Santa Monica Parking Tickets: Could We Please Have an Argument?

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.