Movement Against Parking Meters should be careful

Feb 20, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
The biggest mistake the Movement Against the Parking Meters and civil society could make would be to be duped into accepting the honey coated offer now being made by the Council to reduce the parking meter rates, have some entities exempted, and some categories of motorists relieved from paying.
This is too little too late, and is what should have been offered in the first place. Is it not now clear with their knee jerk reaction that they were obviously overcharging us in the first place? And how does one party in a contract have this amount of flexibility as the Council purports to have to reduce rates, to exempt persons and entities etc., particularly in light of the fact that it was not the Council who prepared the contract?
What would stop the Council and Smart City Solutions from sharply increasing the rate in another three months after everyone has accepted the parking meter arrangement and settled in? Will this parking meter initiative be governed by the Public Utilities Commission or some other oversight body to ensure compliance especially after Chase-Green and King have left? And what will the City Council now earn from the initiative? A hundred million or less a year? This would be less than their payroll for one month; what nonsense.
But this parking meter thing has to be dealt with wholly and not in the piecemeal manner that the Council is trying to con us into accepting. First, it should be remembered that Ifa Cush appeared immediately after Hamilton Green became Mayor in 1994 and they signed a contract to install parking meters. The public should see the minutes of the Council decision of 1995 that approved such a decision and should be given copies of that contract.
Second, came a contract from Astralobe Technologies associated with a Saratu Phillips that was signed by Council for the installation of parking meters. The public needs to see the Council’s minutes that approved that contract and also a copy of that contract to ascertain if Council has any liability now or in the future to that company.
Third, according to King, the now dismissed Ifa Cush and National Parking Systems reappeared in 2015 after the new government came into office and there was a Council decision (the old Council, 1994-2016) that approved another contract by National Parking Systems. The citizens need to see those signed and certified minutes. Additionally, the contract that was signed by the old Council in 2015 needs to be brought out for scrutiny.
Fourth, and finally, in 2016 and possibly in 2017 there seem to be several iterations of the most recent contract signed by the ‘Fantastic Four’. The citizens are entitled to be provided with each and every version of the contract. And I don’t mean being guarded by a Constable while one reads it. The citizens need copies in order to have it examined by competent legal authorities and examined by consulting agencies with experience and expertise in municipal parking.
I just don’t understand how any self-respecting Council, could once again sit down and consider further amendments to this contract to which they have never been given copies of the original. Had this indentured servant been a Councillor, I would never have accepted or allowed any municipal officer to disrespect me like that.
Modi Sankar

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