Councilor-at-Large Stephanie Smith wants quicker enforcement of parking violations and more direct interactions between residents and city parking officials when violations are first reported. Smith made the motion to build a new system for the residents’ reporting of parking violations and the “immediate notification” of responses to the incidents during Monday night’s Council meeting.
“One of the biggest issues I hear as a councilor is parking,” said Smith in introducing her motion. “There’s no great way to report parking. You can call 311 (Constituent Services), you can call 389-1212 [the Police Department], wait two hours, and there’s no ticket on that car.” Smith said the City must start thinking “innovatively.” “This is one of the departments that actually makes us revenue, so they should be wanting to ticket people,” continued Smith. “It’s not even that. It’s public safety. You can’t see around corners anymore. It’s just come to the point of where we need to do something about parking. The Enforcement does a good job [but] there’s not enough of them. They can’t do it, so let’s try to come up with a solution.” Smith believes residents should be able “to go online, take a picture [of the parking violation], send it to traffic enforcement, and traffic enforcement can take a picture and say, ‘that car’s no longer at the fire hydrant.’” Smith asked that her proposal to improve the parking system be sent to the Traffic Commission, 311, and Mayor Carlo DeMaria’s Office. Prior to the vote on the motion, Ward 6 Councilor Peter Pietrantonio asked if the City has the capability to implement Smith’s idea immediately. “I do not know if anyone in the City actually has the expertise to do this,” replied Smith. “They could definitely go out and find someone. There’s lots of sources online. You could get a college student on the project.” The Council voted unanimously to approve the motion.