Paid Parking Wars: A New Hope

Hmmm, chance paid parking will pass there may be.

Ward 4 Councilor (friend, neighbor) Ed Cameron sent out an email this morning with a link to a parking blog post and the suggestion that he'll be pushing for a reduction for the residents free, which now is currently pegged at $50. Councilor-at-Large Katie Ives, at Thursday night's hearing, also proposed such a change, saying she wouldn't support paid parking without it. Ward 6 Councilor Tom O'Brien said he could support the paid parking plan if the residents fee were reduced or eliminated.

The fee could go as low as $5, but councilors want to make sure the city recoups its costs for printing, distributing and enforcing the stickers.

I don't have a major beef with this, as long as it doesn't undermine the fundamentals of the parking program. I'd hate for the city to lose money, and I'm not sure if anyone has a handle on what impact the lower resident fee will have on the city's take.

I haven't looked closely enough at the figures to know whether or not that's the case. I know the initial proposal projected that a small number of residens would buy the $50 permit, but that could change if the fee is $5 or so.

I do find it odd that a parking permit could cost less than the fee for a dog license. One could easily argue the former is much more costly to the city than the latter but politics is nothing if not imprecise.

By my math, the lower resident fee could bring Ives and O'Brien into the Yes column (and I'm guessing Cronin as well), giving the proposal the necessary majority. Councilor-at-Large Ari Herzog, in his own blog, also suggested that while he still has questions he shouldn't have been placed in the no column in my last post so he may also answer "Aye" at tonight's council meeting.

Be there or watch it on TV.