To the Editor:
So, on the afternoon of February 13, I got my first parking ticket. It was for parking in a handicapped spot on 15th Street in front of the Union. I wasn’t aware it was a handicapped spot since the sign was too high and not clearly visible; if it was, I would have parked in the free spot in front of it. I was there to stop by the post office and send my dad a birthday present.
What bothers me the most is that the parking ticket was given almost as soon as I left my car on my way to the Union. I know this because I checked the time when I was entering the Union and the time the ticket was issued. I don’t know if I am being naïve, but I used to think that handicapped spots were to help handicapped people and not for a greedy city to make money. If they do in fact care so much about handicapped people, couldn’t they just have told me to move my car while seeing me leave it or putting a quarter in the meter?
Therefore, I went to City Hall to protest the ticket and was in awe of what I experienced. The ticket was for $140.00, which is quite hefty for anyone—especially for a college student like me. So I was hoping to get it reduced since I felt partly guilty; on one hand I did break the law, but under the situation I felt it was not fair. So I was hoping to get it reduced to $70.00, but then the man in charge of handling these claims said “Well, if you don’t pay us within 14 days, the fine is nearly doubled to $250, so if I give you an extension I am already reducing your ticket.” Excuse me: I thought I was protesting a ticket, not being extorted by a mobster.
So I encourage everyone in the same position that I am in to do the same thing: protest it and challenge it. What is going on is wrong and must be changed. If all of us make enough noise about this, maybe they will fix it and not take advantage of us.
Cristhian Kim
CSCI/ELEC ’0
