Still clamoring for more info on the whys and hows of Philadelphia parking after reading my column? Have I got some leftovers for you:
* Valet parking zones are a great deal for restaurants, at just $250 per year, but tourism companies like Ride the Ducks pay way more: $5,000 per reserved space.
* Authorized parking for city employees and other VIPs, it turns out, is both an outdoor and indoor affair.
The city spends $500,000 a year for 390 employees to park in private lots or garages. Seem high? That’s actually down from $800,000 after officials canceled the perk for people who didn’t need it or weren’t using it.
* Among the 910 people on the city’s still-shrinking list of authorized parkers, 630 are public employees or elected officials, according to the Managing Director’s Office.
Of that, City Council is allotted 56 parking slots, but it’s up to Council President Anna Verna to decide drawing the delightful task of how many each member gets.
* If you don’t need authorized parking, you probably don’t need a take-home car. With that logic, the city fleet has been reduced by 400 cars, to under 6,000. Even Managing Director Camille Barnett gave up the two vehicles assigned to her office.
The reductions represent an annual savings of $1.2 million to the cash-strapped city. Selling the 400 clunkers online netted another $150,000.
Meanwhile, those 400 city employees — Barnett included — now use Zip Car (www.zipcar.com) when they need a ride. That savings? Roughly $130,000 a year.
* When Mayor Nutter took office, spokesman Doug Oliver was shocked to learn that 1,000 people had Philadelphia Police press stickers allowing them to park in one of 50 spots at 10 press-only zones.
Big surprise, most were not actual journalists.
“There was a tremendous amount of abuse taking place,” Oliver told me. “We knew who we worked with. We knew who calls every day asking for information.”
The Press Office started from scratch, making journalists prove professional ties. News organizations were given transferrable parking placards. (The Inquirer got 30, while small community papers received two.)
“We printed 300 placards,” Oliver said, “I’ve got 20 sitting here still.”
So what happened to the hundreds of so-called journalists kicked to the curb?
“If you don’t like it, you’ll write about it,” Oliver reasons. “If you’re with a legitimate news orginization, I’ll hear about it.”
— Monica Yant Kinney
Click here for Philly.com's politics page.
Hi, folks: You failed to mention another perk provided to some people. I have never really understood why some churchgoers are allowed to obtain placards that allow them to park in otherwise nonparking areas (i.e. closing a lane to traffic to allow religious people to park). I might consider this acceptable, if it were not for the fact that some church leaders exhort their followers in a political way. For instance, asking parisioners to support laws or candidates that deny women access to abortion, and gays to marry. Of course, free speech is a right. But, does the public have to subsidize the political activity with free parking?? Let's let them find (and pay for) a parking space, like the rest of us.— tom1109- Tom is right -- the abuse by all-day church goers to park is one thing that would have made me oppose the sale of a church in my neighborhood if they were honest with the neighbors about how they are going to block a whole southbound lane of Grays Ferry Ave. on Sunday. The police are called, a few tickets are written, but I'm told that "Anna Verna takes care of it." This is the kind of abuse and low level corruption that creates a climate for all corruption throughout the city and saps the will to address it.— CleanupPhilly
- Fishtown cops are the worst with their personal vehicles. A bunch of anarchists with badges. Parking on sidewalks, crosswalks, you name it. Anything so that they can avoid a 50 yard walk from a legal parking space. Laughable bunch. And yes, in lieu of calling 911, I'd call a hippie. We pay you to enforce the law, yet you start your day by breaking it. Joke.— TKone
- Mayor Nutter needs to also change parking in the middle of the street in south Philly. We pay taxes too and if they can do it then every city resident can park in the middle of they street.— Jayjayhithard
- Thanks for an interesting article...makes you wonder how many other "quiet", good government initiatives the Nutter Administration is moving forward that don't get much press.— Philly Phorever
- Someone should also expose how the Bureau of Admin Adjudication--where you fight your parking ticket--violates Pa law in how hearings are conducted. PA law requires the hearing officer to allow cross-examination of witnesses, and any finding cannot be based solely on hearsay. Yet, there is no mechanism for requiring the ticket writer to be present for a hearing, and the only evidence presented it the ticket itself--pure hearsay. I wish someone would challenge this adjudication process in court sometime on these grounds.— Jim19130
- Jim also Philadelphia Parking Authority (acs-inc.com) is under investigation for school board contracts irregularities and witness tampering. traffic.com,acs inc.,atsol.com(traffic solutions inc),affilliates Here is the other side-Bakercapital.com-dotster.com-who holds your personal name or business name hostage till you offer a payment thru third parties and lawyers-lewis-johnson-bahamas, and others. heres another kicker -warren Buffet invested-5 billion thru his firm to goldman-sachs to acs inc,atsol.com-same people who shortened yellow lights-and never were jailed (they could have caused accident) thank you for listening— knightlynews
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