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it’s nonstop excitement this afternoon 
very excited to announce that the parking advisory meetings are now being conducted legally. after the last meeting, i let them know they really should be publicly noticing these public meetings. the staff member i spoke with disagreed but said he’d talk to the city attorney.
and miraculously, a few days later, a notice appeared on the bulletin board in city hall & the meetings are now on the city calendar online.
this is the first parking advisory meeting since the downtown parking garages switched to automated payment machines yesterday. i hope to hear more about the plan to keep the paid staff on as “ambassadors” today. if it’s anything like what happened at UVA, they’ll be phased out.
the parking advisory panel meeting started with an announcement by one member that they’ve recently learned that they have to act like a regular board, including publicly noticing their meetings & taking minutes.
one thing they have to do is elect a chair. everyone looks to joan fenton, the president of the downtown business association. she says her chairing the panel might be seen as “political” and suggests that andrew chair the body. he’s elected unanimously, minus his abstention.
this body has been operating in violation of public meeting laws for just shy of two entire years.
nbc29.com/story/35820170…
nbc29.com/story/35820170…
rick siebert says the new automated payment machines in the garage are working well - there were minor issues yesterday with credit card payment, but it was resolved.
at a previous meeting, the panel agreed that regular enforcement of metered parking is good & important but didn’t necessarily commit to supporting use of private contracted parking enforcement vs community service officers.
apparently police chief brackney doesn’t like the idea of police officers doing parking enforcement because getting parking tickets makes people hate cops. (i hate cops for a lot of other reasons, personally)
rick siebert says contracting out parking enforcement is very common, countering an argument that ticketing is a “police action.”
joan fenton agrees, saying the police department is understaffed and stretched too thin anyway.
joan fenton agrees, saying the police department is understaffed and stretched too thin anyway.
nelson, the man who addressed council last night about selective enforcement of people improperly parking in handicap accessible spots, is here. he suggests an app that allows anyone on the street to submit photos of improperly parked cars
a member of the panel emphasizes the importance of these parking enforcement “ambassadors” being more like customer service than law enforcement, making them less adversarial to the public.
apparently the test sensors were run over & destroyed. back to the drawing board, i guess.
the curb mounted sensors have all been removed. new, in-ground sensors were installed in 8 spaces yesterday.
joan fenton asks how the garage employees are reacting to the transition to automated payment machines. siebert says “all the ones i’ve spoken to seem perfectly happy with it,” adding that they don’t have to handle money anymore, just explain to people how to use the machines.
it’s still not clear how long the garage plans to continue to employ these “ambassadors.” will they keep the same hours? at the same pay?
members of the panel agree to skip the july meeting. they’ll reconvene in august with more data about the parking sensor pilot & an update about the payment machines & new meter installations. they did not allow for public comment.
the doorknob to the economic development office came off in my hand as i was leaving. sorry?
