chance this is > >going on at Minnehaha, Harriet, Calhoun, and other popular park > >destinations. > > > >The park system has instituted a new permit parking system at the main > >Nokomis Beach that works something like this: > > > >You drive into the Nokomis parking lot. You see a blue sign with white > >lettering telling you that you must purchase a permit to park in the > >lot. An attendant comes to your car and sells you a permit for two > >dollars. You put it on the dashboard, and you park legally. The park > >service has picked up some extra revenue, and you are operating within > >the law. > > > >However this tidy new revenue strategy has an ugly side. > > > >I do not know the hours of the permit sellers, but I know that there are > >great chunks of time during the week when there are no permit sellers to > >be found. I have been over there on weekday mornings as late as about > >11:30 A.M., and saw no permit sellers. Today (Saturday) I was at > >Nokomis at 9:30 A.M. and 1:00 P.M., and saw no permit sellers. There > >are also no instructions on the sign on how to purchase permits when the > >permit sellers are not there. This means that for many, many hours of > >the week you pull into the Nokomis parking lot, see a sign saying you > >must purchase a permit, and have no way of purchasing a permit. > >Surprise surprise, many people park in the lot. > > > >But parking at the Nokomis parking lot is akin to swimming at Amity > >Island when Jaws is loose. Because the park police are mounting the > >most aggressive ticketing campaign at Nokomis I have ever seen. I am at > >Nokomis about a half hour a day. In the past week, I have seen police > >at Nokomis ticketing vehicles four times. Three times they were in the > >Nokomis beach parking lot ticketing people for not having permits, when > >there was nobody to sell permits and there was no way for the beachgoers > >to purchase permits on site. > > > >The last two times I saw the police ticketing cars, I broke off my run > >and walked onto the beach and told people that the police were ticketing > >their cars. To a person, they were all furious that they were being > >ticketed for not having permits when they were not able to buy the > >permits. > > > >(For those who watch nature shows on T.V.: the great African Wildebeast > >herds cannot hold a candle to the spectacular sight of a seething mass > >of beachgoers rising in unison and thundering across the sand and into > >the parking lot in a futile attempt to save their vehicles) > > > >I am particularly bothered by the idea that it might actually be in the > >financial self-interest of the park system to make on-site purchase of > >the permits impossible much of the time. Having it be impossible to > >purchase permits and then writing a ticket for not having the permit > >yields $30. Buying the permit yields $2. > > > >I have heard of speed traps before, but this is the first time I have > >seen a parking trap. > > > >A park police officer justified ticketing people who could not purchase > >permits by pointing out that people could park along the side of the > >road for free. This morning at 10:30, every non-permit parking place on > >the west side of Lake Nokomis was already taken. People with children > >or handicapped or seniors simply cannot park halfway around the lake in > >a an effort or dodge this parking trap. And regardless of the parking > >situation along the road, it is wrong to require a permit, make it > >impossible to get the permit, and then ticket the person for not having > >the permit. > > > >An already bad situation is made even worse by this being the exact > >opposite of park system policy in the past. > > > >In past years, people who used the Nokomis parking lot had to pay a > >fee. they drove into the parking lot, and saw a blue sign with white > >letters saying that they had to pay a fee to park. The parking slots > >were numbered, and people stuffed a dollar into a fee box. > > > >During the off season, the park system put a tarp over the fee box, and > >people could not pay the fee. But I remember that the signs announcing > >a fee area were left up long after the tarp went over the fee box. This > >meant that you drove into the Nokomis parking lot, saw a sign saying you > >had to pay the fee, but could not pay the fee. In all the years that > >the park system used this system, I never saw a police officer ticket a > >car for not paying the fee when the driver could not pay the fee. In > >practice, the park system ticketed people only when the park system > >provided the means to pay the fee. > > > >Anybody acquainted with the old system - this means anybody who has ever > >visited Nokomis beach before - would see the blue sign with white > >lettering announcing that they had to buy a permit, not be able to buy > >the permit, and assume that the park system would ticket them only when > >the park system had also provided the means on site to buy the permit. > >But in fact the park system is following the exact opposite policy of > >the old system. I cannot help wondering if the park police are > >systematically targeting those people who cannot purchase the permits on > >site. It is like shooting fish in a barrel. And a great way to rake in > >a lot of money fast. > > > >I know that the park system is desperate to bring in new revenue. But > >this is not the way to do it. The park system should either find a way > >to make permits available all the time on site, or they should not > >ticket people for not having permits when the park system has failed to > >provide those permits. This new revenue scheme will drive people away > >from Nokomis and other parks and will damage the credibility of the park > >system and the park police. > > > >This revenue scheme of ticketing people who cannot buy permits belongs > >in the same dust bin as the strategy a few years ago of saving money by > >allowing the grass to grow like weeds and then announcing that the park > >system is restoring native prairie. > > > >Jay Clark > >Cooper > > > >P.S. I abandoned the main lake parking lots years ago when far too > >often I saw the colorful sparkling green piles of glass that indicated > >yet more car break-ins. > >TEMPORARY REMINDER: > >1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > >2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change > >the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) > > > >________________________________ > > > >Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > >Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls > > Annie Young > East Phillips > "So many people complain that life is unfair, but that very fact proves just > how fair it can be. Life doesn't discriminate. Everyone's life contains > difficulties." > -- Bernie Siegel > > TEMPORARY REMINDER: > 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the > subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) > > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
