04/05/2005 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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,r Council Minutes 4/5/20Q5 ,,,~ Councilman Gareau asked if the Law Dept. or the Prosecutor could take up the issue of the legality of the citations which were issued. Law Director Dubelko said the parking tickets were issued, people paid the fines. The time for taking appeal has expired. Mayor O'Grady said he recalls this issue clearly and he had asked the (former) administration to come back to City Council and tell them the last time they wrote tickets at that location prior to that incident. He doesn't recall an answer. He will get an answer. Also, he remembers talking to a number of folks involved and recommending not to pay the fine. But they were faced with paying the fine today for a small amount on one day with a snowballing effect and the fine going up and then eventually having to go to court. It was an unfortunate position the residents were put in, and they should never have been placed in that position. In his opinion, those tickets should never have been written. It was poorly done. It is unfortunate it took this long for the Police Dept. and Safety Dept. to get back to the residents and say the residents were right all along and shouldn't have gotten the tickets. It is unfortunate we can't find restitution or resolution for these residents. Victor Jacko, 24633 Randall Drive, is one of the residents who got a ticket. The fine was $15, after 48 hours it goes to $25, within 72 hours there is police action. You have no choice but to pay it. The tickets were written on Sunday, September 12. He talked to Capt. Whelan who sent out the memo to police officers to issue tickets (dated September 10) to clarify something that someone requested he clarify. Safety Director Jesse sent him a letter saying he talked to the police, drove around and checked it and there were signs that say no parking. The signs are on the curb side of the street with an arrow saying no parking. They interpret that sign to mean you can't park on either side of the street. For years, they have parked by the island. Officer Cook said they cannot park on either side. There are no parking signs on the elongated island. Mr. Jesse was supposed to furnish a report in September to clarify the parking situation, but he did not do that. They paid the fine, there was no choice. On March 31, the residents got a copy of the memo from Capt. Wozniak saying they can park by the island. Two of them are out $15 each. Mr. Jesse's memo said that the Service Director would respond. He thought the Police Dept. was associated with the Safety Director. The memo that Capt. Wozniak sent to police officers said the Engineering Dept. made the decision that it's okay. Who is running the show? Who should they believe? Is it okay to park on the island or not? Councilman Gareau said that the Mayor has indicated a response would be forthcoming and he would get an answer to the residents. Mr. Jacko said the :residents are really not interested in the $15. All they want to know is who is authorized to make the rules because two police captains have said something different. Instead of a Safety Director looking into it, he asked the Service Director to do it. Then the Engineering Dept. tells the police officers it's okay to park there. They don't know who is running the show. Mayor O'Grady said he knows Mr. Jacko, and he is a good man. This thing was outrageous when he first heard about it. He will take a look at it, get a resolution to the residents and at a minimum they will have an apology. Dennis Lambert, 25057 Carey Lane, felt the issue should be dealt with directly by ® Council by putting forth a motion to pay $30 and authorizing the Mayor to give the 13