Fund This Story : Somerville Parking Tickets

[barry-rafkind.livejournal.com]

Dear fellow car drivers friends and neighbors,

The City is counting on you to park longer than 48 hours in one place, to not remember which day is street cleaning on your side, and to forget to give your out-of-town friends and relatives visitor passes instantly when they arrive at your place. I know what you're thinking, that the City wants its residents, workers, and visitors to abide by the laws, not break them.

Alas, the FY2010 municipal budget (pdf) has already been written with the expectation of approx $8.7 million from parking fines (up $1.5 million from last year) plus change in surcharges, towing fees, and moving violations. So, unless you want the city to face cut-backs in police, fire, and education, you'd better start parking within 20 feet of an intersection and leaving your car on the street during your week-long vacation. The City has even adjusted its parking policies to help facilitate this new revenue increase.

But seriously, if the City is going to rely on this regressive form of taxation, shouldn't we at least expect the burden to fall somewhat equitably around the city? And how does Somerville compare to surrounding communities in terms of its parking enforcement policies? If you'd like to help us find out the answers to these and other parking related questions, then please consider pledging what you can to our new $500 fund-raiser to hire an investigative journalist. To join our campaign or leave a comment, please head on over to the Somerville Voices blog and thanks!

Sincerely,
Barry Rafkind

Comments

As long as you don't hire

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

the one from the Somerville News who botched the Wheel story! :)

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

What are us non-car drivers to do??

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Sounds like it's time to not have a car...like I did for 9 years. It's amazing how well the T works when you actually give it a chance.

[laryu.livejournal.com]

Gee, given this precis, I wonder what the investigative reporter you hire specifically for this assignment will say in his or her story?

[moria923.livejournal.com]

Guess they're taking lessons from the credit card companies, who count on late fees as a form of revenue.

[ron_newman]

Tagging this (and similar SV-related posts) 'newspapers' even though that isn't really an exact match. Maybe we should rename the tag to 'journalism'.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Two questions:

1) Are you aware that some of your links are broken?

2) Can you explain, clearly, in detail, and without hyperbole or linking to your own site how this is supposed to be a regressive tax?

You see, in a regressive tax, the poor pay a larger share of the burden. So a cigarette tax, which is an actual tax, could be seen as a regressive tax because the poor smoke more. Parking tickets would seem to shift the burden onto people who drive, who seem to me to range across all classes around here.

[dougo.livejournal.com]

Are you suggesting that parking violations should not result in fines? What's the alternative, license suspension? Jail sentences? Using fines as punishment seems like the best option, because it does in fact help fund "police, fire, and education".

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

I get your point, even if I don't 100% agree with it. However, how will an investigative journalist help you? What are you hoping s/he will find that you haven't already found, published, and made a judgment on?

"Dear fellow car drivers"

[cn-i-crash-here.livejournal.com]

Dear fellow car drivers

Many non-car-drivers have a stake here. Business owners, residents whose guests drive, and others who simply perceive an injustice may sympathize with you. Get them all under the tent!