I live in Medford, Massachusetts. There is a parking regulation to help facilitate snow removal which allows cars only on one side of the street, alternating sides each year. The effected dates are Dec to April. This December was unusually warm at over 70 degrees on some days. It was a really great treat for those of us who are getting tired of New England winters.

The town of Medford decided to use the snow-based parking ban to gather some funds by issuing half of us parked on the street with snow-ban tickets. The temperature was 70 degrees, but they still issues snow-ban tickets anyway. Amazingly there was one kind sole who noticed that the tickets were issued with an incorrect date, a two days before the issue of the ticket. That individual delivered hand-written notes to each of the cars with tickets explaining that fact and suggesting that we all go to contest the tickets based on the fact they were void due to incorrect information.

I went to appeal the ticket and was told not to bother by the parking clerk, an old woman in the town hall. I said I’d still like to contest it because the date is incorrect.

A few days later I was delivered a schedule for my appeal. Included in the envelope was a letter addressed to me telling me not to bother coming to fight it. I’ve taken a picture of the letter and typed it out here get some feedback. It feels to me like it’s a bully-tactic. What do you think? Here it is:

NOTICE REGARDING ODD/EVEN PARKING VIOLATION APPEALS

YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO APPEAL THE PARKING TICKET GIVEN TO YOU FOR AN ODD/EVEN PARKING VIOLATION. A HEARING DATE WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU IF YOU WANT ONE.

 

HOWEVER, PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE ODD/EVEN REGULATION HAS BEEN IN FORCE WITHIN THE CITY OF MEDFORD FOR APPROXIMATELY THE PAST TWENTY (20) YEARS. ON-STREET PARKING ROTATES FROM THE EVEN SIDE TO THE ODD SIDE FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT.

FOR EXAMPLE, FROM DECEMBER 1, 2004 TO APRIL 1, 2005, PARKING IS ALLOWED ONLY ON THE EVEN SIDE OF THE STREET BECAUSE 2004 IS AN EVEN-NUMBERED YEAR. ON DECEMBER 1, 2005, PARKING WILL SHIFT TO THE ODD SIDE OF THE STREET BECAUSE 2005 IS AN ODD-NUMBERED YEAR.

THIS REGULATION APPLIES ONLY TO THE PUBLIC WAYS AND DOES NOT APPLY TO PRIVATE WAYS.

THE CITY MAKES THIS INFORMATION KNOWN BY POSTING IN THE LOCAL PRESS, THE CITY’S COMMUNITY ACCESS CABLE CHANNEL 16 AND ON THE MEDFORD POLICE WEB SITE. THE CITY DOES NOT POST SIGNS ABOUT THIS REGULATION AS IT IS NOT REQUIRED TO DO SO.

IF THE BASIS OF YOUR APPEAL IS THAT YOU WERE SIMPLY “NOT AWARE” OF THE ODD/EVEN REGULATION, YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE YOURSELF THE TIME OF COMING TO A HEARING BECAUSE THE TICKET WILL BE UPHELD AND YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY THE TICKET. YOU MAY STILL ATTEND THE HEARING IF YOU SO CHOOSE.

IF YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE A VERY UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCE THAT WOULD FAVOR DISMISSAL OF THE TICKET YOU ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND THE HEARING.

IF YOU CHOOSE TO PAY THE TICKET AND NOT ATTEND THE HEARING PLEASE CALL MY OFFICE (781-393-2470) SO THAT YOUR NAME CAN BE TAKEN OFF THE LIST.

ANTHONY M. SANTORO
HEARING OFFICER
1/27/05

click here to see the actual document (2mb jpg)

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Date: Sunday, March 11th, 2007 at 9:47 pm | Category: Blog | RSS Feed: RSS 2.0 feed.
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