Is by-law an asset or a hindrance to local small businesses?
In the age of social media, we have access to celebrities, random strangers from across the globe, and our local politicians like never before. At any given moment, we can show our admiration for our favorite star or share our concerns with decision-makers, giving us the opportunity to be a virtual cheerleader or to make a delegation of sorts to our elected official with a few strokes of our keyboard.
I remember before I became an elected school trustee, I used to engage often with those who held public office and I can recall one time when an email I had sent to all officials at our school board was referenced in public debate. It was rewarding knowing that our correspondences were being read and that our voices mattered.
How we engage online, of course, can be the difference between being passed off as a bad faith actor, or someone who genuinely cares and constructively adds their input to the public discourse. It is my belief that if we really want to make a difference, we must take a deep breath, set aside our biases, and focus on the facts that we feel matter within the grander debate. For me, I place myself back in the boardroom, surrounded by colleagues and staff that I have great respect for beyond our social and political differences, knowing that whatever I have to say, I must look them in the eyes as I share my concerns or ideas on the matter being debated.
Today, I am instead envisioning that I am a councillor for a day and that the issue at hand is by-law.
The Issue
In early July, I headed over to Ottawa Street for a haircut, and I needed to pick up some vinyl material for a project I was working on as well. When I entered the barbershop, I was asked if I had paid for parking and it was noted that by-law were being very aggressive with their ticketing. I said that I had, but appreciated their heads up.
The haircut took maybe 20 minutes, and from there I headed across the street for an additional 10 minutes to find the right vinyl for my project.
When I returned to my vehicle, I was greeted with a ticket under my windshield wipers. I was flabbergasted. I proceeded to open my Passport app and much to my chagrin, I had forgotten to add the plates for the vehicle that I had just bought into the app, so I had assigned a plate for a vehicle that I no longer had when I paid for parking.
I sent a message to by-law the very next day, attaching a copy of the ticket and a screenshot from the app that showed that I had paid for parking at the exact same time and location where the ticket was issued.
I received a response within 24 hours, stating the reasons that the ticket couldn’t be reversed, including that the onus is on the driver to ensure the information in the app is valid. I then asked if I could speak to a manager, and the response back was that a manager could not reverse the ticket, nor could a politician. A link with legal options was also included, which didn’t really point to anything useful, and that was it.
I left for vacation shortly after that correspondence for two weeks, returning to a hectic baseball schedule for the kids I coach and the ticket slipped to the back of my mind.
I just received a notice that the $25 ticket I received in a mostly empty lot, is now $100 – an infraction for something I clearly paid for, leaving me wondering what the purpose of disputing a ticket was, if proof of purchase was not evidence enough to reverse such a charge?
While $100 is not in my budget at this time (my own fault), my point of this correspondence is not about the money, but how we engage with the citizens we were either elected or hired to serve within the community. We must remember that in either capacity, we are all in the customer service industry and the way we interact, govern, and work, should be in good faith and in the best interest of the people.
The question I have, is why are by-law preying on people parking in an empty lot anyway? Especially when we are trying to support our local businesses. It’s obvious that this is happening a lot for shops to be warning their customers. This is not an attack on by-law staff either because procedures are passed down either from management or under the direction of our elected officials. I should have gotten a ticket that day. Staff had no proof that I had paid for parking – until they did.
I ask again, though, what is the purpose of having a dispute process, if evidence of having paid a ticket doesn’t suffice? Why aren’t we giving our customers – our residents – the benefit of the doubt in cases like this? Are we that broke as a city that we must act in a predatory fashion, to balance our books? It is easy to see why it feels like this, anyway.
The final question that I will ask is, are the laws, policies, and by-laws that we put in place as elected officials benefiting the city as a whole? Or, are they adding one more burden both financially and physically in a world where life is already exhausting and unaffordable? For so many of us, there isn’t enough time in the day to deal with work and family matters, never mind having to worry about by-law hiding behind a pole looking to meet their quota – preying on the mistakes of their customers trying to make it through another day, with a million worries on their mind before they even take that first sip of coffee in the morning.
Your local businesses see it, so why not leave their customers alone during these off-peak hours? Even if I hadn’t paid for parking, our cities benefit more from these sales than the $.50 it cost me for parking that day. Maybe I don’t have a quarter, a credit card, or a smartphone, but my intent is still to shop and spend my money in my community.
Yes, it was my error, but why are we creating a world where there is no forgiveness even for the most honest of mistakes?
Of course, a politician shouldn’t be wading in the weeds, but they can change the policies of how their staff and the various departments interact with the public and how they handle these case-by-case files. In this instance, on a balance of probabilities, the customer paid for parking at that time, at that place, so why not side with them when at least the intent was there? Or, on the side of the businesses who benefited from my support that day?
Thank you for your time.