davis_square | Parking appeal- WIN (Reply)

For those of you who got parking tickets during The Great Parking Permit Wait Clusterfuck at the Parking/Traffic office this past month, good news.

I had gotten a ticket for an expired meter because, well, I was in line over 3 hours waiting to get my shiny new parking sticker and there are no 3 hour meters nearby, feeding meters is illegal, and I didn't care to risk my place in line. At the time, the woman who processed my permit gave me a time-stamped note telling me it shouldn't be a problem appealing the ticket.

So I sent in my appeal online with the note, explained the circumstances, but received a letter back telling me the appeal was denied. WTF? I was all ready to pay the fine online and whip off an angry email to The Mayor cursing the idiocy of the situation when I decided, screw it, and went down to the parking office to deal with this face-to-face. The woman behind the counter was sympathetic to my plight and directed me, without appointment, to the office of the hearing officer. I sat down, started to explain the situation, and he muttered "Oh yes, we had many many problems that day" and dismissed my ticket on the spot, saving me $30.

So for my fellow Somervillians, take the time to personally appeal your ticket from that day and you should have yourselves a bit of WIN as well.