Prompted by a local man’s honest though repeated mistake in punching in the wrong space number on his smartphone in paying for parking, town officials last week developed a new policy that applies only to use of a mobile app.
Because the app generates proof of payment even when a user enters the wrong number, members of the Parking Commission decided by a 3-2 vote on Thursday that someone who makes that mistake with it may be given a pass three times per year as opposed to one, as is the case—with a receipt and at enforcement officers’ discretion—with those who pay for parking with cash.
“You don’t want people throwing numbers down without even trying to get right number,” Chairman Keith Richey said at the meeting, by way of explaining why he opposed unlimited free passes for subpar typists.
The commission’s discussion revolved around the case of Joe Bussichella, who appeared at the meeting to request that his $20 ticket for an unpaid space in the Railroad Lot in November be voided. Bussichella explained to the commission that the violation occurred in the dark of 6:20 a.m. and “there is a little groove in the pavement there, so I couldn’t tell” what the correct space was. He had proof of payment via the mobile app.
Commissioner Rick Franco said that proof alone demonstrated that Bussichella made “an honest mistake,” said there should effectively be no limit to passes on such errors and urged the group to void the ticket quickly and continue with the meeting.
“Maybe Mr. Bussichella is not numerically inclined,” Franco said. (Bussichella said later that he is, in fact, a CPA.)
Commissioner Peter Ogilvie noted that Bussichella has made the same mistake more than once in the past several months, and that doing so creates extra work for the Parking Bureau staff (the bureau’s superintendent, Karen Miller, said her group gets quite a few of these).
Ogilvie pushed for the group to limit the free passes on these cases to two, saying: “We don’t reward stupidity.”
Commissioner Pamela Crum agreed.
Richey noted that he old rule—one possible pass per year in these cases, with proof of payment—came from a “primitive technology period” prior to the mobile app, where “people would pick up receipts that are always left lying around parking meter machines, and so you could never really tell if they had paid for the parking or if they had just found one for a spot near where they should have been.”
“But now we know that this person really did pay for parking and they just made a mistake,” Richey said.
It’s important for the commission to have a hard-and-fast rule in these cases, Richey said, so that parking enforcement officers are able to make immediate decisions about parking ticket appeals.
“When I saw we started letting everybody off of these tickets, then people got more and more outrageous in the claims that they would make,” Richey said. “You have got to have a rule.”
It’s comforting to know that a town official thinks it’s appropriate to refer to our residents as stupid.
I thought the same. The disregard that that the Parking Commission shows for it’s constituency is stunning. Clearly Mr Olglivie has never attempted to use one the meters or he would have a better understanding of the complexity of the process. On a busy day standing 5 deep waiting for “newbie ” to figure out the payment process, you can forget your name let alone the parking space number. On a sunny day the glare makes the machines unreadable so you cannot verify if you are entering correct number.
There should not be a forgiveness limit for wrong space entry if there is proof of payment.. Does Mr Richey really think that people are going to go to the effort of cheating the town out of $3 by trying to find a discarded receipt for use a proof of payment.
If the Parking Commision is concerned about the extra work created for the hardworking staff maybe they should look no further than some of the ridiculous policies that they are asked to enforce.
Mr. Ogilvie’s language was unfortunate but his point was sensible. Unless there is a limit on the number of wrong numbers that are forgiven, there will be no incentive for anyone to put in the correct parking space number. We would lose all control. As a practical matter, there has to be a limit. On your other point, if people attempt to use someone’s discarded receipt as proof of payment, they are doing so to appeal a ticket which is $20, not $3. And yes, we do see people stretching the truth to appeal tickets. It surprised me too when I first joined the Parking Commission.
If you attend one of our meetings, you would see that we try to give residents every consideration. There are regularly openings on the Parking Commission and I welcome you to join us and serve the community. You could then see how you do when you on the firing line deciding an appeal or considering a policy and every word is monitored by the press.
Since I wrote this headline, I should jump in here, too. I did not hear his comment as calling someone “stupid” and wouldn’t have written this headline if I had. I apologize for causing this consternation—wasn’t my intention. I took it to mean that repeatedly punching in the wrong space number—which does have an effect on the Parking Bureau and (all volunteer) Commission, as it creates chains of emails, appeals letters which must be reviewed and time during the commission’s meetings—is a thoughtless and dumb thing to do, and can’t be ignored by the group whose job it is to make sure motorists are treated fairly while the parking enforcement officers are free to do their jobs as best they can. As the head of the Parking Bureau said during the meeting and as we have reported here, this situation emerges “all the time.”
But he did say “we don’t reward stupidity” so in effect he is calling anyone stupid who did not properly punch in the correct number.
It seems to me that The Parking Commission is making their job harder by creating bureaucratic policies that are time consuming to monitor. How is “the rule of 3” being tracked? Is there an excel spread sheet? A black book ?
Sorry but I just don’t see how a few wrong space numbers is going to lead to anarchy.
As a former member of the Parking Commission, I can attest that every consideration is made by the members to give the benefit of doubt to appellants, provided it is within reason. It was our duty as VOLUNTEERS on behalf of ALL citizens of New Canaan, including those who properly obey the rules, to decide how to adjudicate appeals of those who break them (intentionally or not) and where to draw the line. It is not easy, and many times we had spirited debates. But we always arrived at a consensus, always guided by fairness and reasonableness. For my part, having worked with four of the five, I have the highest respect for their integrity and sense of duty. As Keith suggested, perhaps those who are not satisfied with the commission should consider stepping up themselves. The town could always use more dedicated volunteers on boards and commissions.