Audio clip
Judge Sherry Paty
When it comes to parking tickets, the city's repeat offenders soon may be getting the boot.
Officials said they must start cracking down on those who do not pay outstanding parking tickets. The wheel boot, a device clamped on a car's wheels to make them immobile, might be the first step.
Daisy Madison, the city's chief financial officer, said the boot could let the public know the city is serious.
"We've got to make believers out of them," she said.
City officials said this week that over the next several months, they would begin a "crackdown" on outstanding parking citation debtors.
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Staff Photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press - Police Service Technician Sharon Blanks displays a parking boot on Wednesday afternoon at the Walnut Street Precinct. After receiving authorization from City Court, technicians carry the device to place on vehicles with a large amount in parking fines.
Officers would use the boot once offenders accrued a specified amount of debt, officials said. That number has not yet been determined.
A review of unpaid parking fees shows more than $7 million is owed to the city, and only about $4.5 million of that is collectible. The numbers dwindle even further based on the criteria the city sets to collect the fees.
Councilman Manny Rico said this week that if boots are used, it must be done effectively. He said the city needs to target cars valuable enough to warrant booting.
"If there's a junker out there, they'll just give up their car," he said.
Chattanooga Police Sgt. Scott Fulgham, a supervisor of the downtown police service technicians, said Wednesday the police department had a total of four boots that could be used. He said the city stopped using the boots almost two years ago.
"It's very likely we need more boots," he said.
Sgt. Fulgham said when the city uses the boots it shows there is a consequence for those who have repeat violations.
"It's very effective when you boot," he said.
BY THE NUMBERS
* $7.1 million: Total amount owed to the city for outstanding parking citations
* $4.9 million: Total city can collect
* $4.5 million: Money city can collect after citations with no names are taken out
Source: City of Chattanooga
City Court Judge Sherry Paty said Wednesday that historically she and City Court Judge Russell Bean have signed off on an individual basis for the city to boot offenders "if they meet certain criteria." She said there has been talk of issuing a "blanket" court order that would allow city officers to boot when appropriate without getting a judge's approval.
But she said the rule of law still would apply.
"Obviously, the person has a right to a hearing," she said.
Judge Bean said he also would support some type of blanket approval. But he said the boots should be used for other violators, as well, such as drivers with illegal tags.
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Cliff has worked for the Times Free Press for five years and covers Chattanooga city government. He previously covered Rhea County, as well as transportation and growth and development in Southeast Tennessee. A native of Maryville, Tenn., Cliff graduated in 2003 from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis on journalism. Before coming to Chattanooga, he was a crime reporter with Hernando Today, a supplement of The Tampa (Fla.) ...
Somebody please explain to me why we should have to feed parking meters to park on the streets we already paid for with our tax dollars. Then pay more when we accidentally arrive back at our cars a few minutes later than planned.
Please.
How about ... get rid of the parking meters ... then you don't have to spend money for the salary and benefits of meter maids. No court costs, no collection costs for fines, no need to boot anybody. Everyone wins (except the meter maids who have to go get jobs actually doing something productive rather than punitive).
What would be wrong with that?
To answer my own question ... the problem is that the wealthy power-broker types who own the private, pay parking lots downtown would have a conniption if citizens could park for free on the streets right next to their lots ... and Chatt's mayor and city council would never want to get in the way of their buddies making money off the rest of us, would they?
This is a sideshow for the real issue: Why aren't civil judgments, fines, and court-ordered child support actually required to be paid in our supposed Nation of Laws? One of the dirtiest secrets of the judicial system is that a tiny fraction of court judgments are ever paid. Parking tickets are insignificant -- for the sake of justice, go after the other categories.
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