If you get a parking ticket, it's because of I-695!

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If you get a parking ticket, it's because of I-695! Or at least that's the LATEST claim by the bigger government is better government crowd. From Seattle's mayor comes the latest excuse; It's all Tim Eyeman's fault.

If a judge certifies the case as a class action, it would cover a period between Oct. 25, 1993, and yesterday, the three-year period allowed under a statute of limitations.

The suit, which alleges breach of contract and unjust enrichment, grew out of a KOMO-TV story that showed many of Seattle's parking meters don't keep time properly.

"In some cases, 60 minutes were paid for, but the meter expired after just 38 minutes, resulting in a short-change of 22 minutes," the suit says.

According to the lawsuit, city officials notified of the problem promised to correct it. But a follow-up check by KOMO showed a substantial number of meters still expiring too quickly.

"After being confronted with this latest evidence," the suit says, "the Seattle transportation manager admitted that, any given point in time, 30 to 40 percent of the city's meters are defective in that they inaccurately elapse time."

In his response, Schell said a three-year program to overhaul all of the city's mechanical meters began last spring. By the end of the year, 1,500 of the 7,500 meters will have been overhauled, with 3,000 more due for servicing in each of the next two years.

Fixing the meters faster than that "would require the dedication of revenue beyond our capability," the mayor said. He said the process might be even slower if voters pass Initiative 695, which would cut car-licensing fees and reduce government transportation budgets.

http://www.seattletimes.com/news/local/html98/metr_19991026.html

-- Mark Stilson (mark842@hotmail.com), October 27, 1999

Answers

Yeah, and my bald spot is due to the impending passage of 695 too!

-- Ralph Rogaine (Chihuahua@hairless.com), October 27, 1999.

What I find very interesting is that, less than a month ago, Paul Schell stated that he was rolling in cash. So much so, in fact, that he was able to hire a few hundred new city employees and build a skateboard complex. Now he's crying pauper over not being able to fix the parking meters that fraudulently fill his coffers.

In the private sector, a fraud of this magnitude would have resulted in massive civil liability and possible criminal prosecution. But, he's a member of the ruling class, so he can do no wrong.

All the more reason to vote yes on I-695.

-- Joe Hylkema (josephhy@wsu.edu), October 28, 1999.


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