Guest Editorial by William Breining

Here's a special welcome to Bill Breining, who is our guest editorial writer this week.
As this is a guest editorial, it may or may not represent the opinion of The Everett Mirror or its staff.

By William Breining

The Mayor’s veto of the Parking Program

Mayor Hanlon was correct in vetoing the badly flawed permit parking revision ordinance. This poorly written ordinance, if enacted, would have weakened the existing ordinance and had a significantly negative impact on overnight parking. The current overnight parking needs some revision but this version is not an improvement.

It is very telling to examine what was included and excluded from the proposed ordinance. Included was the following:

1. A visitor’s pass for a $10.00 fee, issued for a definitive period of time (7 to 14 days). Charging a fee to cover these costs is reasonable and will help curtail abuses.

2. A second visitor’s pass, issued for a full year for a $100.00 fee. In a city with as limited parking as Everett, this is a ridiculous proposal, it amounts to nothing more than the attempt to sell parking spaces in exchange for a higher fee . This would reduce the amount of parking available to the residents with no benefit to the general populace of the city.

3. A proposal to charge residents of abutting cities (whose property lies in one city and abuts a street that is in Everett) a $100.00 fee to park on the street (the sticker is supplied to Everett residents for no charge). Outrageous! All cities have streets that are bordered by adjacent municipalities and all have cooperative agreements for parking enforcement, and maintenance of the roadway. These residents, having no control or voice over the parking regulation (not being able to vote in Everett) should be accommodated with a parking sticker by virtue of the circumstances. When did it become the intention of a governing body to seek out ways to punish the innocent? Including these residents is the right thing to do both morally and ethically.

4. A $10.00 fee for the parking sticker for new residents moving into the city after the annual issuance of parking stickers. This is just another way to separate the residents from more of their money.

What was not included is equally as telling!

1. An extension of the overnight parking hours requested by residents and removed in committee, not part of the ordinance. I cannot comment on the wisdom of this except to state that I think the input of the residents should always receive serious consideration.

2. A provision to allow residents to obtain a non-resident permit to park a required work vehicle on the street. This was reportedly removed because some of our elected officials wanted to collect an amount equivalent to the excise tax paid on the vehicle in the city that it is registered. Our elected officials seem to think it is “acceptable” to sell visitors’ passes for a $100.00 per year, but not to allow a reasonable fee for a resident to park a vehicle that allows him to be gainfully employed and be a productive member of our community? I believe that the employer should be required to submit the application, signed by a company official and that the fee be paid by company check. This would reduce the possibility of abuses.

The current parking ordinance does not need some revision to make it more workable for the residents. What is not needed is having parking turned into yet another convenient revenue stream.

What will it take to bring our elected officials state of mind back to acting only when the government has a compelling interest and only in a manner that benefits the general populace? Unfortunately, many of our officials (elected and appointed) have succumbed to the addiction of public life …revenue; the ever increasing need and desire to charge the residents more and more for less and less.