Parking tickets will not be rescinded

DOWNTOWN TOLEDO - Residents who received $25 parking tickets for parking on their own property over the past week will not be rescinded, said representatives with Toledo's streets, bridges and harbor division.

But during a hearing Monday in city council chambers, a legal opinion said that if the $25 tickets were brought before a judge, those tickets would likely be thrown out because the appeal process given on the tickets is not correct.

Councilman D. Michael Collins, who still felt citizens deserved a warning, went head-to-head against Acting Commissioner Sue Frederick for most of the meeting.

"These are people. These are citizens of this community," Councilman Collins said. "You better listen up to me right now. These are not "people" and you are not God! And you may get that attitude from the 22nd floor, that you are the hero in that, but I'm telling you right now, they are the ones that pay taxes. They are the ones that have expectations of services. They are the ones that are responsible for your paycheck."

A city ordinance that was passed in 1991 requires vehicles to be parked on a paved drive.

"I think it's really crazy," said Bobbie Jo Wood, who lives near where the parking fines were handed out by Frederick. "I've been parking there for 13 years and my parents have been parking there for 43. I think it's just a money getter."

"All at once - it's our anniversary, our 43rd anniversary - and I get a gift from the city," said Charles Robertson, who also received a ticket. "I thought that was really nice of (Mayor Carty) Finkbeiner and his crew. He's a swell kind of guy."

Frederick, who issued the fine, said if Robertson wanted to appeal the $25 citation, he would have to pay a $50 bond.

Wood and Robertson were just a handful of residents who gave testimony in front of council about how Frederick walked onto their property and wrote citations. One person, who was not identified, said she was in favor of enforcement of the tickets saying that neighbors parking on gravel decreases the value of her home and property.

Frederick, though, has said she was just responding to complaints and the mayor has stood by her actions.

Mayor Carty Finkbeiner said the tickets written by Frederick and her department are valid and have to be paid.

"They broke the law. That's why you write a ticket," Mayor Finkbeiner said.

The Finkbeiner administration denies the parking fines are a way to collect money to help defray the city's over $15 million budget deficit.

Collins collected the $25 tickets June 15 after meeting with his constituents and will pay the fines if he has to. He added if his constituents wanted to appeal, they would not be able to because the complaints board residents would have to go through has been dissolved.

If you have any questions about parking regulations, you are asked to call the Division of Streets, Bridges and Harbor at (419) 936-2508 for clarification.

(FOX Toledo's Kristi Leigh contributed to this report)