Want to know who had over $800,000 in unpaid parking tickets? So do I. I filed a Right To Know and received this letter in my mailbox today. Outstanding Parking Tickets RTK Among other things, the Drivers Privacy Protection Act was one reason my Right To Know request was denied.
The parking amnesty program resulted in payment on 111 tickets for an income of $1300.
I am learning quickly that the unreasonable, the uncooperative, and those who are above the law are the ones who seem to be ahead here in Mt. Lebanon.
28 comments:
Hey Representative Smith are you going to see that local government works for us or is that just a bunch of the usual political blabber?
Figures the Drivers Privacy Protection Act doesn't serve the lawbiding citizen.
Wonder whom is being protected?
Drivers privacy protection act is a BS excuse.
If that applied here then Chief Ogden is in violation by publishing the names of any cited for a DUI!
Ambulance chasing attorneys out there... sign up every driver published in the police blotter for a DUI or violation and sue the municipality for violating the Drivers Privacy Protection Act!
Furthermore Elaine wasn't asking about the drivers information. She was asking for the name of the person that violated a municipal code. One can the name of any code violator simply by asking for it. It's a matter of public record.
This is a dirty stinking cover up, nothing more.
I promise you this, should I ever get stopped in Mt. Lebanon for a traffic violation in MtL and it gets published on the police blotter, I'm suing them for every dime I can get.
If you're intent on knowing you could ask them for a list of the parking meters that the violations occurred for the scofflaw that got 156 tickets.
I'm betting they parked in or near the same meter regularly. Knowing that would give you a pretty good idea of whom the violator was.
They can't protect a parking meter and the violation would have the meter's location noted.
Of course none of this would actually matter if Raja and his other parking authority buddies actually minded the store. Thanks again everyone!
Why people wanted this thing to stay "functioning" is beyond me!
Had the authority been run as it should, collected the fines it should, we would've been OK.
Unfortunately we have a lot of things running in the dark, without proper oversight and audits... the JMA, MTL magazine, the YSA.
This is COVER-UP MANAGEMENT at its worst.
I'm betting the 159 tickets were give at a meter very close to the municipal building.
I also thought the police would collect these tickets.
This has an odor all the way to Dormont.
Clearly, the public has a right to know the name, date, nature of parking offense and fine. The DPPA was enacted to prevent road rage by people looking up personal information using state license plate tag numbers.
I'm sure Mr. Feller's office is capable of blacking out contact info and license plate tag numbers.
From http://epic.org/privacy/drivers/
The Drivers Privacy Protection Act requires all States to protect the privacy of personal information contained in an individual's motor vehicle record. This information includes the driver's name, address, phone number, Social Security Number, driver identification number, photograph, height, weight, gender, age, certain medical or disability information, and in some states, fingerprints. It does not include information concerning a driver's traffic violations, license status or accidents.
Since it does not concern traffic violations, and parking infractions are not even considered moving violations, it is intuitively obvious to the casual observer the municipality is violating the state's open records law. I'm no lawyer, but I can smell a cover-up going on here.
-Anon
Exactly 8:09. The municipality has no problems plastering an individuals DUI, something that I would find very embarrassing, but an unpaid parking ticket has to be hidden.
Rediculous. It's a cover up.
Appeal it, Elaine !
No don't appeal it. Vote these ppeople out and start axing some personnel.
Kim DeBourbon already addressed this very issue here:
http://www.pafoic.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1266418770
-anon
Great expose 10:17.
The first person to get the ax should be the solicitor. This isn't their first screw up.
Appeal it, Elaine. You're right on this one and the solicitor is flat out wrong. Also, send copies of this to the attorney general's office. This town needs a good bath to wash away the dirt. That'll start with the next election.
Wait, its not up to Elaine to expose this stuff.
We have a Super Hero already.
"I'm working hard in our state Capitol and [AT HOME] to make government work for you and our community." Rep. Matt Smith
He has the resources, the connections and the power to get to the bottom of this. Of course, contrary to his political campaign rhetoric he won't.
I went to Matt Smith's office about an issue that was discussed here. His staff told me that I will hear from someone in the next day or so. That was two weeks ago. Still nothing. Do you think they're a little cranky because I said that posing with Jo Posti in a photo op was committing political suicide?
Elaine
So take your letter down there and show it to him. either he believes in the rule of law or he doesn't. There's no nuance to it.
I don't know, but I'm compiling my list of political office holders that I'm not voting for in the next election.
He's lever won't be pulled for many reasons.
The only person Matt Smith is working hard for... is Matt Smith.
Everyone start calling and emailing his office. He'll have to address it at some point. Be polite, be respectful and be patient. But don't let him off the hook.
I just heard from Matt Smith. I sent his office the link to my RTK response from Steve Feller. He will look into it.
He explained that the burden of proof is with the municipality to explain why the information was denied. I guess they did that.
According to the information from the PaFOIC Forum, the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act comes into play. I could get the vehicle registration numbers since those are visible on the street. The DPPA was mentioned in Steve Feller's response.
Elaine
Very cute how their solicitor is parsing your request to be solely about driver information. Nice try, pal but...the actual offense is not protected. Oh, and there's the little matter of Pa law that requires municipalities to send unpaid parking tickets to district justices for court proceedings within 30 days of the issue date. So it would appear there are a few players here who CHOSE to ignore the law. One ticket that falls through the cracks? I can buy that. Maybe,-just maybe-two. But over 150?? Hell no.
Elaine maybe you should revise your request a bit. All I can think is perhaps the unpaid tickets were someone involved in the entire chain of command. Gee, that would tend to limit the players.
Or try Pippy- whats he got to do now anyhow?
One of the comments that I never received comes from Franci Eberz. She wrote in the email:
"I asked why you wanted the names of the persons with the unpaid tickets published.
Franci"
I guess my answer would be, "Why not?" If the names were made public, perhaps more people would come forward and pay their fines. Maybe we could see a pattern and discover where the breakdown was. Or it might give us some insight to see if the tickets were actually paid, but not reported as paid. Lots of reasons. Are you nervous? ;-)
Elaine
Why do people want the names of bloggers Franci?
Why is Congress holding Holder in contempt?
Why does the municipality publish a police blotter.
Why do we have Sunshine Laws?
Why do we have RTKs?
The reason we want to know the name is because we want to know whom holds our laws and regulations. Franci, if this individual can ignore 156 parking violations, why don't we all?
Everybody start parking at Lebo meters and should you happen to get a ticket ignore it. Franci doesn't care and she doesn't wantnto know.
Actually, it is 159 parking violations, but who's counting?
Elaine
I parked at a meter last week to run an errand and rather then plunk change into the meter, I thought "screw it". If almost 200 incidents of parking violations were ignored why should I care? It's a joke.
Should you get a ticket I wonder how the municipality could justify dragging your tail into court or booting your vehicle when some clown has gotten away with 159 unpaid tickets?
If they won't tell us the offenders name, I wonder if they'll fill us in on how they plan on collecting the remaining unpaid tickets?
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