Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Parking Privileges For The Few
A VIP parking program for the elite insiders? Who would have thought? It's not enough that billionaire Herb Simon's Pacer team gets hundreds of millions in public subsidies; he needs free parking privileges while visiting downtown as well. Think about that the next time you get stuck paying a $20 fine for going 5 minutes over the meter you earlier fed $3 for 2 hours of parking on a city street. It's nice to hear that Public Safety Director Scott Newman has announced the VIP parking permits handed out to political insiders and other elites is being revoked, but you have to wonder if that action would have happened had reporters for the Indianapolis Star not been digging around for as much information about the program as possible. You know how this one is going to turn out. As soon as noone is looking, the privileged few will get back their free parking privileges. You can count on it.
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7 comments:
Gee, what about the ENTIRE UNDERGROUND PARKING GARAGE (TAXPAYER OWNED) that bart peterson GAVE Simon so that the poor people working at his new WORLD HEADQUARTERS building on Washington Street (that destroyed a park and a beautiful fountain) wouldn't have to pay to park or walk two blocks to work?
The fact that the sheriff issued 2,500 shows the "good ole boy" network is alive and well. If you donate or know the right person who knows the sheriff, you get to park anywhere you want. It is morally wrong. But then, cronyism & nepotism are also morally wrong and rampant in the Anderson sheriff administration.
-isn't Mr. Simon a big contributor to the Democrats? Millionaire with a Sheriff Special Parking Pass...sounds like cronyism to me!
The abuse that offends me comes from the sheriff's issuance of 2,500 "special parking permits"; I'll call them 'Frank's Crony Pass'. His Sheriff staff has a fixed place of work, the jail or city-county building. Prisoner transports are in marked vehicles, so no parking pass is needed at all. He has issued far too many take-home cars at our expense as well; the city-county council should limit those. The Sheriff performs no emergency functions so there is no need for take-home cars.
His employees should drive to work and park in regular parking facilities like the rest of us.
The Star story clouded facts and the power of Mr. Newman to stop the abuse of parking by the sheriff's cronys in that "good ole boy" network.
It stated "Newman has no authority to revoke placards not issued by the city -- the bulk have actually been issued by the sheriff." While technically correct, that statement obfuscates fact.
Newman may not be able to revoke the placards of the sheriff's cronys to take them back, but he can order that tickets be issued to them if they park in violation!
Yes, Newman can over rule and void the Sheriff parking permits.
All Newman need do is declare them VOID and ORDER THE POLICE TO ISSUE TICKETS for which the car owner's must pay fines or be impounded any time found in violation.
I was just horrified when I looked at Sheriff Frank Anderson's list of 'special parking permit' holders:
*Militant People Hater Mmoja Ajabu, whose son killed a family in Carmel.
*T Garrott Benjamin of Concerned Clergy, the group of hatred spreading so-called ministers.
*Kenneth "Bones" Ackles, the incompetent coroner, who cost this city a $400,000.00 court judgment for racial discrimination and the same person who cannot pass the required exam for coroner.
****Get this one: Frank Anderson gave a permit to Harold Bean, the public defender who made TV news a few years ago for being the WORST parking scofflaw in town, who was driving while suspended and owed the city hundreds in parking fines! -He gets two of them.
*Wendell Birdsong, whose name frequently comes up when Constable contraversy is mentioned.
*Andre Carson...our Fool on Capitol Hill in Washington.
This list is abhorrent!
So THAT'S why the City bought up a bunch of spots at CityPark on Washington/Pennsylvania in the last 3 weeks.
When is the media going to do an expose' on their special parking privileges? Somehow the gurdians of the people's right to know have privileges the people don't.
How about giving them a free bus pass instead. It would free up parking and reduce carbon emissions. Bicycle parking is always free. Hale and hearty men like law enforcement officers should be using our trail system to commute anyway.
Indy, It's no surprise that Sheriff Anderson is more than willing to look the other way while people are abusing the system using his name. They probably gave the Sheriff a political contribution. That's usually his price.
You want to look at some real abuse of the public trust, the Star should look at what the Sheriff does with jail privatization in the county. The Sheriff has known about problems at those facilities for years and he refuses to do anything. Why? Follow the money...in particular the campaign contributions he's received.
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