This is a follow-up to a long, bitchy post about a minor irritant: broken parking meters.
Here's what has transpired since the initial sequence of events. The city has done a spot-check of complaints about malfunctioning meters and, according to city spokesman Randy Kenner, has found that "There has been an increase in the number of calls to 311 complaining about parking meters, and not just downtown but in other parts of the city." The vast majority of those calls, he says, have been about the meters either not registering any time at all when coins are deposited or not registering the correct amount of time. This is, of course, the exact thing that has happened to me multiple times, including the time that led to the parking ticket in question.
Steve King, the city's director of public works, tells me that his department is reviewing "about 1,000" complaints about faulty meters and has been trying to find patterns that would explain the malfunctions. He says that my impression that it happens more when it's cold doesn't seem to be reflected in the rate of complaints. He also doesn't think it has to do with battery problems, since the batteries in the electronic meters are replaced regularly. It could have to do with age--the oldest of the electronic meters are now 10 years old--but the city won't know that until it does further study. King says there has been no indication from the manufacturer that this is a problem to watch for in aging meters.
In any case, King says, one complicating factor appears to be the transitory nature of the problem. When someone reports a malfunctioning meter, he says, "Oftentimes we find when we go out that there's not a problem. And so what that's leading me to believe is that we have some kind of intermittent problem with the parking meters." I told him that that tallies with my experience of the meters. One that isn't working one day can be working fine the next. This is, of course, exactly what I tried unsuccessfully to convey to the employees of City Court. It's why their policy of going to check the meter after a ticket has been issued is pretty much useless: Just because a meter is working when someone inspects it does not mean it was working the day before or will be working the day after.
Which brings me back to my parking ticket. As I expected and as I predicted to the City Court employees, when somebody went to check meter 857 on the Gay Street viaduct, it was working. Which means I am still liable for the ticket, despite my repeated attempts to be a good, diligent citizen in reporting non-functioning civic equipment. I had another long talk with Richard Wingate at City Court, with whom I am developing quite a telephone acquaintance, and was informed that if I want to appeal the ticket, I have to, a.) go back to the City Court building and fill out an appeal form, and then, b.) appear for a court hearing at some later date. Both of which would require taking yet more time out of my days, and if the court date were at night, might necessitate a babysitter as well. Plus, obviously, there's no guarantee that Judge John Rosson would find in my favor. If he didn't, in addition to all the other hassle, I'd have to pay another $64 in court fees.
One new, amusing piece of information came out of my conversation with Mr. Wingate. He told me, somewhat ominously, that Judge Rosson would be reviewing "the video of you at the counter that day." This was the first I'd heard of any video, although I wasn't surprised to learn that all activities at the City Court counter are videotaped--it seems like a reasonable security precaution. I laughed and asked if I could come watch it, too. Mr. Wingate said he didn't think so. I asked if I could get a copy of it; I said I'd like to put it online. Mr. Wingate checked on this and called me back to say the security tapes aren't public records. I said that it seemed to me that if a video was somehow being considered as some kind of evidence in regard to my parking ticket, I should at least be able to see it. He gave me the name of someone at the Knoxville Police Department to call to see what the exact policy is. (I have made that call and will update if/when I hear anything.)** Mr. Wingate also told me that while he himself had not seen the video, what he had heard about it didn't sound like something I might want released publicly. I laughed again and assured him that I had been there when it all happened, and that he might be surprised at how sympathetic a lot of people might be to someone driven to frustration by malfunctioning city equipment and intransigent public employees. If raising your voice and thumping a few times on a counter count against me in the court of public opinion, so be it.
Anyway, contrary to what I said in my previous post, I am paying this parking ticket. I don't want to, obviously I don't think I should have to, but a.) the appeals process is really too onerous and potentially costly to make it worth saving the 11 bucks; and b.) as long as City Court thinks I'm just trying to get out of a parking ticket, they are clearly not going to revisit their policies in regard to dealing with broken parking meters. I told Mr. Wingate I would like to talk to Judge Rosson about those policies, as a reporter and not as an aggrieved city resident. After checking with the judge, Mr. Wingate assured me Judge Rosson will be happy to talk about that issue as soon as my ticket is resolved; as long as it's pending, the judge would consider it a conflict of interest. I said I thought that was a perfectly reasonable position, and I would call the judge next week.
Then I went and mailed a check for $11 to City Court, noting that it was to pay for parking ticket # PC629574. (The number was helpfully provided me by Mr. Wingate, as I have not been in personal possession of the ticket since leaving it with the unhelpful clerk.) Enclosed was the following letter:
Dear Mr. Wingate and Employees of Knoxville City Court,
Enclosed please find payment for a bogus parking ticket that all of us know is fraudulent and is the result of mechanical malfunctions on the part of city-owned equipment - malfunctions that I have done my best as a taxpaying resident of Knoxville to bring to the attention of city officials and employees. I have some hope that both the mechanical issues and the policies related to them will be revisited and revised, but obviously that will not happen in time to help resolve this particular ticket. And as long as this ticket is unpaid, you'll think I'm just trying to get out of it, when the problems are actually with the system, not with this one stupid ticket. So, here. It's paid. You don't deserve this money from me, you are essentially extorting it from me, but the time and hassle of going through your appeals process is too much for me to bother with just for 11 bucks.
I will be following up on the other issues involved here, but I would just like to make one note. On the City Court website, one of the bullet points listed under "Mission Statement" is this:
Create and sustain a customer-oriented quality service that provides maximum access to the Court and promotes public confidence in the justice system.
I can assure that on this count, you have failed miserably.
I would like to note, however, that Mr. Wingate did explain to me that they get lots and lots of people complaining about tickets and all kinds of things, and many of them are unjustified complaints and many of the complainants are unpleasant (as, no doubt, Mr. Wingate and his employee also found me). I said that I understood that, and I'm sure it's a hassle; but they should keep in mind that some complaints are legitimate, and when people are trying hard to follow exactly what they have been told to do by city employees, there should be some greater effort at understanding and cooperation from City Court. Especially in light of what seems to be an endemic problem with the city's parking meters.
Watch this space for further developments in this exciting saga...
**UPDATE: I got a friendly call back from Capt. Nate Allen at KPD, who oversees the video system at the Safety Building. He was helpful and explained that all the video collected there is just for security purposes and is not public record. But he assured me that if any video clip were ever to be used as some kind of evidence or determining factor in any legal proceeding, he would make sure that all parties involved had access to it. I thanked him for the information.
I'm not actually sure what role if any the video could ever have served, since it would seem sort of irrelevant to the question of whether or not the parking meters work. But I'm kind of entertained that someone apparently went to the trouble, for whatever reason, of pulling and reviewing the film of me. I do wish I had a copy.
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