Doug Clark: These pennies weren’t exactly from heaven

Today we celebrate Don Kiehl, Spokane’s penny-paying parking protester.

Believing he had been screwed by an unjust parking violation, the 43-year-old building inspector decided to pay his $40 fine – with 4,000 loose pennies.

Correction. Make that 4,001 loose pennies.

Kiehl apparently tossed in one too many Lincoln heads while filling a cardboard box with pennies from a giant jar of spare change he’d been saving.

The extra coin came back like a mini-bonus after he settled his infraction tab.

“I figured I’ll make them waste $40 worth of time,” reasoned Kiehl of the plan behind his protest.

The great penny exchange went down on a recent sunny afternoon.

Kiehl invited me along to witness the event. As a fellow parking protester, I was happy to oblige.

Years ago I launched my own coin warfare on Spokane parking. I publicized the fact that Canadian quarters, nickels and dimes (which were greatly devalued at the time) worked just like Yankee coins in our wind-up meters.

Then the city switched to the digital bandits that plague us today. The contraptions will still gobble a Canadian coin, but with one major drawback: You don’t get any time for them.

I hate to say this, but Kiehl’s penny payoff was disappointing. I wanted to watch some tax-paid bureaucrat have to count all the coins by hand.

One cent. Two cents. Three cents….

That would have been some hilarious parking payback.

Unfortunately Randy Brandt was having none of that. Brandt is a commissioner for Spokane County District Court. He was sent to collect Kiehl’s coinage. But Brandt insisted on making the transfer in a bank where pennies can be processed through an automated counter.

Oh, well. At least some good came out of all this.

The District Court has a written policy stating that clerks may refuse large quantities of unrolled coins because of the “undue burden” it places on the staff.

Now we know this little technicality – much like the Spokane city ethics policy – can be gotten around.

You just have to be as obsessed with making a point as Kiehl.

His ticket woes began the last day of January. He fed two dimes into a downtown meter and returned to his car to find a ticket. Kiehl contends the meter was faulty and shorted him on minutes.

Don’t worry. I won’t rehash Kiehl’s meter malaise.

The only facts that matter are: 1. Kiehl disputed the ticket and lost and, 2. His $15 fine swelled to 40 bucks in the process.

At that point Kiehl hatched his pay-by-pennies plan.

So down he went to the Public Safety Building and lugged his box to a pay window. A supervisor told him no way and cited the loose coin rule.

At this point most people would have forked over a couple of 20s and gone away muttering.

Not this rebel. Kiehl filed an appeal on grounds his pennies were perfectly legal and must be taken.

His next stop came in late April before Sara Derr, the presiding judge over Spokane County District and Municipal courts. Luckily Derr has a sense of humor and didn’t give Kiehl the chair.

After hearing the man out, she decided to override the coin policy. She told Kiehl he could pay up in pennies right then and there.

Kiehl, alas, didn’t have his stash with him. The poor guy had open-heart surgery a month earlier and the blasted box was too heavy to carry.

And so the aforementioned exchange day was set. The pennies were passed. And now Kiehl has a nifty newspaper clipping that can be used to document his eccentric behavior.

“I do this every once in awhile – I get stupid,” conceded Spokane’s penny parking protester with a laugh. “But I feel better now.”