Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Das Boot

At 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 30, Mayor Richard Scalera will hold a public hearing on Hudson's newest local law, enabling the Hudson Police Department to "boot" the cars of drivers with three unpaid parking tickets. After the public hearing, Scalera will likely sign the law, making it effective, so anyone with unpaid parking tickets is advised to pay them today. 

Currently, the HPD is empowered to impound the cars of drivers with five or more unpaid parking tickets, but to the frustration of the Parking Ticket Bureau, nothing can be done--beyond adding surcharges to the original fines--to people with unpaid parking tickets who have not yet reached the five-ticket threshold. So now we have the boot, which presumably will have the effect of eliminating impounding altogether, since cars will be booted and people forced to pay their parking tickets long before they accumulate five unpaid tickets.       

Still, it's better than the way things used to be. Not too many years ago, nonpayment of a parking ticket could result in a criminal summons, and offenders were taken from their homes and marched in handcuffs to the city jail.  

2 comments:

  1. trotting out the olde big stick trick when your regressive taxes and pecuniary mining are scoffed at by the populace? this isn't a solution for curb taxes masquerading as regulation, this is just an excuse to add another line item to the budget, and guarantee the yearly quarter million dollar take in parking ticket revenue. quality of life in hudson means spending half your city budget on a quasi-security state. Give Me My Snow Day PAY!

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  2. I look forward to the Car Boot Sales!

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