When not gloating about how he's screwing you, your mom and most anyone who must take to the road in Los Angeles (and those who go Metro are no less affected, natch), head meter maid Jimmy Price is enjoying his scores of ill-gotten revenue. We hope to help change that.
The Bus Bench is not the only endeavour to wonder why meter maids run rampant, citing most everyone even as traffic backs up while they Jimmy Price lines his pockets and his minions stuff their faces. (That some of Price's minions exhibit some clearly illegal—not to mention outright insouciant—behaviour is something that Bus Benchers have been able to document on film, is indicative of what may well be an unspoken policy that Price imparts to his revenue collectors.) Steve Harvey took a humourous stab in 2008, courtesy of some witty and clever L.A. Times readers:
"SLOGANS IN METER: When I said that the city's Parking Enforcement Bureau had no motto, my brain must have been parked in a vacant space. It's "Keeping L.A. Moving." (I'll pause here until the applause dies down.) Still, I prefer the alternate slogans submitted by readers:
* "To Write and Cite" (Tom Armor)
* "To Collect and Serve" (Lisalee Anne Wells)
And my favorite:
* "To Deject and Unnerve" (Joel Elkins)"
Bus Benchers are forced to have time on our hands, however, and we like to take that time watching traffic, sharpening our axes and engraving figurative rounds with the names of those who so gleefully conceive the misery of the "little people." Need we state that Jimmy Price is one of those for whom a volley is reserved? Here is the first shot.
Vermont Avenue was recently under repairs by the city's streets department. The area immediately surrounding Vermont Avenue where the street repairs made a mess of traffic—LACC and the Braille Institute—is well know for unusually high amounts of meter maid citations. Nevertheless, on the two days when Jimmy Price's peons should have been out to help "keep L.A. moving," they were nowhere to be seen—at first.
Day One:
No meter maids on the street, one might notice.
Day Two, part 1:
No meter maids on the street today, either. (Grab a book for this video, as it is 10 minutes long; the ending—which shows a meter maids' car—is highly relevant.)
Day Two, part 2:
Where the meter maids eat while traffic piles up on the street.
-BusTard
This is great! It's really pretty depressing to see these people not out there, inside AC restaus while, here in Vegas, some volunteer senior citizens in bright green vests go out to accidents around town in 100 degree heat just to help the police direct traffic.
It would also be great to get some interviews especially for the fans of Parking Wars on A&E (like me).
I would like to recommend, however, a tripod dolly for a steadier camera: http://www.nextag.com/tripod-dolly/compare-html
Posted by: Aisha O'Brien | 06/03/2009 at 07:44 AM
Yeah, I would like to have a tripod—or even a monopod—but I am forever on the go, often with a case full of books, and there are too many times that setting up a stand would prevent me from getting much of the footage captured. Granted, it is sometimes annoyingly shaky video, but I try to keep it as steady as possible.
Posted by: Randall BusTard | 06/03/2009 at 08:39 AM
I had put money in a meter one minute before it ran out and walked down the street with relief and when I returned there was a ticket. On the ticket, the officer wrote "passerby put money in meter." I called the parking bureau and told them about it, immediately and said "I was the person that put money in the meter and that the officer must have thought I was a stranger." They said "NO that officer meant that you tried to put money in the meter after it ran out"...I thought that was strange since the meter maids do that all day long..write tickets for expired meters, if it was expired why would they even need to bother to write anything?..I mean that's the law...why would they need to make a note with some kind of preemptive defense in this typical kind of citation if the meter did indeed run out? UNLESS the meter had not run out and they assumed that the meter was about to go red and already started writing the ticket and saw me put money in the meter and NEEDED AN EXCUSE...as if a stranger had just put money in the meter!!!! It's so obvious...
Then they told me over the phone, okay well..you need a hearing , we will send you the letter and form. It never came and then when I called back 2 weeks later to find out where the forms were, they told me that my earlier phone call was actually the administrative review and that my claim was denied...I said NO I want to talk with someone else , they said TO BAD the time limit has just passed to continue to contest this fine..TOUGH SHIT!!!! THE PARKING ENFORCEMENT IS A FUCKING MAFIA!!!! I hate those bastards...
Posted by: xpez | 06/15/2009 at 06:15 PM
Can't say enough bad about the system & why so effed up, other than city council jackasses don't have to deal with any of this themselves in their city cars.
My wife got a ticket at a meter on Fig. downtown b/c of expired handicapped placard- it was 7-1-09, she has rheumatoid arthritis and had placards for several years, but forgot to use the new placard she received earlier in June- the old one expired 6-30-09.
My wife asked me to call them to do something about it, so, I called up the tele. no and woman there took down info. and understood the situation exactly.
I said she was issued a new placard and just hung the old one up out of habit one day into the new period (7-1-09), but her eligibility continued and she approved for the new placard that WAS issued.
The woman was pleasant enough and she said we would get something in the mail later, and this call is the response to hold the time. We got that later letter that said "valid" ticket- but I didn't notice it when it came in and my wife has a habit of not opening mail immediately- so when it got mixed in with other old mail, the time to appeal passed by a few days and that became another "final" situation that has to be paid.
BTW, of course I got blamed for not finding that particular mail item from the parking enforcement addressed to her and mixed in with all the other mail people in the household.
Yes, the parking enforcement has their own kingdom- the courts are more responsive. For a clear violation, they should do the job, but besides those, they try to maximize ticket issuing, which would be acceptable IF THERE WAS SOME RECOURSE for their errors and excusing conditions- and we see that's doesn't exist.
The priority is collecting fines, not regulating traffic or parking. Very exploitative group and set upon the public by the City Council and narcissistic Mayor, all too full of themselves to care about people.
Posted by: Robert | 10/09/2009 at 10:40 AM
Plain & simple. After I pay my ticket that I received for parking on a street where spaces run abundant. No lack of parking spaces what so ever. I ask, 'who I'm a affecting by staying over in my parking space a few extra minutes'? The man? who's the man? Is it officer Buckner? Certainly this life isn't fair? I mean you go through your entire child hood only to wake up one day A METER MAID? Now paying a $50 ticket for being 5 minutes late & another $50 for being 2 days late is obviously showing that I need to be on time. Here it cost me $100 + the $2 service fee. That's $102 for parking my transportation vehicle in an area where someone obviously doesn't want me. That's understandable, I'll never go back or visit your neighborhood ever again. Why did I go there to begin with? A man was arrested for having sex with a prostitute weeks earlier in an alley. Not to mention the double murder that occurred that week 100 ft from where I was parked. Obviously I'm not tough enough for your streets Mr. Buckner? You can have your streets & I'll gladly send you the $102. I will sleep effortlessly knowing that I have done my part to make sure Mr. Buckner continues his life duty of being a full fledged METER MAID. To the city of L.A. please make sure Mr. Buckner gets his cut.
wishes,
Posted by: common sense | 12/18/2009 at 01:02 PM