Letter to the Editor: Try signs
BY M.J. Denman, Tulsa
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
5/09/12 at 3:35 AM
In response to the April 28 article, "Parking meter changes called for": I have to ask what is the purpose of the parking meters? I have been told it is illegal for a municipality in Oklahoma to use them to make money. If their purpose is to prevent people from parking in one place on the street all day long, there may be an alternative, cost-effective solution - signs.
The signs would be placed in each general parking area warning the individual that parking is limited to two hours like the dead meters already warn us. They don't need expensive batteries or parts and for the $600,000 in repairs the article reported that is necessary just to bring the system to functional level, we can afford to help unemployment in Tulsa by putting more people to work in parking enforcement, and still have extra money to buy them some chalk for the tires.
However, we could keep chasing our collective tails on this and make a private consulting firm more money by coming up with another means of complicating this broken system. As an aside, free parking downtown on the streets would discourage developers from tearing down buildings and creating flat, asphalt blocks for parking for profit, which some city councilors have already recognized as counterproductive to downtown growth.
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