February 3, 2011 in City

Clark: Council should throw downtown parkers a bone

Doug Clark The Spokesman-Review

Tags:Joe Shoganparkingparking metersSpokane City Council

Anyone who has ever raised a piddling puppy knows how important it is to praise the brainless little yapper on those rare occasions when it does the right thing.

So I’d like to say the following to the Spokane City Council:

“You’re a goood Council. Yes you are. Yessss you are. You’re a very gooood Council. Dougie loves you. Yes he does. He really does. Goood JOB!!!”

(I know. That’s embarrassing. But it’s always essential to speak down to the critter’s level of understanding.)

Anyway, the council deserves positive reinforcement for not going along with an idiot proposal to up the fines on parking violations from $15 to 25 smackeroos.

This fee hike was proposed by Joe Shogan, the council’s alpha dog and president.

Now I like Joe. He’s a spirited mutt whose bark is always worse than his bite.

But he made a no-no on our civic carpet with this parking fee plan.

Bad Joe. Baaaad Joe!

Sometimes what passes for inspiration in this burg boggles the brain.

Let me spell it out for you.

The city’s downtown business core is in survival mode.

If the Spokane economy was a blizzard we’d be in a Level 12 Snow Emergency.

Upping the penalty on expired meters would be just one more disincentive for shoppers to come on down and spend some dough.

Bigger parking fines?

Why not just stick up a big sign at Post Street and Main Avenue offering consumers convenient directions to NorthTown or the Spokane Valley Mall?

Here’s a better idea. How about once a month the city of Spokane offers – ta dah! – Free Parking Meters Saturday.

Don’t worry about tickets, folks. Just come downtown and shop, shop, shop!

I call it a nostalgic nod to the cheaper good ol’ days.

A few details would have to be worked out, sure. The meter patrol, for example, could mark tires and ding any piggy who stayed at one meter beyond two hours, say.

I’m not naïve. I know the city’s appetite for raking in revenue is far too insatiable to ever embrace Free Parking Meters Saturday.

Plus this fee-raise malarkey is hardly gone.

The puppies on the council merely decided to table the notion until they can gnaw on the data from a parking study.

Well, I’ve been conducting my own Spokane parking study for the last 25 years and the council can have my results for nothing.

What I’ve found is that a lot of people around here suffer from a psychological disorder known as parkaphobia. In layman’s terms, this is an abnormal fear of parking meters.

Most parkaphobes can be found living east of Havana.

I’ve actually encountered Valley residents who haven’t ventured into downtown Spokane since Expo ’74.

When you press them for an explanation it’s always the same.

“Parking meters. Parking tickets. Ahrrrrgghh!!”

Plenty of parkaphobes live in the city, too.

I don’t get it. But that’s the way it is around here.

Our city leaders need to do whatever they can to keep the downtown as shopper-friendly as possible.

Raising the fines on parking violations is NOT the way to accomplish this.

Bad Joe. Baaaad Joe!

Doug Clark is a columnist for The Spokesman-Review. He can be reached at (509) 459-5432 or by e-mail at dougc@spokesman.com.

16 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

lewis8457 on February 03 at 6:39 a.m.
they just want to make all the money they can so they can buy some more vacant buildings they have no use for.
DHF on February 03 at 6:39 a.m.
Doug you should run for Mayor or City Council. I am one who has not been downtown since Expo 74. The reason is the Parking. You usually cant find a place to park near where you want to go. When you do find Parking then you have to worry about the meter and tickets. Kind of takes the fun out of it. Keep up the good work.
JBlim on February 03 at 6:47 a.m.
Nobody goes downtown anymore, it’s too crowded.
lewis8457 on February 03 at 7:37 a.m.
The young go downtown, anybody raising a family goes to Wal-Mart.
PlanB on February 03 at 7:45 a.m.
Doug, you otta look into why all the parking meters within walking distance to your employers shopping/movie center no longer give you enough time to actually watch a movie.
lafleur10 on February 03 at 8:19 a.m.
The idea that parking downtown is remotely an issue is idiotic beyond belief. Try going any West coast metropolitan city and then come back and talk to me about parking. Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland, to name a few, are impossible to find parking downtown and tickets are twice what they are here (or 3x in SF).
I’ve lived here for 3 years, and travel downtown 3-5 times a week for meetings, shopping, eating etc. and NEVER have a problem finding parking within a block of my destination.
Also, I’ve never seen so many cheap lots - .75 per hour is incredibly low and they are all over downtown. We also have cheap meters a few blocks further - 10 hours for some of them!
Wow, what a bunch of wimps. If you can’t afford $1.50 to park to watch a movie or have dinner, then stay home because you shouldn’t be spending any money at all, otherwise stop whining. Either you want to be considered a real “city” or you don’t (and if you don’t, then stop downgrading where you live because it doesn’t have enough of x). Real city’s charge more for parking per hour, they charge more for fines, and they require driving a long ways to find an open spot. Be happy and stop complaining about everything.
SpokaneCan on February 03 at 8:27 a.m.
Thank you lafleur10! Finally a voice of reason on this topic.
C_D on February 03 at 8:30 a.m.
DHF, how would you know that if you haven’t been downtown in thirty-some years? That aside, I do agree that it would be a big mistake to raise the amount of a parking ticket. I’m also not pleased to hear that the City is considering switching all parking meters to only two rates. I often frequent businesses on the outskirts of the downtown core where parking is a reasonable 25 cents per hour. Under this proposal, this rate will go away. If I’m going out for a $3 latte I’m okay paying a small amount to park. But I will drive a little further up the hill to a coffee shop where I can park for free if the rates are raised.
MrNatural on February 03 at 8:55 a.m.
One day at a curbside stopping
Where I parked with plans for shopping
At some stores where any purchase
No strapped merchant could ignore;
Economic times are scary
Shoppers with their cash are wary
So customers like me are needed
Bottom lines to help restore;
I’d stop awhile and do some shopping
Shop a bit and nothing more.
But next to where I parked was rooted
A meter for collections suited
A long metallic stem at rest
That bore a high tech marvel crest;
I shrugged and thought t’will merely gobble
Some change, my purpose it won’t hobble
With all the coins I had, I thought
This metal monster’s easy bought;
I’d feed the thing a coin or two
And then my shopping trip renew.
I reached into my coin filled purse
A little tribute to disburse
This ain’t, I thought, a total waste
The city also needs its taste;
But though I pumped coins unabated
This high tech meter wasn’t sated
I fed it two, then three, then four
Still squawked the meter: “Feed me more.”
My change soon gone I reached for dollars
To quiet its metallic hollers
I fed it Mastercard and Visa
Shouted this should now appease ya;
While none of this did it reject
And even squawked: “I’ll take a check”
I begged it let me shop one store
It answered back: “First feed me more.”
As I stood there, loose lipped, gawking
I saw the meter’s sidekick stalking
With ball point pen and ticket pad
He stood there poised his gouge to add;
I knew that ticket fines were huge
And once wrote there was no refuge
So to my car I quickly raced
I’d no more time or money waste
I’d patronize no local store
And shop in downtown? Never more.
misjustice on February 03 at 9:04 a.m.
Mr. Natch, your poem is a nice compliment to Clark’s article. Thanks for the morning chuckle!
; )
EdubU on February 03 at 9:19 a.m.
Right on Lafluer10. I took my daughter to Riverfront Park in Spokane for two hours and spent $4 to park on the street. I then took her to Seattle Center for two hours and spent $24
for the two hours. Typical Spokane griping. Ya’ll don’t realize how good you have it. Time to move forward and progress Spokanites.
Dazzeetrader11 on February 03 at 10:50 a.m.
The only problem with Lafeur and his cheerleaders is this: You’re not tliving in Seattle, San Francisco or Los Angeles….cities with amenties and needs far beyond anything in Spokane. STOP the spending of silly projects. Sell what you’ve bought.
In addition, Spokane isn’t funded like those cities. Jobs in Spokane and it’s economy don’t support or justify any increase.
Further though, what’s the pint of theincrease? Simple…send Verner more money to misuse. There is no “value added”. Nothing to spend the money on.no new project announced…nothing really except a continued thirst for money…..at a time when money is scarce.
Verner and Shogan, as lewis hints, simply need to sell some thier stupid purchases..and this would balance the budget. This new penalty will hurt a struggling downtown…..it cannot complete with “free parking” in the mallls and elsewhere. Lafleur would have that exact thing happen. It’s beyond parks and amenities.
One thing unannounced though is what will Verner spend her new money on? General fund. …whihc is her private use bank. In other words, anything she wants. SInce she’s is the quenn of mismanged funds, why stock her sholves again? Kinda like your redlight camera money. Initially Verner/Shogan said it would go back to the neighborhoods. Guess where it went? And guess where the new camera money goes? General FUnd. Stop this council and this Mayor. They mean you harm.and they don’t want you to know it.
lewis8457 on February 03 at 11:17 a.m.
I worked in downtown Portland for 12 years, i never had a hard time finding a parking spot and never had a parking ticket. In the summer i would park across the river for free and walk across the bridge to work
Many times i would park at the lite rail station and ride into the city for free.
I have never had trouble finding a spot in Spokane. The only free spots of two years ago are all metered now. If I ever go down there i always park by the Fox Theater there is always spots there.
The topic is about parking fines. The last one I had was when i was washing windows downtown, and even though my truck at the business sticker on the window it still cost me 10 bucks.
lafleur10 on February 03 at 3:59 p.m.
Daisy - sorry, I disagree with most of your post. Parking and fines go to service our debt for the River Park Square parking fiasco, and what is left over (not very much) goes to street maintenance. Therefore, we HAVE projects that the money is dedicated to but we can’t because of the parking debt. The RPS parking issue was long before any of the current pols came into office. Go talk to the Cowles family about that one.
The red light money goes to fixing arterial street, instead of the promised residential streets, so I get the complaint, but that isn’t the general fund. It still is used to fix streets, just not the ones originally promised. Go talk to Shogun and this City Council (that overturned the will of the neighborhood groups) about that change.
As for comparing us to other cities, why not? I think Spokane has many qualities that are far superior to those places, which is why my family relocated here. That our parking is better is a plus and I’m fine with that. Just please stop acting like it is a big problem. A $15 fine is pretty low, regardless of where you live.
And Lewis, my post was in response to complaints that parking downtown is a hassle - be it because of fines, spaces, or meter rates. That simply isn’t true in my opinion.
soccermomsusie on February 03 at 6:49 p.m.
As usual, Doug is as right as he is funny!!
Seattle and Portland recently eliminated paying for all parking Downtown and now their cities are finally booming. In fact, their local newspapers will pay you to park Downtown!!! How about it Spokesman-Review?
I think there is already a protest movement underway against parking meters in Downtown Spokane. Every time I try to find a place to park, all of them are full. And there are people lined up to take the next available one. Way to go protesters! Obviously NO ONE is willing to pay for parking Downtown!!
I bet the Cowles Family is ready to offer free parking at RPS (well not really free - the City is still writing the check to them) to help starving, empty, Downtown (don’t believe me? just drive by the Apple Store - THEY’RE ALL MANIKINS. THOSE THRONGS ARE NOT PEOPLE). Doug maybe you could write something that is hilarious to get our benefactors to do that.
YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!
HEAR OUR VOICE!!!!!
soccermomsusie on February 03 at 6:51 p.m.
Oh and you, as always sir, are “DOG GONE” funny! You can use that if you want.
HEAR OUR VOICE!!!