Well, Scofflaws, we’ve got a promising week ahead of us, so let’s get everyone up to speed.
March 16th
- The follow-up story by Stephen Janis was posted on investigativevoice.com . I’m not going to spend anytime summarizing it because, well…..you should read it for yourself. Really great stuff. It’s interesting that a member of the City Council agreed with us in principle, but was told to drop it. Hopefully we can get more council members on board, then Councilman Henry wouldn’t feel so exposed sticking his neck out alone.
- I wrote a rough draft of our contact letter. If we’re going to communicate with elected officials in writing, I felt like we needed a standard letter that we can send out stating our intentions, our goals, and our hope that they join us in our fight. I’ve e-mailed it to a few friends of mine for some constructive criticism, and I’ll post it once it’s closer to a final draft. After I post it, I’m hoping everyone can pitch in with their ideas, critiques, etc. I really want to emphasize that this is our letter, not my letter.
- Turns out City Council was meeting that afternoon, so I swung by City Hall on my way home. I wanted to get a better idea of what we’re dealing with, and put a few names with their faces. It was really fascinating. I sat in the back for about 20 minutes, and I’m not sure anything was accomplished in the time I was there. Now, I understand they need to formally propose legislation, then recommend it to a committee for investigation and further discussion. There wasn’t much debate, and the majority of the motions were commonsense stuff. Consequently, most of what I saw was pomp and circumstance. However, I thought it was really fascinating when the topic of Verizon FIOS was broached. A number of the City Council members leapt up and emphatically supported Verizon, stating it’s the wave of the future, and we need to let Comcast know they’re not the only game in town. Maybe it’s the cynic in me, but nobody has to disclose whether or not Verizon has contacted or supported them financially? I had to wonder about the zeal with which these effusive statements were being made. I’m not suggesting Verizon is paying them off, far from it. But, wouldn’t these recommendations carry more weight if such a disclaimer was made? The practice of lobbying makes much more sense once you watch the machine work unfettered. Really fascinating.
March 17th
- Drove over to CBS Radio and did a quick spot on the Ed Norris Show along with Stephen Janis. Stephen has a weekly spot and was nice enough to bring me along to give our cause a little more exposure. I used a line from the letter I wrote yesterday, and Ed really loved it. Here’s the line from the letter: It is our opinion that with no incentive to settle these debts in a timely manner, the city has married incompetence with socially irresponsible law establishing a license to print money. Ed loved it. He really felt like that line encapsulates many of the problems this city faces. Maynard, his co-host, suggested we translate it into Latin and put it around the official city seal. He challenged the listeners to e-mail the translation, which was done in short order. Ed took a few calls, which were great, but unfortunately no one directly affected by this round of violations made it in. After the interview, I asked Ed off the air if he had any advice, to which he replied, “Yeah. Be careful.” Awesome. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.
- About two hours after the radio spot, I received an e-mail from the Baltimore Sun. I did a quick interview over the phone, and the reporter said he’d get right on it. Also received an e-mail from examiner.com and they were nice enough to post an unsolicited link to this blog and our Facebook group.
So it looks like we’re gaining steam. We’re getting more stories from fellow Baltimore Scofflaws everyday now that we’ve gone multimedia. Maybe we can have a contest to see who has the highest fine? Sadly, the winner in this case would only be the biggest loser, but it could be fun. I think the frontrunner so far is $4,000, although I read a story from a few years past that someone got hit for $9,000, just not during this round of notices. If anyone hears anything about more Scofflaws, send them this way. If anyone receives more information about their case, post it here. When you hit the town this weekend, talk about our group. Every once in awhile, put our information in your status update on Facebook or your MySpace page. Get the buzz going. Now that our story is garnering some attention, these testimonials will matter more and more as we put a human face on this atrocity.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Better late than never....
Wow. The Baltimore Scofflaws have been in existence for one week, and we’re already making progress. I’ll quickly bring everyone up to speed so future posts will be more current.
March 9th
- Called the Baltimore Sun to see if they were interested in the story. The Day Editor for the City Desk said he hadn’t heard anything about this, and a reporter would look into it on Wednesday. He mentioned that he liked the angle of people using the internet to unite for a common cause.
- Called my state delegate’s office to see what his people thought about the situation we found ourselves in. His Annapolis phone number went straight to voicemail and told me to call his local office. So I called his local office number….which went straight to voicemail and told me to call his Annapolis office. Hilarious.
- Called my state senator’s office. I was shocked when I actually talked to his secretary, and wasn’t given the voicemail two-step. I explained our situation, and she even admitted there are probably a lot of people within our ranks who were wrongly accused. Despite the likely injustices, she informed me the senator probably would not be able to help, as our situation was under the purvey of city regulations, and the senator only makes laws. I wondered aloud, “What if I find the city’s regulations to be unjust, and a law needs to be made to change them?” Silence. “You should probably just send an e-mail to the senator.” Again, I wondered, “Who answers the senator’s e-mail?” To which she promptly replied, “I do!” Awesome.
- Called my US Congressman. Left a message and they called me back later that afternoon. They were very forthright about giving me the proper contact information. If I wanted the congressman to get involved, I’d need to send a letter to his Chief of Staff. Easy enough.
March 10th
- Started e-mailing different websites in the Baltimore Blogosphere to see if they were interested in the story. Within an hour, Stephen Janis from investigativevoice.com e-mailed me back.
March 11th
- Talked with Stephen on the phone, and explained our plight. He was very interested in the story and wanted to meet.
March 12th
- Met with Stephen, he took a few pictures and took any information that I had gathered regarding ticket amnesty programs, the numbers I’d crunched concerning the city’s clever attempt at extortion, and any stories I’d gathered so far of other people screwed along the way.
March 13th
- The first report of our story hits the web, thanks to Stephen Janis. He also mentioned I should join him on the Ed Norris Show this Tuesday morning. No problem.
Word has it our story may have stirred the pot, so keep telling other Baltimore Scofflaws about our burgeoning community, and stay tuned for the latest. Thanks for everyone’s support, advice, and commitment thus far.
March 9th
- Called the Baltimore Sun to see if they were interested in the story. The Day Editor for the City Desk said he hadn’t heard anything about this, and a reporter would look into it on Wednesday. He mentioned that he liked the angle of people using the internet to unite for a common cause.
- Called my state delegate’s office to see what his people thought about the situation we found ourselves in. His Annapolis phone number went straight to voicemail and told me to call his local office. So I called his local office number….which went straight to voicemail and told me to call his Annapolis office. Hilarious.
- Called my state senator’s office. I was shocked when I actually talked to his secretary, and wasn’t given the voicemail two-step. I explained our situation, and she even admitted there are probably a lot of people within our ranks who were wrongly accused. Despite the likely injustices, she informed me the senator probably would not be able to help, as our situation was under the purvey of city regulations, and the senator only makes laws. I wondered aloud, “What if I find the city’s regulations to be unjust, and a law needs to be made to change them?” Silence. “You should probably just send an e-mail to the senator.” Again, I wondered, “Who answers the senator’s e-mail?” To which she promptly replied, “I do!” Awesome.
- Called my US Congressman. Left a message and they called me back later that afternoon. They were very forthright about giving me the proper contact information. If I wanted the congressman to get involved, I’d need to send a letter to his Chief of Staff. Easy enough.
March 10th
- Started e-mailing different websites in the Baltimore Blogosphere to see if they were interested in the story. Within an hour, Stephen Janis from investigativevoice.com e-mailed me back.
March 11th
- Talked with Stephen on the phone, and explained our plight. He was very interested in the story and wanted to meet.
March 12th
- Met with Stephen, he took a few pictures and took any information that I had gathered regarding ticket amnesty programs, the numbers I’d crunched concerning the city’s clever attempt at extortion, and any stories I’d gathered so far of other people screwed along the way.
March 13th
- The first report of our story hits the web, thanks to Stephen Janis. He also mentioned I should join him on the Ed Norris Show this Tuesday morning. No problem.
Word has it our story may have stirred the pot, so keep telling other Baltimore Scofflaws about our burgeoning community, and stay tuned for the latest. Thanks for everyone’s support, advice, and commitment thus far.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Day Two
I’m going to cover more back story today, because I want everyone be involved in every step we make. Explaining some of the decisions I’ve made so far will help explain the events to come.
On March 7th, I wrote the Ed Norris Show. For those who don’t live in Baltimore, he’s the former police commissioner who was railroaded on trumped up charges, so he typically has an ax to grind with government and how it functions. His show mostly involves local current events and tossing in his two cents on the crime epidemic facing this city. I figured if anyone would be interested in spreading the word it would be his staff. I sent a lengthy e-mail, detailing the situation, some of which I’m posting below:
Re: Where’s the outrage???
[I basically explained the situation as I did in yesterday’s post, then added…]
They told me they sent out "at least four notices", none of which I received. Why? Because my tags were from Virginia, thus they most likely sent four notices to my Virginia address that were never forwarded to my Maryland address. I was told they were "returned". Really? So, first the city has been wasting tax payer's money out of either incompetence or laziness or both to send three more letters to 80,000 people after the first was returned, which I estimate would cost $170,000 in postage, paper, envelopes, and toner (not including the man-hours for printing and stuffing the envelopes). But here are my two biggest problems: 1. There's no cap for the fees. Is a $600 fine justifiable at any time no matter how late for a $27 crime??? And further more, if the city can legally look the other way, hide behind the excuse of "Well, we tried to find you" without providing ANY of the proof we are required to overturn THEIR decision, why would they try to find you at all??? Where's the motivation? If you could make an extra 132 million dollars by simply dragging your feet and throwing letters at a brick wall, wouldn't you??? I know I would! By turning these accounts over to collection agencies the city has tacitly admitted they are completely incompetent, and then proved it because these businesses were able to find and properly contact 80,000 in a matter of weeks. If these fines were capped, we would have been contacted YEARS ago, because then the city would have the motivation to collect the maximum allowable penalty BY LAW, once they had reached that point. Isn't it fascinating that we've hit an economic crisis, and I'm sure the city is finding itself in a shortfall, and they take the opportunity NOW to cash in their 132 million dollar lottery ticket to cover the difference? Amazing.2. By my math, adding $16 per month to a $27 fine for just over three years is equivalent to a compound interest rate of 176%. I understand that the longer the fines are assessed in their manner, the compounding interest rate will effectively seem to drop. But, if they had contacted me 5 years past due, I would owe $987 on $27, which would be the equivalent of a compound interest rate of 105%. Or why not wait 10 years for $1,947 on $27 (interest rate 53%). How is this not usury? And how can I invest some money in this system? Wouldn't it be fantastic? I'll give the city $5,000, and using the system they've applied to me, I can have $105,122.88 in three years!!!
Now they want me to bend over again, and take it to the tune of $600!!! I've had it. We need to organize. We need to stand together and fight this as a group. Individually we have no power, but if we can band together and get Sheila Dixon's name attached to this miscarriage of justice, maybe we can get somewhere. We have the numbers (80,000 potential members), the motivation ($132 million dollars being vacuumed from our neighborhoods during a time of economic crisis), and the means (media, internet, social networking sites) to get something done. The way I see it the problem is two-fold: 1. we need to address the current financial issue and settle the predicament the city has caused. I have no problem paying the city for something I have done, but there needs to be a fair compromise. 2. new legislation to prevent this from happening again. Specifically, caps on accrued fines. You want that cap to be higher for more substantial fines? OK. But there has to be something. Understand the city needs to make a buck, and a quick way of doing it is late fees. But the power which they have afforded themselves needs to be checked.I hate to get preachy, but our founding fathers fought a war against tyranny, and the straw that broke the camel's back was a tax on their freakin' breakfast drink. How would they have reacted to this? When I thought I was alone in this matter, I was willing to take it, just like the rest of the garbage I've been force fed from this administration. But when I found out there's 80,000 of us, I felt empowered. I think we've lost the revolutionary spirit this country was founded on, and we as a people have become resigned to doing whatever the government tells us to do, no matter how ludicrous. Unless we stand up and show them we're not going to take it anymore, we'll continue to get bullied. Perhaps now, with the economy in the tank and people losing their jobs, this is the time to make some change.If I'm the only one contacting the show, then disregard this, and I thank you for reading up to this point. But if there's more, if you're getting hundreds of e-mails like this, that means there's probably thousands who haven't expressed their outrage. I always felt like this show meant something, and inspired people to get involved and make their community a better place, and maybe this is an expression of just that. But how do we make that expression more lasting? Changing the laws? Inspiring new legislation? Sounds good to me.
What do you want to do?
Thanks for your time, consideration, and any advice you can give me to get the ball rolling,
Jason
The next day, I realized I was putting the horse ahead of the cart. Even if he did show an interest, what were we going to talk about? Me? How angry I was? What was the point? I called a couple friends from college who are now lawyers, to get their take on the situation. I can be a little hot-headed from time to time, so I wanted to know, was I overreacting? Both agreed the situation is intolerable. In fact, before I’d even told one of them what I was planning to do, he simply said, “Well…..looks like you’ve got a Tea Party on your hands.” Exactly.
One of my friends suggested I contact my local representatives in Annapolis; the other suggested I contact the local paper and write an editorial to publicize the issue. I thought both were great ideas. But first, if I was to do either, I needed something to point to. A place for us to build a community so when I write a letter to a representative, or talk to a reporter, I don’t have to say me. I can say us. So I started the Baltimore Scofflaws Facebook group. The introduction is posted below:
Last week, we the current and former citizens of Baltimore were informed the city will be extorting us to fill its dwindling coffers. Their weapon of choice comes in the form of excessive late fees associated with a variety of parking tickets, in some cases, many years old. According to NBC, 80,000 of us have been contacted concerning 183,000 citations totaling $132 million dollars. Some of us have now been individually saddled with THOUSANDS of dollars in fines to ease City Hall's debt. Despite the government's assurances, we feel due diligence was not taken to inform us of our apparent transgressions, and we are furious the city views our bank accounts as their personal ATMs, for which THEY write the rules for withdrawal. With no limits on how much they can fine, coupled with their clear incompetence in settling the matter, the city has ostensibly issued itself a license to print money. Are we to sit back and allow this? Clearly, Sheila Dixon views her constituents as either too stupid, too afraid, or both to band together and fight this injustice, otherwise she and her associates would never have approved such an action. Alone, we stand no chance to reverse the financial misfortune she intends to inflict, but together we wield the power of democracy. Hopefully, this group can serve as a foundation for change. Tell us your story, and then tell a fellow Baltimore Scofflaw to join our ranks. Let's start a record, and let's find our critical mass for social change. Anyone directly related to this catastrophe or anyone interested in watching how this train wreck unfolds is welcome.
That’s probably enough for today, more tomorrow….
On March 7th, I wrote the Ed Norris Show. For those who don’t live in Baltimore, he’s the former police commissioner who was railroaded on trumped up charges, so he typically has an ax to grind with government and how it functions. His show mostly involves local current events and tossing in his two cents on the crime epidemic facing this city. I figured if anyone would be interested in spreading the word it would be his staff. I sent a lengthy e-mail, detailing the situation, some of which I’m posting below:
Re: Where’s the outrage???
[I basically explained the situation as I did in yesterday’s post, then added…]
They told me they sent out "at least four notices", none of which I received. Why? Because my tags were from Virginia, thus they most likely sent four notices to my Virginia address that were never forwarded to my Maryland address. I was told they were "returned". Really? So, first the city has been wasting tax payer's money out of either incompetence or laziness or both to send three more letters to 80,000 people after the first was returned, which I estimate would cost $170,000 in postage, paper, envelopes, and toner (not including the man-hours for printing and stuffing the envelopes). But here are my two biggest problems: 1. There's no cap for the fees. Is a $600 fine justifiable at any time no matter how late for a $27 crime??? And further more, if the city can legally look the other way, hide behind the excuse of "Well, we tried to find you" without providing ANY of the proof we are required to overturn THEIR decision, why would they try to find you at all??? Where's the motivation? If you could make an extra 132 million dollars by simply dragging your feet and throwing letters at a brick wall, wouldn't you??? I know I would! By turning these accounts over to collection agencies the city has tacitly admitted they are completely incompetent, and then proved it because these businesses were able to find and properly contact 80,000 in a matter of weeks. If these fines were capped, we would have been contacted YEARS ago, because then the city would have the motivation to collect the maximum allowable penalty BY LAW, once they had reached that point. Isn't it fascinating that we've hit an economic crisis, and I'm sure the city is finding itself in a shortfall, and they take the opportunity NOW to cash in their 132 million dollar lottery ticket to cover the difference? Amazing.2. By my math, adding $16 per month to a $27 fine for just over three years is equivalent to a compound interest rate of 176%. I understand that the longer the fines are assessed in their manner, the compounding interest rate will effectively seem to drop. But, if they had contacted me 5 years past due, I would owe $987 on $27, which would be the equivalent of a compound interest rate of 105%. Or why not wait 10 years for $1,947 on $27 (interest rate 53%). How is this not usury? And how can I invest some money in this system? Wouldn't it be fantastic? I'll give the city $5,000, and using the system they've applied to me, I can have $105,122.88 in three years!!!
Now they want me to bend over again, and take it to the tune of $600!!! I've had it. We need to organize. We need to stand together and fight this as a group. Individually we have no power, but if we can band together and get Sheila Dixon's name attached to this miscarriage of justice, maybe we can get somewhere. We have the numbers (80,000 potential members), the motivation ($132 million dollars being vacuumed from our neighborhoods during a time of economic crisis), and the means (media, internet, social networking sites) to get something done. The way I see it the problem is two-fold: 1. we need to address the current financial issue and settle the predicament the city has caused. I have no problem paying the city for something I have done, but there needs to be a fair compromise. 2. new legislation to prevent this from happening again. Specifically, caps on accrued fines. You want that cap to be higher for more substantial fines? OK. But there has to be something. Understand the city needs to make a buck, and a quick way of doing it is late fees. But the power which they have afforded themselves needs to be checked.I hate to get preachy, but our founding fathers fought a war against tyranny, and the straw that broke the camel's back was a tax on their freakin' breakfast drink. How would they have reacted to this? When I thought I was alone in this matter, I was willing to take it, just like the rest of the garbage I've been force fed from this administration. But when I found out there's 80,000 of us, I felt empowered. I think we've lost the revolutionary spirit this country was founded on, and we as a people have become resigned to doing whatever the government tells us to do, no matter how ludicrous. Unless we stand up and show them we're not going to take it anymore, we'll continue to get bullied. Perhaps now, with the economy in the tank and people losing their jobs, this is the time to make some change.If I'm the only one contacting the show, then disregard this, and I thank you for reading up to this point. But if there's more, if you're getting hundreds of e-mails like this, that means there's probably thousands who haven't expressed their outrage. I always felt like this show meant something, and inspired people to get involved and make their community a better place, and maybe this is an expression of just that. But how do we make that expression more lasting? Changing the laws? Inspiring new legislation? Sounds good to me.
What do you want to do?
Thanks for your time, consideration, and any advice you can give me to get the ball rolling,
Jason
The next day, I realized I was putting the horse ahead of the cart. Even if he did show an interest, what were we going to talk about? Me? How angry I was? What was the point? I called a couple friends from college who are now lawyers, to get their take on the situation. I can be a little hot-headed from time to time, so I wanted to know, was I overreacting? Both agreed the situation is intolerable. In fact, before I’d even told one of them what I was planning to do, he simply said, “Well…..looks like you’ve got a Tea Party on your hands.” Exactly.
One of my friends suggested I contact my local representatives in Annapolis; the other suggested I contact the local paper and write an editorial to publicize the issue. I thought both were great ideas. But first, if I was to do either, I needed something to point to. A place for us to build a community so when I write a letter to a representative, or talk to a reporter, I don’t have to say me. I can say us. So I started the Baltimore Scofflaws Facebook group. The introduction is posted below:
Last week, we the current and former citizens of Baltimore were informed the city will be extorting us to fill its dwindling coffers. Their weapon of choice comes in the form of excessive late fees associated with a variety of parking tickets, in some cases, many years old. According to NBC, 80,000 of us have been contacted concerning 183,000 citations totaling $132 million dollars. Some of us have now been individually saddled with THOUSANDS of dollars in fines to ease City Hall's debt. Despite the government's assurances, we feel due diligence was not taken to inform us of our apparent transgressions, and we are furious the city views our bank accounts as their personal ATMs, for which THEY write the rules for withdrawal. With no limits on how much they can fine, coupled with their clear incompetence in settling the matter, the city has ostensibly issued itself a license to print money. Are we to sit back and allow this? Clearly, Sheila Dixon views her constituents as either too stupid, too afraid, or both to band together and fight this injustice, otherwise she and her associates would never have approved such an action. Alone, we stand no chance to reverse the financial misfortune she intends to inflict, but together we wield the power of democracy. Hopefully, this group can serve as a foundation for change. Tell us your story, and then tell a fellow Baltimore Scofflaw to join our ranks. Let's start a record, and let's find our critical mass for social change. Anyone directly related to this catastrophe or anyone interested in watching how this train wreck unfolds is welcome.
That’s probably enough for today, more tomorrow….
Monday, March 9, 2009
First Post
First, I’d like to thank you for your interest in our cause. I started this blog as an adjunct to our Facebook group, The Baltimore Scofflaws. Not everyone is into the Facebook craze, so I was hoping to setup something accessible for anyone with a computer. Also, for Facebook members of the Baltimore Scofflaws who’d like the most up-to-date information without receiving daily messages from me, this is your place. I guess I should start from the beginning.
I probably picked the worst time to open my letter. Never go through the mail before you go to bed. You just don’t know what you’re going to find. In my case, I discovered a $603 fine for a $27 ticket from 1-25-06….over three years ago. Without going into too much detail, it was a restless night. I attempted to contact Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson, LLP by phone the next day, however, after waiting 10 minutes on hold, I decided they were decidedly unavailable. Luckily, I work in East Baltimore, and 300 East Lombard Street is a short drive away. I should have known there was more to the story when I walked into the office building and asked, “Excuse me. Can you tell me where…..”
The security guard looked me up and down as he cut me off, “Linebarger? 11th floor. Sign in.”
I thought that was strange. There were plenty of offices in this building. How did he know where I was heading? I found the office, and walked in to see a very large stack of returned mail on the receptionist’s desk. To her credit, she calmly sat down with me and listened to my concerns without ignoring me or hissing the typical static I’m used to when dealing with the city. After explaining my frustration with this predicament, I was told I had one of two options. The first? Provide documentation that the ticketed car was not mine. It was right about then I realized Catch-22 wasn’t such a far-fetched novel. Second option. Provide a written or printed receipt that I had paid the original ticket in full. Which is hilarious, because I had donated the car two years ago. I could request a trial, which I was told could be denied before I ever step foot in court, but without the proper documentation mentioned above, I didn’t see much point in that. I was also told that the City has a policy of not remitting tickets, EVEN if it was their fault. They’ll do it with the proper documentation, a blood test, a hair sample, a co-signer, and the location of your next of kin, but it’s officially not policy.
After weighing my options, I decided to stew about it over the weekend, which I’m glad I did. I caught the tail end of the local news as a man was side-saddling the driver’s seat of his car trying to reach anyone from city hall on his cell phone concerning a ludicrous parking ticket. I instantly empathized with this guy, and realized we’re brothers in the same cause. It suddenly dawned on me that I wasn’t alone, and with strength afforded in numbers, we had a chance. I ran to the computer, searched Baltimore Parking Tickets on Google News, and found this article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29516875/ . Apparently, 80,000 of us were getting boned to the tune of $132 million dollars. It was amazing to feel my sense of total despair change to a sense of empowerment once I learned how many of us there were.
Tomorrow, I’ll post what I’ve already sent out and who I’ve sent it to. Thanks for your interest.
I probably picked the worst time to open my letter. Never go through the mail before you go to bed. You just don’t know what you’re going to find. In my case, I discovered a $603 fine for a $27 ticket from 1-25-06….over three years ago. Without going into too much detail, it was a restless night. I attempted to contact Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson, LLP by phone the next day, however, after waiting 10 minutes on hold, I decided they were decidedly unavailable. Luckily, I work in East Baltimore, and 300 East Lombard Street is a short drive away. I should have known there was more to the story when I walked into the office building and asked, “Excuse me. Can you tell me where…..”
The security guard looked me up and down as he cut me off, “Linebarger? 11th floor. Sign in.”
I thought that was strange. There were plenty of offices in this building. How did he know where I was heading? I found the office, and walked in to see a very large stack of returned mail on the receptionist’s desk. To her credit, she calmly sat down with me and listened to my concerns without ignoring me or hissing the typical static I’m used to when dealing with the city. After explaining my frustration with this predicament, I was told I had one of two options. The first? Provide documentation that the ticketed car was not mine. It was right about then I realized Catch-22 wasn’t such a far-fetched novel. Second option. Provide a written or printed receipt that I had paid the original ticket in full. Which is hilarious, because I had donated the car two years ago. I could request a trial, which I was told could be denied before I ever step foot in court, but without the proper documentation mentioned above, I didn’t see much point in that. I was also told that the City has a policy of not remitting tickets, EVEN if it was their fault. They’ll do it with the proper documentation, a blood test, a hair sample, a co-signer, and the location of your next of kin, but it’s officially not policy.
After weighing my options, I decided to stew about it over the weekend, which I’m glad I did. I caught the tail end of the local news as a man was side-saddling the driver’s seat of his car trying to reach anyone from city hall on his cell phone concerning a ludicrous parking ticket. I instantly empathized with this guy, and realized we’re brothers in the same cause. It suddenly dawned on me that I wasn’t alone, and with strength afforded in numbers, we had a chance. I ran to the computer, searched Baltimore Parking Tickets on Google News, and found this article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29516875/ . Apparently, 80,000 of us were getting boned to the tune of $132 million dollars. It was amazing to feel my sense of total despair change to a sense of empowerment once I learned how many of us there were.
Tomorrow, I’ll post what I’ve already sent out and who I’ve sent it to. Thanks for your interest.
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