October 6, 2008
Bucktown Versus Streets & Sanitation Dept.
A new battle pitting citizens against the city is brewing in Bucktown where 137 cars were towed over the weekend to clear the roads for a 5K race, an action that residents say happened without warning. The Streets and Sanitation Department begs to differ; spokesman Matt Smith claims the signs were posted Thursday night and Friday warning residents of the Sunday morning race. A home-made sign posted in the neighborhood Sunday morning directed residents to call Ald. Scott Waguespack's office if they felt their cars had been wrongly towed. Tim Eberline, whose car was towed while he spent the night with a friend, was told when he got his car out of the impound that "by immediately retrieving -- rather than putting in the paper work to appeal the tow -- he was told he was pleading guilty and had no further recourse." There must be a mix-up because the city would never pull a fast one on its residents for the purposes of financial gain.
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I live in the area and during a jog through the neighborhood the evening before I didn't notice a single sign posted. I suppose I could have missed them but, then again, $20 says the signs were put up in the early morning hours on the day of the race.
Bastards.
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Even if those signs did go up when the city says they did, is 24 hrs really enough warning? The city knew of the race months ahead.
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Sorry, 48 hrs...
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I have heard of this happening before at these 5K locations. Finally, it's made it into the news. Of course, the clouted city workers responsible for this mess have no worry about being fired. Heck, they brought in some revenue!
Let's hope that some of the offenders are laid off in the imminent downsizing. Oh wait, if you know the right political hack you are not going to get laid off.
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Tim Eberline, whose car was towed while he spent the night with a friend, was told when he got his car out of the impound that "by immediately retrieving -- rather than putting in the paper work to appeal the tow -- he was told he was pleading guilty and had no further recourse."
Just in case this happens to anyone else, the quoted passage is absolutely not true. You are able to request a hearing after retrieving your car from impound. Paying the impound fee is not the same as paying a traffic ticket, which indicates a guilty plea.
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A similar incident happened last Spring in Hyde Park, right before a bicycle race. My husbands car was towed despite there being no signs posted at all. He was able to request the tow hearing while paying the towing fee. He was also able to orchestrate the whole thing with the other twenty people who were towed to have their hearings all in a row. We took a video of the street showing it had no signs and everyone got their money back... but huge pain in the ass. I am considering buying a park space just to avoid it happening again.
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This happened recently in Ravenswood as well:
http://theexpiredmeter.com/?p=171