WPCNR THE DAILY BAILEY. News Comment By John F. Bailey. May 29, 2007:  Memorial Day observers coming to White Plains for yesterday’s Memorial Day Parade and Rural Cemetery Observance also participated in the City of White Plains unofficial stealth fundraiser.

Welcome to White Plains! Nice to Have You at Our Parade. Here's a Little Token of Our Esteem. The CitizeNetReporter's Parking Ticket written at 11:57 A.M. Memorial Day Morning.

 The city enforces parking limits on a holiday – a standard policy that catches visitors to the city unawares since parking regulations are not publicized prior to holidays by the city’s communications experts, facilitators, coordinators  who are not expert, do not facilitate, coordinate or communicate.

 Yours truly is well aware of the regulations in the lots, and deposited several quarters in the Mitchell Place meter space where I parked to cover the parade. But, I did not get back in time. We're used to this city parking profiteering -- but how does that make guests of the city feel?

Since there is no way to drive up to the Rural Cemetery and cover all the parade, I parked at Mitchell Place at 10 minutes to 10 AM. Deposited two quarters for the hour I thought it would take, but got caught up in the parade, and thought, well, I’d walk the route up to the cemetery. Well I returned to Mitchell Place at 12:20 and found I had gotten a Parking Department souvenir – a $15 Ticket. How many others got caught? White Plains Parking Enforcement Aids were poised to jump parkers as soon as the parade was over

The PES Strike Force was ready to start ticketing shortly after the parade ended at 11 but did not, in WPCNR's opinion give attendees of the Rural Cemetary Ceremony time to return to downtown to pick up their cars. Yours truly got a ticket 1 hour and 57 Minutes after parade started. But, apparently enforcement was very selective. The fleet of Parking Enforcement & Security vehicles were not represented in the Memorial Day Parade. Perhaps if they were they would have been booed.

To rub insult into injury -- cars parked on Mitchell Place (a metered street) at the same time after I had gotten my souvenir ticket,  had  makeshift, handwritten signs on them saying, “Don’t ticket. Marching in parade.”

Since I saw the Parking Enforcement & Security vehicle drive out of Mitchell Place past the “ Please Don’t Ticket, Marching in parade”  signed vehicles – parked well past the time when “the parade” was over – did the Parking Enforcement & Security Aide just "trust" those vehicles?

I love the "trust" don't you?

Anyway, at the next parade (Juneteenth) I suggest all of us have makeshift signs made up for our cars, place them on the dashboards and say “Please don’t ticket, marching in parade.” This Parking Department cutting slack to persons who were “still in the parade” after the parade was long over at 11 A.M. ( whose vechicles were ignored at past 12 noon) is selective enforcement -- unless of course, there was no parking enforcement allowed at the street meters.

Anyway—this policy of ticketing on holidays in municipal lots – during a parade – is not good business.

 I am aware of the policy – but still I got caught a quarter short. The visitor is not always aware of the parade route so I would guess a lot of them park in the lots, assuming the parking is free. After all, it is  a holiday, though the signs do say enforced on holidays.

My question is why?

The answer: money, honey.

But it does not win friends and bring people back to White Plains. It’s a lousy policy and it is high time White Plains stopped it in their municipal lots. Private lots well – that’s their matter.

By my count there are the Juneteenth Parade, the Columbus Day Parade, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the Hispanic Parade. Five days when the city could very well deliver free parking in the municipal lots, and build some good will.

We who live in White Plains are stuck with the vicious parking policies and fines of this revenue starved administration, and I for one, spend as little time as possible in our downtown parking, on the streets and in the lots because the time increments are ridiculously short. I go to the malls which have much better pricing and give you free parking if you’re in and out.

Now at $1 an hour in the lots and 75 Cents an hour at the on street meters the merchants on the street have to be suffering a little in their street traffic.

We have put a call into Sultan of Slots, the Commissar of Coin, the Commissioner of Parking, Albert Moroni to clarify once and for all – on the next holiday – the no ticket window that visitors can expect. When does parking enforcement begin on a holiday and where and what are the policies.

Hopefully Mr. Moroni will clarify for us when the holiday parade "ticket sweeps" begin.

Perhaps the reason yesterday’s Memorial Day Parade was so poorly attended is precisely because of the parking enforcement fear that grips White Plains citizens with “ticket terror,” making every parking foray into White Plains an adventure in time management.

Gone is the leisurely lunch. Gone, too is the casual window shop. You have so little time on those meters 1 hour at best – that you have to park, get in and get out or you’re out $15. The $15 is also, in an oblique way, the price you pay for attending marathon orchestrated City Council meetings where all is decided in advance, and you pay a $15 ticket if you forget about your meter.

Gone too is the good will people might take back with them when they leave White Plains. I guarantee you anyone who comes to White Plains and gets one of these red slap-in-the-face Tickets, because you simply misjudged your time does not leave White Plains with the feeling that they want to come back.

The majority of tickets by far are tickets encountered because you do not have enough change to feed the meter for as long as you need.

It’s the selective enforcement that gets me. How about some enforcement on the double parked cars that tie up traffic on Mamaroneck Avenue.

Oh, Commissioner Moroni – since my ticket was written at 11:57 A.M. on Memorial Day, does this mean the Parking Enforcement Aid jumped the gun? What is the policy?

WPCNR put in a call to Parking at a little after 9 this morning, but so far the Commissioner has not gotten back to us.