Zachery Allan Starkey wrote >>
Well, I have got a story regarding the city's parking meters. It is pretty embarrassing, but as my friends and I can now laugh about it, I suppose I can tell it here.
Last March, I got laid off from my job of four years. My nice paying, swanky job that was supposed to become my career for the next 20 years. My entire department got laid off, nationwide.
A few weeks after my being laid off, I was driving thru Circleville. I went a few miles over the limit to change lanes (dude driving wouldn't let me over). A cop pulled me over, and, for going a few miles over the limit for about 30 seconds, gave me a $200 ticket.
Now, having just been laid off, I couldn't pay said $200 ticket immediatley. It took me a few months to find a new job, during which time my savings were eaten up to pay for my relatively meager expenses.
So, I find myself driving in Grandview. Grandview PD pulls me over, tells me there is a warrant out for that $200 ticket I couldn't afford to pay, has my car impounded, and arrests me and takes me downtown.
I pay $200 for the ticket, $250 for GPD's time for arresting me, and $130 to get my car out.
Then I find out that because of this incident, my license is suspsended.
Three months and $500 later, I get my license reinstated and cleared.
Over the late summer, and early fall, I get a few parking tickets downtown. I work downtown, and I got these tickets for overstaying the meter by about 30 seconds. In all three cases, I was walking to my car, 5 feet away, when these tickets were given.
Now, thanks to being laid off, having no savings, and spending what money I was earning from my new job on rent and bills(we aren't getting raises at my job this year), I couldn't afford to pay these tickets when I got them, so they just got bigger and bigger. I couldn't make the court date to challenge them because I have a bizarre work schedule, and I cannot afford to take time off of work for anything. I missed Thanksgiving with my family this year for work.
So, I have every intention of paying these tickets, one by one...when...
On a magical day about a month ago....
THE CITY TOWED AND IMPOUNDED MY CAR
Over these parking tickets.
Because, overstaying those meters by 30 seconds and not having the extra money to pay them immediatly, well, thats just nort right.
So, the city towed my car and wants $600 from me before they will give it back.
Well, I work full time, I work crazy hours, but my job, the only one I could find after being laid off, doesn't pay the greatest, and I just can't get that extra $600 to pay the parking tickets and get my car back.
I own my car. I make no payments on it because I bought it and paid it off. It's mine. I got laid off this year. My savings went to pay rent and bills while I was laid off. I found a new job that doesn't pay as well as my former one. But it's the best job I can find right now. I got a few parking tickets downtown, on city streets that I pay for with my city tax. I couldn't pay those tickets quickly because I am at a lower paying job and just don't have the extra cash.
So the City of Columbus took my car to teach me a lesson about how important it is to not overstay parking meters by 30 seconds.
And I can't get my car back because....I work full time but just don't make enough to have $600 extra a month.
And there is no alternative. There is no community service I can do. There is no one I can talk to. Nothing.
Unless I get a really great job in the next few months (and believe me, I am looking), I will never get my car back. It will be auctioned off.
This story is humiliating me. I've been working since I was 12 years old, and working full time since I was 18, and I worked while I put myself through college.
Then I got laid off. Then I lost my career. Then I took a lesser paying job because it was all I could find. And I lost my car because, having worked all these years and put myself through college, I just couldn't afford to pay those little parking tickets and the city offers no way of working with me to resolve the issue.
So, there is nothing I can do about it. I lost my car over a few small parking tickets. A year ago, when I had my good job, this would have never happened.
Well, write the Mayor, write to each city council member; but that probably won't accomplish much.
This system is corrupt. This is an unreasonable taking of private property. But the courts have allowed cities to do this for a long time.
Here is an alternative approach: ask a city council member about passing a law to allow hardship relief for people with impounded cars. An owner could agree to have a lien put on their car and make monthly payments (even have automatic withholding) until the ticket is paid off.
I have seen several stories about how people lose their cars to minor tickets that they cannot afford to pay.
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