Oct 23, 2009 5:12 pm US/Pacific
Call Kurtis: Fighting City Hall
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
A few quarters may cost a Sacramento man $40. We crossed paths with Jim Patterson downtown as he was fuming about a ticket he'd just gotten. He didn't think it was fair, and you might not either if you can't "pay & display", but instead get a citation.
"That's my car right there," Jim says walking up to it. It's still in the same spot when it got the ticket placed under his wiper.
Jim says had business at the Sacramento County Courthouse. He parked his car there on the 900 block of G Street and tried to plug a few quarters into the "pay & display" but it wouldn't take them.
"And it said 'wait a moment,' and I couldn't get anything in there," said Jim.
So, wanting to do the responsible thing, he left his identification and a note in his windshield.
He wrote: "The ticket thing is not working. 10/6/09, 2:40 pm," then it was off to the courthouse.
"And when I came back, low and behold, I got a $39 parking ticket," said Jim.
And it was a surprise. He tried to do the right thing but the machine wouldn't take his money. It still doesn't.
"No way, and it still says 'wait a moment please'. It said that at 2:40 when I got here," said Jim.
So what was he supposed to have done? Linda Tucker, at the city of Sacramento said: "..ideally we encourage people to try the next closest station if at all possible; we understand if they cannot."
And there was another station close by. In fact, there were three others on the same block. Jim says he didn't notice them. He would've liked it if the person writing the ticket would have checked the broken unit and cut him a break. After all, he wasn't trying to get away without paying.
"It is frustrating that the thing doesn't work. That could have been checked. I had a note. I had my identification. But I still got a ticket," said Jim.
Jim says he's fighting city hall on this one. And he may have shot at winning. The city told us each of those "pay & display" units electronically notify them when it's broken; it logs the date and time of the error. They can then verify Jim's claim and waive the citation.
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