Last Updated on December 31, 2017 by Lawrence Berezin
It is difficult to divert our attention from the incredible events unfolding in the world. The Egyptian revolution, the war in Libya, the nightmare foisted on Japan in the form of an earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear explosion. Not to forget about Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan; and the brave young men and women fighting for democracy.
Amid this incredible global backdrop, NYC announced the Beta fight parking tickets online tool. And failed to announce its plan to discontinue the parking ticket settlement program. Fox 5 blew the whistle on that secret.
New York Parking Ticket published a blog post yesterday about the Fox 5 News scoop about the secret plan to end the NYC parking ticket settlement program. The day before we threw our orange hat into the ring, and blogged about BETA.
Framing the parking ticket issue
Comments, phone calls, and emails have been flying in at an amazing rate expressing the driving public’s reaction to these local events. After reading and replying to every communication, I’d like to frame the issue as I see it.
Mayor Bloomberg cares passionately about doing the right thing for NYC but has to deal with a 2 billion dollar shortfall. The wonderful, intelligent members of the NYC Council care passionately about helping the NYC driving public and fighting for their constituents. I’ve been there and interacted on parking ticket issues with the Council. Believe me, they are trying to do the right thing for the driving public.
Here’s the challenge, Mayor Bloomberg has to raise a bucket full of money. The mission of the NYC DOF is to raise revenue. The mission of a judge is to do justice, which by the way, most parking ticket judges do. But, if a parking ticket judge hired by the DOF can’t walk into his supervisor’s office and proudly proclaim he did the right thing and dismissed 75 out of 100 parking tickets he reviewed, he would be toast.
The warriors are supervised by our brave police officers. How important is issuing parking tickets to our brave crime fighters? So, the result is the warriors issued 1.2M parking tickets that were disputed last year, and 50% of those tickets were dismissed.
Think about it, 600,000 mistakes. That’s more mistakes then I made my entire senior year (Well, not by a lot).
Transparency
If Beta is a wonderful thing, why not show us. Invite the media to a step by step demonstration of how this tool works. Photographs are essential to your success in winning your parking ticket dispute. How is the quality of the photographs that the judges see? Are they in black and white? Color? Is the judge viewing the photographs on a computer screen? Are the documents always connected with a written defense? Are the overlapping photographs of the entire NYC block, with close-ups of the front of parking signs presented to the judge in the correct order?
How many parking ticket cases is a judge required to decide in one hour? One day? Is it a reasonable number?
Show us how this amazing, wonderful, technological wonder works. I want to be sure I am not trading away justice for a speedy decision. Why would I want to be notified of a guilty finding in 10 days, if I win in 75 days?
Show us. And, explain why you are eliminating the settlement program; and will still allow our honorable parking ticket judges to do justice.
Please share your opinion. This is an important issue. What is your take? Justice vs. speed? Or can the DOF administer justice, quickly?
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