Politics & Government
Motion to End Broken L.A. Parking Meter Fines Advances
Westside City Councilman Mike Bonin's motion aims to rescind a policy that forbids parking at disabled or broken card and coin meters. The City Council takes up the vote Friday.
The Los Angeles City's Council's Transportation Committee voted Wednesday to do away with a 2010 policy that makes it illegal to park at broken meters, while leaving room for the city to alter course later if needed.
The motion, proposed by Westside City Councilman Mike Bonin, is now headed for a vote by the full City Council at a special Friday meeting, July 26. If approved then, the policy could be lifted immediately.
In 2010, as part of a new “Pay to Park Policy” for Card and Coin Meters, the City of Los Angeles made it an offense punishable by fine and citation for motorists to park at inoperable or broken card and coin meters. The City Council reaffirmed this policy by approving a motion in December of 2012 (CF 12-1764).
“Since the policy was implemented, new meters, equipment and technology have made it unnecessary,” said Bonin.
At the committee meeting Wednesday, Department of Transportation staff, including several parking meter technicians, defended the policy to ticket those who park at broken meters, saying that before it was put in place, people looking to avoid paying for parking used to jam the devices with paper clips or cover them up with plastic bags to make them appear non-operational.
Find out what's happening in Brentwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In the past, parking meter vandalism "was unfortunately very rampant," said Dan Mitchell, a senior transportation engineer in the Department of Transportation.
The technicians told the committee that more broken meters means less revenue for the city, with one declaring, "Everyone loves a working parking meter."
Find out what's happening in Brentwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
According to the Department of Transportation, since the new policy took effect on January 13, 2013, only six meters have become inoperable of more than 37,000 across Los Angeles and not a single citation has been issued because a car was parked at an inoperable meter. Additionally, because the new meters alert Department of Transportation staff immediately when a meter is not working, the six meters were only inoperable for a total of 12.5 meter hours of 67 million meter hours citywide.
“No tickets are actually being given, so reversing this unfair policy has virtually no financial impact for the city,” said Bonin. “This is about showing people that government is on your side, not on your back.”
In addition to sending the wrong message to people throughout the city, local business leaders from the Westside argued that the city’s current policy also concerns small business owners.
“If customers don't feel like they can park in front of my business they go to another business district," said Pat Lyon, the owner and operator of Westchester Watch Works. "If small business loses, the city loses."
Bonin conceded that as a recently elected councilman, he may be feeling the effects of a political campaign during which he was "bathed" in public hatred for the policy. But upon looking closer at the situation, he said he found that the installation of high-tech parking meters may have made vandalism more difficult anyway, making the law less relevant.
The committee's recommendation contains some caveats that would leave room for the city to reverse course, especially if lifting the policy results in driving up the rate of parking meter vandalism.
A recently approved bill authored by Assemblyman Mike Gatto would prevent cities from ticketing vehicles at broken meters starting in January, if signed by the governor.
Bonin's Transportation Committee voted to rush a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown in advance of the upcoming City Council vote to urge that he veto Gatto's bill, which would take away the city's ability to resume the policy in the future.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
