It is not fair to the District’s parking control officers to say that no aspect of the local government works.
The ticket-dispensing officers of the nation’s capital are paragons of persistence and diligence. They pursue their duties with conviction and valor.
As outgoing Mayor Adrian Fenty has said, “It’s really about clean streets and quality of life.”
It is? You sure fooled those who thought it was about the money.
That is not to trivalize the hard-working sleuths who have an uncanny instinct about parked vehicles that harm everyone’s quality of life.
These intrepid souls do not feel at peace with themselves unless they are slipping a ticket under a vehicle’s windshield wiper. They do not feel at one with the universe unless they are dropping what amounts to another tax on the beleaguered residents of a city that abandoned common sense long ago.
This is the city that imposed the five-cent bag tax this year, ostensibly to aid the Anacostia River, one of the foulest waterways in the nation. The tax, of course, has not turned the river into a recreational haven teeming with water skiers, fishermen and swimmers. The river remains what it has been the last century, a dank and toxic sewer that dumps its contents into the Potomac River.
Instead of implementing a bag tax, the city should have put the parking control officers on the Anacostia River. Given their dedication, they would have the river cleaned up in short order. Or they would fine it.
About blacksquirrel
Congrats on the DC Shout out! As someone who RECENTLY got a ticket for being parked halfway legally (so I was parked a bit behind the sign but still…really?) I still can’t blame the parking ticket operators OR speak badly of them. Its not their fault. ITS A JOB. And with 10% of the country unemployed at least these people have found lawful, steady employment and are showing up to work, every day, and not asleep on the job. While completely obnoxious to get tickets and that they always seem to get you, you never get a break, its the policy of the city that creates these jobs, the parking meter rules/rates and parking restrictions and zones. I am a lawyer and a female lawyer at that and everyone hates lawyers. Some lawyers do pro bono work for children in broken homes or for tenants screwed over by evil landlords or simply do peoples taxes or write people’s wills. But we are all hated equally by virtue of our job. I SAY HATE THE CITY OFFICIALS FOR MANAGING OUR MONEY BADLY. the ticket’s not so bad, if that $35 dollars goes towards something worthwhile. Like fixing the DC metro escalators. Cheers, T.