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The North End's version of the Welcome Wagon
By adamg on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 11:12am
The local meter maid makes sure to say hello to all the new folks.
From our Anonymous Man on the Street.
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Comments
I don't see the problem with
I don't see the problem with this. Is the meter maid just supposed to take the person's word for it? Or maybe go knock on their door, look at their ID, then go to their bedroom to prove they are actually a resident, and then check the car registration to make sure it is that person's car?
A note like that is a sure sign that another Hayseed just moved in to the city with no clue.
Metermaid isn't unreasonable, but "hayseed" too strong
The metermaid is clearly doing her job (or his, whatever).
But however clueful the car's owner might or might not be, this is kind of a problem. If you look at the city's instructions on getting a parking sticker, you'll see that one needs kind of a lot to prove residency.
In particular, what is a brand new resident to do in the days during which they need to park but haven't yet received one of these bills or bank statements? Doesn't seem to me that being in this category qualifies one as being a "clueless hayseed".
(Although I've lived and parked in both Boston and Cambridge, I've been lucky enough to avoid this situation -- I lived in a part of Southie that at the time didn't require resident stickers, and when I moved to Cambridge, my roommate had already lived there for a while and had a visitor pass that I used until I could prove residency and get a sticker of my own.)
You'd see the problem if you
You'd see the problem if you just moved to a new place and got hit with a $40 fine every day for a month just because you haven't gotten a utility bill yet.
contest the ticket
We had our parking tickets excused by explaining that we had yet to receive our residential sticker.
Let me be clear. Is there a
Let me be clear. Is there a problem with the city's process for getting parking stickers? I'm sure there is, we are talking about Boston City Hall after all. Is it naive to think that putting a sign in your window will prevent a parking ticket. Absolutely. Should meter maids abstain from writing tickets on cars because of a note like that? No.
I am surprised that the city won't forgive parking tickets received within 30 days prior to getting a resident sticker or something like that.
And the fact is that there are plenty of clueless residents in the North End, or any other part of the city, that have absolutely no street smarts. I don't hate them, or wish them ill, but I do find some of their behaviors quite comical. Hayseed can actually be a term of endearment, and certainly not harsh. They help make this town so great.
Getting a new one - don't know, renewing - now that's fun
Went to city hall, paid my excise tax in person (some confusion over a new plate), carried my newly paid tax bill in hand to the window to get a new sticker and was promptly told they needed the old sticker. I explained that I have to peel it off in little pieces with a razor blade - which they of course know. They asked me to bring in the shards - which I later did. Five windows, two visits to city hall and one visit to my councilor's office to see if they were for real (they were) and finally I got my new sticker.
I assume there's a good reason for this practice - just can't think of one. Hard to forge or copy because they write your license number on the window side in big black marker over the antifraud hologram. Oh well - learned in Japan long ago - when it comes to govt - just follow the rules and apologize profusely if you accidentally break one that you don't know about.
fun with permits
When I moved from Cambridge to Somerville, I dutifully went and got my parking permit as soon as I could, and I placed it on my car window. After a month or so I received a love note from the city claiming I had about $200 in phantom parking tickets (never once did I see a ticket on my windshield.)
Went to the traffic office and appealed, and found out they'd been writing me up every time they saw my car because the Cambridge sticker for that year was still visible on the window and you can't have both at the same time. I replied with a gee, that's a new one on me, and it was. The appeals guy looked at me and said "So is the Cambridge sticker removed from your vehicle?" and I said "It is now." So he threw the tickets out. When I got home, I took out a razor blade and scraped every last bit of that sticker off, and the problems ceased.
I completely forgot to talk about the whole "oh yeah, and what's with not even seeing those tickets you wrote me?" thing, but thinking about it later, I figured I'd pushed my luck far enough that day.
Lesson
If you must bring your car when you move to the city, which is a questionable decision in the first place, be prepared to deal with it -- park somewhere legal even if it's inconvenient or costs money. There's no Special Suburban Snowflake temporary parking pass.
Here's another tip: If you get a North End sticker then try to park in another neighborhood, you'll be ticketed and/or towed. Be sure to stop by the ATM on your way to Jamaica Plain to bail out your car -- they don't accept checks, credit cards or stamping your feet.
Know what else some people learn when they move to the city? They learn to grow up.
ooooo
i guess you done told all those hayseeds!
Sorry
After I posted, I tried to go in and delete that, as it definitely was inappropriate. But it had been locked. My apologies.
My cynicism, I think, stems from living in a neighborhood where resident parking courtesies are assertively disregarded by some component of 40,000 visitors 61+ times a year. I know, it's life in the city, deal with it. We do, but sometimes we get snarky. Sorry about that.
And no, I don't keep a car in the city. Used to, but learned better. (;O)
NOT EVERYONE IN BOSTON IS A PRICK LIKE THIS GUY
PLEASE, those of you considering making your lives in Boston, don't listen to this asshole.
I've moved a number of times in Boston, within Allston and lately to Beacon Hill, and also to Dedham, which is nearby.
In each case, I've used the "Polite note to meter-maid" approach, and in each time it has worked. The one time I was ticketed with such a note (in Allston), I took the following action to get the ticket dismissed:
- write a polite letter with your move-in date, explaining that you are waiting on the sticker
- attach a photo of the car with your note and ticket on it
- attach a photocopy of your apartment lease, which shows the move-in date
They dismiss these sorts of tickets all the time, if you are calm, polite, and detailed.
And please, don't be afraid that all Bostonians are angry townies with major hostility issues. It's just most of us. ;)
Nor is everyone a whining douche like you
See? We can all call each other names. In the midst of making (unlike you) some valid points, Fenwayguy said something he regretted; sincerely took it back; and that should have been that. Get over yourself, and stop overgeneralizing about my hometown. Are we friendly? No. But we're also (generally) not overweight hillbillies who believe that driving is a right; also, the background IQ around here is a lot higher than a lot of places in this country that have friendlier people and easier parking, which a great many people feel is a good tradeoff.
It's my hometown too
And there is no good reason for the hostility. End of story.
Sure there is
People whining about things that everyone else just sucks up and deals with is definitely cause for hostility and ridicule. Suck it up and deal.
Go back to douche-bagville
What a tool.
An apartment lease/deed/housing paperwork also works
You can also use a lease as your proof, although they don't state it on the website for some reason. I've used it before since sometimes when you live with roommates the bills are in their names as opposed to yours.
just appeal later
Meter maid did job (s)he is supposed to do. Now new resident needs to get proper paperwork and appeal the ticket(s). This is the price one pays to be in the middle of it all.
That was needlessly harsh
isn't life in the city (or anywhere for that matter) hard enough?
why make things even more miserable than necessary?
Boston seems to be hard-wired with this mindset. Too bad for boston and especially for those who can't get away.
Agreed
The relentlessness of some of that flavor of Boston-bred hostility is just amazing.
Free Parking
When I moved to Eastie I parked my car on streets no parking strictions before I got my sticker. Maybe they don't exist in the North End, but there are places in the city to park when you move so that you don't get a ticket.
Unrestricted spaces
Ditto the Fenway, but competition for them is extreme.
And if you just leave your car in one ...
... for more than a couple of days? You will either get towed for street cleaning OR you will have your car declared to be abandoned, and it will be immediately towed by Rapacious Towing and Salvage to be sold at auction or smashed.
This has happened even to people who have stickers, have a current license/registration/inspection, and have had the misfortune of spending a week or a month away for work or school when the towing companies want to make some extra money on the side.
Or not.
Not true. I made a note of the street cleaning signs, and moved my car to avoid being towed for that. And my car stayed in one place for up to 6 days at a time, and it was never towed for being abandoned.
You can't be serious
Are you saying that people should observe and adapt to their environment, follow the rules, and accept the fact that everyone is affected by the same weird, corrupt, but easily-evaded bureaucracy? And that it might actually be easier and more efficient to do this than to whine about it? Careful, you'll run smack into various posters' victim complexes here...
I think he's serious
I've had my car towed because the toothless asshole down the hall didn't like me, and called the city about an "Abandoned vehicle" hours (yes, hours) after i'd parked it in "his spot".. by "his spot" I of course mean an arbitrary on-street parking space around the corner in front of someone else's house, where he occasionally parked his sanford-and-son pickup truck.
this was in Cambridge. Happened more than once. Finally had to go scream at the bureaucrat, who called me a liar. Screamed a bit more, because I'm not a liar. Showed her receipts for gas. Gave her contact info for the place where I'd had the vehicle parked, prior.
She never apologized, but they did make the ticket go away and stopped towing my legally parked vehicle.
When the bureaucracy accuses honest people of lying, and that IS the underlying assumption in many of the cases covered by the conditions you cite, whining is not an answer. Screaming, however, is. Lawsuits, however, are. And so are citizen actions of all kinds, whether by individuals because people like you have bullied others into sitting on their hands and taking whatever "government" dishes out, or in groups if they are smart and capable and really want to fix things.
Genius, they work for us, not the other way around. The sooner some Americans get back to remembering how this is supposed to work, the better off we will all be.
not for nothing zbert....
But I wouldn't apologize to you either if you screamed at me and I wasn't the one who did anything wrong. It was the cops or tow companies fault of not following state law when towing abandoned cars.
Im assuming though that the "bueracrat" you are talking about was the woman who releases cars of takes cars of tickets?
what she did wrong...
was to call me a liar.
the upset came then, not before.
her "people" were astonished that i dared ask to speak to her.
Look, she's some woman in a cheap chair in a paneled office in a municipal building making decisions that affect and sometimes make messes of people's lives. Damn right I'm going to talk to her and so should everyone else she's made problems for.
And yes, an apology was in order. don't call me a liar without knowing that i've lied, and expect to get away with it.
I'll say it again. They work for us. Having lived in places where people not only know this but remind them from time to time when they get out of hand, I know which sort of world I prefer to live in.
oh ok
it seemed like you said that you screamed at her first and then she called you a liar.
And she doesnt really "work" for you. If she did, then you could have just called her up and have her bring the car to you since you are her boss.
i did write it that way
because it was upsetting me to recall the whole thing again and i didn't edit closely
but i am not really the go-in-guns-blazing type
however
there was that moment where the blood pressure went up and i was just so upset
not all boss relationships mean one person can order another person around
she is only there because of the citizens of cambridge, and i was one. she works for (on behalf of) me, in a role necessitated because at some point it was determined the city needed an arbiter of parking, to make the game level and fair.
all well and good, until the basic precepts of fairness are forgotten, along with the very basic fact that we are all in this together, and anyway, making people unhappy is a shitty way to spend a career and when someone has put herself into a position where she's better at making people unhappy than at making them, at worst, neutral if not happy, then something is broken and the people need to stop following orders and start issuing them. this is not very complicated, really. politicians and bureaucrats, the crappy ones, are pretty weak people, easily managed, when people get off their asses to do something about, basically, poor management.
--------
i should add that on the whole, Cambridge works pretty well, considering all the at-odds constituencies and "special needs" populations (by which I mean people who don't know as much as they think they do about every little thing)
The town managers do listen, much of the time, but then don't do a lot, much of the time. Things get way, way, way wedged in infinite debates while time marches on... sometimes. That's not great, really. But even good places can be infected with bad people and bad policy... and when that happens, people really need to realize they can and should change things, and the sooner the better before it's locked down into a bad policy or worse, a bad law.
And of all the places in the world that should realize that street sweepers are crappy for the environment, and car towing FOR street sweeping is hurtful to people in all economic classes (and Cambridge has the full spectrum), and an out-of-proportion punishment for the "offense", well, Cambridge out to be at the front of the list, not at the bottom... not just the sweepers but that PA parade of pickup trucks driving around announcing the street-sweeping. What a pointless waste of fuel and source of noise it all is.
Public Servants work for us
They are there to serve the public, not themselves, not their political machine. If they forget who pays their salary, maybe they will remember when tax revenue falls and angry people vote in things like Prop 2.5 or refuse to override prop 2.5. When people on the public payroll act like fools and treat the people who pay their salaries like crap, those people (also known as voters) don't forget it easily. Likewise, when people are competent, courteous, efficient, and helpful, the public value their work and do what they can.
That simple.
No its not that simple...
They don't work for you, they work within the frameworks of the laws and rules that the public sets up for them.
And it has nothing to do with you paying their salaries, it has to do with the fact that they work for the public. After all, those that live in public housing and don't pay anything towards goverment also have the right to the same treatment that the taxpayers do.
They dont have the right to treat you like crap or call you a liar, but you don't have the right to treat them like a personal employee either, doing what you want them to.
In that sense, I would say its far from beting that simple...
If people vote out taxes ...
These people lose their jobs. People are far more likely to enact extreme measures on taxes when they feel their goverment doesn't serve them. These people are the face of government.
Sorry, but my dad was a civil servant and the culture I grew up in was very much aware of who paid his salary and how he was expected to interact with the public on that account (then again, it isn't called "west coast public servant ethos" for nothing). Paying tribute and kissing up to a political patronage machine that is parasitic on the public coffers is not public service. Abusing the people you are in contact with is not public service - in the current economy and a political structure that responds only to blunt and extreme measures by the people it is supposed to serve, that is dangerous. Prop 2.5 didn't happen for no good reason - I don't like it personally, but poor service by a government that doesn't seem to think that it's performance has anything to do with how much people are willing to pour money into it is a big part of the "kill government" appeal.
If people vote out taxes?
Seriously?
My only point was that the citizen/government worker relationship isn't as simple as "you work for me".
I can't go to my sons teacher and tell her that I want his tests to count more towards his grade than class participation simply because that's what I want and the teacher works for me because my tax dollars pay her salary. It isn't that simple.
And if I forget to put my trash out on trash day yesterday, I can't call up the DPW and tell them to come today because thats what I want and they work for me.
I'm not talking about poor performence by government workers here, and Im not talking about government workers abusing their powers to help out political machines. I was simply responding to your remark about this relationship being "simple". It isn't always that simple in every situation thats all I am saying.
Yes, it is that simple
Everything in the realm of government that goes on in this country derives from a document whose first words are:
We the people..
This is pretty straightforward. we PERMIT public employees to have their jobs so that things we want done in our communities, get done.
The very basic problem right now is that the EMPLOYEES OF THE PEOPLE have, due to poor management by elected leaders, managed to flip things around so that they now TELL the people what their rights are, and decide, without asking, what services THE PEOPLE will and will not receive.
In the present environment it is a joke for you to say that they are working within any bounds the public has "set up". We didn't. They are free-running right now and any free-running autonomous system like this is a danger to everyone around it.
btw whether someone pays taxes or not has nothing to do with their rights here. That's covered in that same document.
"We the people"
That phrase was around when slavery was an American pastime, so it isn't really that straightforward is it?
Im not arguing that burearacracy can't get out of hand or isn't out of hand. Im just saying that sometimes there is a different between WE or ME. If the law says I can't walk my dog off his leash in the park on Sunday mornings, and the cop writes me a ticket for breaking that law, I can't not pay the ticket, or tell the cop he can't legally write the ticket because I didn't agree to that law, and I can't go down to the dog ticket place and yell at the lady to get rid of my ticket because she works for me etc, etc.
And Im not saying that you agree with that either, but Im just saying it is not as simple as you make it out to be.
you're mixing two distinct issues
there is nothing in the "works for" relationship that says a cop cannot write a ticket to his boss... citizen or other (though it is well understood that cops will willingly break the law and NOT write a ticket to another cop at times)
you're conflating "works for" with some kind of dictatorial control. i'm not talking about that. I say again that the reason those civil servant EMPLOYEES were hired in the first place was to serve the people, not themselves. They were hired to do what the people want, even if they don't like it.
But now things have changed a bit and in some places, and Cambridge and Boston come to mind as examples, these "civil servants" often seem to believe they serve no-one at all, and are free to do as they see fit, regardless of what the PEOPLE want, deserve or, in some cases, demand.
That issue is at the root of most problems in government these days.. .and problems with government map directly to problems in quality of life, public safety, one's ability to make a living and survive, especially in cities. This has got to end. To make it end, the people - who hired these "civil servants" - have to get off their fat asses and do something about their arrogant, unresponsive, lazy, entitled employees... or shut up and take the consequences, even to the point of the loss of freedoms, money, and a good life. But please, no more whining from the masses, then, about government. The people are the government.
I didnt want to mix the issues
I wanted to point out the difference between the two. And in doing that, I feel that it isn't as simple as what you say above:
They were hired to do what the people want, even if they don't like it.
In theory, "the people" set up "the govermnent". So in theory the govermnent should be "the people" and its laws are designed because those laws what "the people" want.
But the way you keep writing "do what the people want", only means do what they want in terms of the rules that those people already established....if that makes any sense.
It's a process, not a fixed thing
the structure in which our civil servant employees work for us is fixed
however the day to day conduct of those employees must be responsive to the needs of the people... in the cited situation (parking) and many others, our workers place themselves in direct opposition to the well-being of the people. this sort of disregard of the core mission would not be tolerated in any commercial business. it should not be tolerated from our public-sector staff either.
examples: workers who don't go to work (City of boston) leaving streets unpaved and infrastructure unrepaired; workers who accuse citizens of lying (Cambridge) - even if they think it, they can't say it; towns that install traffic cameras for "revenue enhancement" when the people who live and work in the town do not want such things...
and i'm sure we can all add to this list.
If conduct of this general nature would not be tolerated in private business in the actions of employees toward customers, then it must not be tolerated in the conduct of public sector employees toward citizens, period.
Wow, right on cue!
City manager's hold on Cambridge eroding
CAMBRIDGE - During nearly three decades as city manager, Robert W. Healy has governed one of the state's largest cities like a financial wizard, encouraging development around the institutional powerhouses of Harvard University and MIT, and securing Cambridge's position as one of the most affluent cities in the Commonwealth.
But now Cambridge's longest-serving city manager finds himself in the hot seat.
His reputation as a man who always gets his way suffered a serious blow recently when a judge ruled against him in a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former city employee, saying Cambridge should pay her more than $4.5 million. The judge singled out Healy for reprimand, calling his behavior toward the employee "reprehensible."
The verdict has given new life to local efforts challenging Healy and Cambridge's political system, which places the city manager - appointed and overseen by the City Council - in charge of the daily decisions of government.
In recent months, a local coalition has mobilized to elect a more aggressive slate of candidates to the City Council, neighborhood groups are stepping up their push against him, and even City Council members flexed their governance muscle last week by attempting to block him from budgeting city money to appeal the discrimination case.
Although the measure failed, the council's challenge to Healy has surprised longtime Cantabrigians, who see the move as a rare sign of resistance by a City Council some believe has ceded too much power to the city manager.
"This is the first time that I know of that the City Council has made an attempt to challenge the city manager," said Pe ter Schweich, whose Cambridge Coalition for Representative Government has been pressing for political overhaul. "He's been railroading the City Council. He reminds them that they may not interfere with anything. That's why this is so significant."
How do you move the car
if you have to be out of town from Friday to Wednesday, and street cleaning days are Monday and Tuesday?
How about if you get held over because the plane just didn't fly, or someone needed you for something serious (like a sick relative)?
I think it is pretty cruel NOT TO MENTION UN-GREEN - DO YOU HEAR ME, GREENIES ? - to be hauling people's cars all over god's earth just so the street sweeper can come once a week.
i spent some time in England and some time in Japan...
There, i have seen guys with brooms and dustpans cleaning the streets around parked cars.
Jobs created, eco-friendly, no towing required, street situation taken care of... and they were quiet, too.
Swirly
I believe you posted a comment once directing people to the city of Boston website from which you can sign up for a street cleaning email reminder. I remember specifically because I was siding with people who thought street cleaning tows were getting a little bit out of hand, especially when the street wasn't cleaned.
(And yes, I do realize I am posting as anon, whereas before I was logged in, so you can't look at my comment history. Pure laziness on my part.)
There are plenty of nonresident spots in Eastie
As long as you don't mind the local neighborhood youth outreach program coming along every so often to check if your steering column needs any sudden, violent adjustments.
Note written in Southie by a
Note written in Southie by a new resident in February. "Howdy neighbor. Thanks for the parking spot. Sorry I had to move the lawn mower and beach chair saving your shoveled out spot but I couldn't find one close to my home. I had alot of groceries. Please don't throw a tire iron through my windshield or flatten all my tires".
And over in Somerville
Somerville is about to go permit parking on all streets (among other things). I'm surprised that hasn't been a topic here yet. Should make it interesting around here.
Somerville parking is a big topic of discussion
... but in more local forums than Universal Hub:
Wicked Local Somerville Blog: Watch out - parking hikes coming soon
DSLJ: No more non-permit parking, according to the CoC
DSLJ: Tom Champion tries to justify parking changes
DSLJ: Petition Signing this coming Wednesday at Somerville Theatre
b0st0n LJ: Somerville adds permit parking to all streets
You left out the best one
And most germane to the topic of parking permits and new residents - the one where the guy goes to pick up his new permit and the clerk taunts him by showing him the thing but says he can't have it until next week because the boss said so, that's why.