PARKING TICKET REFORM

August 1, 2002

Chicago Suntimes

Daley scoffs at ticketing complaints ; $5,000 month long amnesty level easily gets Council's OK

Spielman, Fran

Mayor Daley's carrot-and-stick approach to parking ticket scofflaws--a month long amnesty for motorists owing up to $5,000, followed by a three-ticket threshold for applying the "Denver boot"- -breezed through the City Council on Wednesday, but not before aldermen demanded new procedures to correct parking ticket "mistakes."

Finance Committee Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th) even went so far as to suggest that aldermen be allowed to dismiss parking tickets written in error in a legislative proceeding that would upstage the Department of Administrative Hearings.

"With the draconian result of immobilization after only three tickets, this becomes a far greater issue than it was before," said Burke, who sponsored the city's original booting ordinance in 1983.

"Something needs to be done or we wouldn't be hearing all of these complaints. Perhaps the local alderman . . . can offer a proposal to the full Council, have it investigated and, if it's eligible, have the matter adjudicated here. If the alderman is willing to put his or her reputation on the line and vouch for the constituent who's been cited wrongfully, that might be a good way of addressing it."

Ald. Burton F. Natarus (42nd) said he knows of "many, many people" who send letters to the Department of Administrative Hearings, only to be ignored.

"They never get a response, and they never get the hearing. It says on the ticket that, if you fill it out properly and you send it in, you will get a hearing, and you don't," he said.

Before reducing the booting threshold from five unpaid tickets to three, aldermen must make sure that motorists eligible for the boot have "every opportunity to get a fair hearing and, more importantly, that tickets are fairly given," said Ald. HelenShiller (46th).

"Individually, aldermen can make calls in an attempt to get through the bureaucracy and, on many occasions, be successful for our constituents. But someone who just gets that ticket often does not know what to do and, when they do know what to do, it requires them taking time off from work," Shiller said.

Daley scoffed at the suggestion that administrative hearing officers preside over a kangaroo court or that aldermen would somehow do a better job.

"Every alderman would have a list (of tickets to dismiss). It would be like the (honorary) street signs," the mayor said.

"People claim they got a ticket, and their car was never parked there.

"There's a process. You're talking about a handful of people . . . and thousands of tickets. It's not a crisis at all," Daley said.

The current system for challenging mistakes works because it's based on the facts--not "political agendas," said Deputy Revenue Director Matt Darst.

"If there has been an error on the part of the hearing officer, or if the violation looks like it's clearly an error--say it's missing a date or a time--we do have the ability to address those issues. People can reach out to ward offices. We have a customer- service line. We also get e-mails," he said.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported this week that Chicago's 500 "most wanted" parking ticket scofflaws--owing anywhere from $7,000 to $42,000--would be hit with an unprecedented wave of lawsuits while amnesty is extended to those who owe $5,000 or less, under a rare mayoral compromise crafted in response to aldermanic complaints.

On Wednesday, the City Council approved the compromise--and the new three-ticket booting threshold--paving the way for Chicago's first parking ticket amnesty in 15 years to begin Sept. 3 and end Oct. 4.

Copyright Chicago Sun Times Aug 1, 2002