Posted by CheerGirl199 on September 5, 2011 · 348 Comments
Despite claims to the contrary, it appears as though many Los Angeles public officials received special treatment from the recently disbanded “Gold Card Desk” in order to get out of parking tickets. Some of the beneficiaries were actually relatives of public officials, including a top aide to City Controller Wendy Greuel, who successfully bailed his mother out of a citation. Greuel, who may end up running for mayor, claimed to be “disappointed” that a member of her staff utilized the Desk, stating that “No one should go around the normal process.” Ironically, it was Greuel’s audit that discovered the Gold Card Desk, which resulted in public outrage and a quick ‘disbandment’ from the mayor. The audit found “no comprehensive policies or procedures in place to substantiate the dismissal of 43% of the 1,026 dismissed tickets.”
Posted by DanielSon on May 21, 2011 · 195 Comments
Bad news for all of Los Angeles’ public officials who were receiving preferential treatment with their parking citations: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has discontinued the now infamous “Gold Card Desk.” “Discontinue the Gold Card Desk…Every member of the public deserves equal treatment and even the appearance of preferential treatment is unacceptable,” the Mayor said. This decision comes just a day after city officials disclosed the existence of the so-called “Gold Card Desk” which, according to City Controller Wendy Greuel’s audit, dismissed approximately 1,000 citations over a two year period – often without justification.
Posted by Baker on May 20, 2011 · 431 Comments
The Houston Police Department is rolling out an “amnesty program” which will allow parking & traffic ticket scofflaws to pay their original fines, and avoid additional charges as well as warrants. All citations which became delinquent on or before February 28, will be eligible for the program over the next two weeks. However, those who do not elect to participate in the program will be subject to arrest as warrants will be issued starting June 5th.
Posted by JuliaRbb on May 19, 2011 · 444 Comments
Following up on a piece by Hannah Heineman, Steve Stajich, of the Santa Monica Mirror argues that it’s time for more transparency in regards to the appeal process of parking tickets within the city. (Santa Monica is infamous for its overly aggressive parking enforcement.) As Heineman noted, the response she received from a parking citation appeal read as follows: “The review has confirmed that the citation was properly issued and is valid. The reason given does not invalidate the citation.” As Stajich points out, this is an intentional move by the City not to give enough information to allow the appellant to continue their argument. While a recent statement from the City’s business and revenue operations manager left ‘daylight’ in hopes that the appeal process would be cleaned up, Stajich correctly observes that most times, cities simply nudge the constituent to give up.
Posted by CalvinB4400 on May 19, 2011 · 251 Comments
According to a recent audit, there is a so-called “Gold Card Desk” within the Transportation Department which allows “Los Angeles City Council members and other elected officials to expedite constituent appeals of parking citations, and possibly have fines reduced or eliminated.” Over a two year period the ‘Desk’ has dismissed around 1,000 tickets, according to City Controller Wendy Greuel. Many of the requests for cancellation of a citation’s fine offered no reason at all.
« Previous Page — Next Page »
