Holiday Cheer

Barking Over Parking

Here are some of same basic reasons that every city gives for
parking meters (or any limited parking enforcement):

1. Turnover. Ensure that people move their cars every 15
   minutes to 5 hours to allow other cars a chance to park (and shop the stores
   there.)
2. Social Engineering. Get people to use pubic transportation
   instead of their cars when shopping downtown.
3. Income. Generate money from the meters. The money from
   meters can be significant (especially when there are thousands of meters
   installed) however, cities really want people to overstay their parking limit so
   they can write parking tickets - this is where they make most of their money. In
   Portland a plain parking ticket is $16.00. Some place, like near PGE Park (a
   stadium) the basic parking ticket is $40.00!
4. Portland, in their transportation budget, expects 2.5% of
   it to be derived from citations. 2004 Budget was around $54 million dollars.
   Thus, around $1 million dollars is expected as income from parking citations
   alone.
5. To encourage people who work downtown NOT to drive their
   cars downtown to allow shoppers to park.
6. Cut down the need to build new roads to handle the traffic
   going downtown
7. Enable the handicap to park easily so they can
   shop

Why Parking Meters Should be
Outlawed http://www.taphilo.com/tom/parkingmeters.shtml

Last year (during our policy battles with the State Theatre) I was of the opinion that we should just raise the price of the city’s parking meters. I wanted the City Parking Garage locked down to freebies. And I wanted scofflaws, violators, and ne'er-do-wells ticketed. That was then.

Just a couple of weeks ago we were cornered with an eleventh hour budget proposal to increase parking meters 100% (from $.50/hour to $1.00/hour). My knee-jerk reaction was, “Hell Yeah! Make everyone share the costs.” Residents and business owners crowded City Council Chambers. People stood up and spoke out.

And what happened then...? Well... in Easton they say that my Grinch ears grew three sizes that day!

I heard some opponents to my opinion. No, I really heard some opponents to my opinion. I heard people give solid criticism to the hap-hazardness of the plan. I heard people offer viable alternatives. Here’s the thing… I actually “heard” what they were saying.

Suddenly, mine was not such a well thought out position. And, well, quite frankly; that’s because it was a position of emotion. My agenda is clear—Resident First. In my heart of hearts I believe that the people need to be advocated. When I approached the parking meter issue on adrenaline alone, anyone not for it was against the resident. That was a mistake. Upon future review (and hearing other people) I realized that the issue is not one of extremes.

Yes, the rates need to be increased. They need to be increased for two major reasons—fairness and revenue. Everyone must contribute to the well being of the city; not just now but always. We can not continue to operate the city on the backs of the resident/taxpayer. We discussed this in detail during the Amusement and Mechanical Devices Tax talks. Use-based fees are fair and necessary.

The rhetoric that parking meters are not revenue devices has been bounced around a lot lately. The problem is that the rhetoric is not entirely true. Firstly, it’s made up. Meters exist for whatever reason the owner chooses. The simple fact that revenue is generated from meters invalidates the stance. A more correct statement may be that parking meters don’t have to exist for the sole purpose of revenue generation.

Although it is sometimes disputed, Carl C. Magee, of Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma, is generally credited with originating the parking meter. He filed for
a patent for a "coin controlled parking meter" May 13, 1935. The patent,
#2,118,318, was issued May 24, 1938.

The world's first installed
parking meter was in Oklahoma City, on July 16, 1935. Mr. Magee had been
appointed to the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce traffic committee, and was
assigned the task of solving the parking problems in downtown Oklahoma City.
Apparently, folks who worked in the area were parking on downtown streets,
staying all day, and leaving few spaces for shoppers and others who visited the
central business district.

Magee's solution was to install parking
meters, charge for the use of the parking spaces, and turn over those spaces
that would otherwise have been filled by all day parkers. In addition, the
parking meters would generate revenue for a growing city. It must have worked,
as the idea of metered parking eventually caught on worldwide. From that early
beginning, the use of parking meters by municipalities, colleges and
universities, and private parking facilities has increased to the point that
today, in the United States alone, there are an estimated five million parking
meters in use.

Based on this number, if every parking meter
collected only 25 cents per day, the gross revenues generated by parking meters
in the U.S. for one day would be a staggering 1.25 million dollars
($1,250,000).

Although Magee's mission was to solve parking
problems, it is evident from his patent application that generating revenue was
an important issue from the beginning. In the application, he stated that his
invention related to "meters for measuring the time of occupancy or use of
parking or other space, for the use of which it is desirous an incidental charge
be made upon a time basis."

The Parking Meter Page http://www.ionet.net/~luttrell/history.html

The real shame we have to bear is that we did not address this issue over months. One of the most sensible arguments to the increase I heard was that we lack a plan. And our lack of planning, NOT a couple of quarters, is the limiter in the proposal.

Speakers have pointed out that we need coordinated actions when we address parking. Street parking costs need to compliment garage costs. Garage costs need to be less that ticket fines. Residents need evening exemptions. Overnight parking costs needs to compliment parking costs in destination cities like Philadelphia and Ney York City. Payment needs to be convienient, and taxicab loitering needs to be managed.

The answer is not “to fee or not to fee.” That would be catering to our emotional special interest. The answer is a coordinated, well-mapped parking master plan.

Maybe we need some authority over parking...?

City Council Meeting Audio 12/13/06

This meeting was dedicated to the interest item de jure—Parking meters. It was a short meet, but there was much traffic on the meters. Most of the speakers represented their business interests, but they; none the less; made some very pertinent arguements that were coupled with some very sensible solutions. There's a lot more to be said about the parking meter issue, and we will dedicate a post to it. The issue touches so many different buttons.

Stu Gallaher was made the City Business Administrator... again. And the attempt to fit former fire Chief Frank Chisesi into his post retirement golden parachute was stiffled by a few questions.The questions pretty much amounted to, "What is this job that he is so uniquely qualified for?" There will be more on that in the next meeting.

Here's the meeting AUDIO (8Mb 1 hour 6 minutes).

Crime Symposium Audio

The Crime Symposium went well. Our panelists were top-notched. We are already brainstorming our next community events. And as we get more experienced they will only become more useful and fulfilling sessions.

We thank everyone that attended, as well as our distinguished panel members and their organizations.

The audio recordings have been edited, and in keeping with EU’s mandate to extend the reach of public events they are ready for download/listening.

(To download the file to your computer right click on the link and choose “save as”)

Panel 1 - Judiciary
District Attorney: District Attorney John Morganelli
Magistrates: Justice Gay Elwell
County Judges: Judge Stephen G. Baratta
Symposium Introduction and Judiciary Panel Presentations (time 27:45 size 3Mb)
Judiciary Panel Question & Answer (time 26:35 size 3Mb)

Panel 2 – Community/Schools

Block Watch: Brian Otto, President
Weed & Seed: Nadine Loane
Alert Partnership: Mike Adams
School District: Dr. Pat Vulcano
Community/Schools Panel Presentations (time 48:36 size 5.7Mb)
Community/Schools Question & Answer (time 9:28 size 1Mb)

Panel 3 – Enforcement & Reporting
County 911: Richard Teasdale, Director
Lafayette College Public Safety: Hugh Harris, Director
Easton Police: Lieutenant John Remaley
Enforcement & Reporting Panel Presentations (time 34:34 size 4Mb)
Enforcement & Reporting Panel Question & Answer (time 34:34 size 4Mb)

Panel 4 – Gang Presentation
County Sheriff: Deputy Sheriff George Volpe
Gang Awareness Presentation (time 10:56 size 1.3Mb)

Easton Crime Symposium Itinerary

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The first Easton Crime Symposium is Saturday, December 9, 2006 at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church on 4th & Ferry Sreets (across from the parking garage) in the basement Social Hall. The room is spacious.

If you or anyone you know would benefit from this forum please attend.

Crime Symposium Itinerary

Opening and explanation of the goals Terrance Hand

Panel 1 - Judiciary (1:00 to 1:30) Introduction of Guests: Dan Corpora

District Attorney: property seizures, crime deterrents
Magistrates: Penalty adjudication
County Judges: Rights and restrictions

Panel questions (1:30 to 2:00)

Panel 2 – Community/Schools (2:00 to 2:40) Introduction of Guests: Roger Ruggles

Block Watch: Effectiveness & starting a block watch
Weed & Seed: Tall team, block walks, sit outs
Alert Partnership: Drug prevention/intervention
School District: School Security

Panel questions (2:40 to 3:00)

Panel 3 – Enforcement & Reporting (3:00 to 3:30) Introduction of Guests: Mike Krill

County 911: Crime reporting
Lafayette Security: Campus safety
Easton Police: Property protection, community policing

Panel questions (3:30 to 4:00)

Panel 4 – Gang Presentation (4:00 to 5:30) Introduction of Guests: Terrance Hand
County Sheriff: Gang awareness

Panel questions (time dependent)

Closing Terrance Hand

Panel

Block Watch: Brian Otto, President
Weed & Seed: Nadine Loane
Alert Partnership: Mike Adams
School District: Dr. Pat Vulcano
County 911: Richard Teasdale, Director
Lafayette College Public Safety: Hugh Harris, Director
Easton Police: Lieutenant John Remaley
County Sheriff: Deputy Sheriff George Volpe
District Attorney: District Attorney John Morganelli
Magistrates: Justice Gay Elwell
County Judges: Judge Stephen G. Baratta

City Council Meeting Audio 12/05/06

It's budget season! And with the budget we get stress. The entire year's worth of fiscal lethargy finds us scrambling to find new stop-gap funding plans. Which means we get treated to the 'budget mantra', "We don't have a choice."

In this year's 'backs against the wall' meetings the special interest item was parking meter fee increases, and the big-ticket item was the lease agreement of the waterworks. The 4 - 1 passing of the lease agreement was round one of what may turn into another ugly Easton fight. And the 'all-of-the-sudden' knee-jerk idea to raise parking meter rates was an excellent display of what happens when we waste the year not studying and planning for the budget. Some smart people got up and presented alternatives that could have been effective and feasible if we would have addressed them earlier.

The tension was high.

A resident mustered the courage to approach Council for help and was belayed by a rule that was not equally enforced. The uncomfortable session was culminated with the Mayor's loss of control as he lambasted a City fire fighter for a statement he made to Council as a citizen-taxpayer.

It was not our finest two hours.

Audio (1 hour 46 minutes 12 Mb)

City Council Meeting Audio 11/28/06

Today you get two... two... Two meetings in one!
Because it's budget season. I will not have all of the budget hearings this year. And for the first time in the same amount of time I missed a City Council meeting. It was a special session on November 15, 2006, it was combined with the Administration's budget proposal. Hey, its was bound to happen.

The format for the combined meetings is different this year. The Council meeting is held first and the budget workshops are after the adjournment. This effectively keeps the public out of the budget proceedures.

This meeting was a full house marathon for 2 reasons-- The water works lease was slated for vote, and the public safety budget session also occured. The fire and public works unions were well represented along with the police brass.

The water works discussion is a must-listen. The lease is such a large and important endeavor, and it requires as much scrutiny as we can muster. Because it has to be done right. AFSCME Local 447 was well represented by their parent organization District Council 33, but that did not keep some Council members from lambasting the District President for his promise of action if his membership gets unfair treatment. The vote was tabled until Tuesday, December 5, 2006; but as almost anyone involved will tell you-- it's already a done deal.

$252,700
The stress and confinement of budget time makes for some great deals in the City.

Council Meeting Audio (1 hour 51 mins 12.7Mb)

Budget Hearing Audio (1 hour 14 mins 8.4Mb)