The parking meter was paid, but minutes later, a $70 ticket from Chicago
The morning of Jan. 14, I was running late for a press conference downtown.
After parking on Desplaines Street, I rushed to the payment box, punched in my license plate, swiped my credit card and took off with minutes to spare. All was good.
That is until an hour or so later. Tucked under my windshield upon returning was a parking ticket from the city of Chicago.
The violation was for “expired meter central business district,” and the fine was an obscenity-worthy $70, according to the ticket issued at 10 a.m.
The thing is — my parking receipt was time-stamped at 9:57 a.m. — three minutes earlier. So, how does this square? Shouldn’t a system that rakes in millions of dollars be wired to efficiently process information about meter payments quickly?
“There should be no discrepancy,” Chicago Alderman Scott Waguespack said.
But it’s a familiar complaint. “Over the years, I’ve got people calling from all over the city asking for help” with undeserved tickets.
Concerns range from mistakes about the time frame to inadequate signage supposed to alert drivers if parking isn’t allowed, he explained.
Waguespack was among a handful of aldermen who voted “no” in 2008 to a controversial contract leasing city meters to a private company for 75 years.
In return, the city received $1.15 billion from Chicago Parking Meters LLC, a consortium that included Morgan Stanley and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Former Mayor Richard M. Daley said the move was necessary to resolve a budget crisis but it was widely castigated. The city’s own inspector general found the decision was rammed through and would cost Chicago millions of dollars in lost revenue.
“That was one of the most shrouded-in-secrecy, rushed-through deals I’ve ever seen,” Waguespack said.
Circling back to the bungled ticket, it seems like there’s lots of blame to go around.
My parking receipt, totaling $5.77 for one hour and 15 minutes, was handled by LAZ Parking, another contractor.
The $70 citation is from Chicago. But the ticket itself was issued by a generic “contractor.”
Asked to clarify, Chicago officials said that LAZ/CPM manages the parking meters.
As for the glitch ...
“It may take some time for an officer to determine the violation, look up the license plate on a database for meter payments, take photos, and ultimately issue/print a parking ticket,” city Department of Finance staff said.
“During those minutes, a motorist could be paying by paybox or by app, and the officer and motorist could have missed each other. When the officer issued the ticket, they did not see any anyone walking to or from the paybox.”
They also noted, “there is no system glitch. The officer and motorist missed each other.”
PR consultant Thom Serafin speaking on behalf of Chicago Parking Meters said CPM isn’t involved. “The city of Chicago wrote the ticket,” he said.
LAZ had not responded as of Friday.
So, what happened with the ticket?
The city has an online appeals process, which I jumped on, receiving a Feb. 26 date to contest the fine before an administrative law judge.
Sometimes being old-school is worth it. I’d printed out the parking receipt so I could wave it and the ticket in front of the judge — and demand justice.
It took Judge Katie Diggins just minutes to check the receipt, look at the ticket and determine “based on the evidence, the meter was paid,” which meant a finding of “not liable.”
I gave a demure fist pump because there’s nothing like fighting city hall and winning. Although, I did lose a morning and paid for gas to go downtown plus street parking — this time with no bogus ticket.
But not all penalized drivers scrutinize their citation and unfortunately many just assume they have to pay, Waguespack said.
“Keep a paper copy (of the receipt). That’s what the judge likes to see,” he advised.
For the record, city officials said drivers can request a mail-in hearing or a Zoom one instead of in-person.
Got a comment or question? Drop an email to mpyke@dailyherald.com.
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