Ald. Lane Wants Cool Parking Thingy, Too

By Prescott Carlson in News on May 22, 2009 4:20PM

While many in the city expressed outrage when it was discovered an aide to 44th Ward Alderman Tom Tunney was using a homemade placard to park his Lincoln wherever he pleased, one Alderman thought, "You know, that's not such a bad idea." Ald. Lona Lane (18th) has floated out a measure that all 50 of the city's aldermen should get a special "sign or sticker" identifying their vehicles. Lane says this is needed so they can attend meetings of "block clubs" on permit-only streets -- avoiding the awkwardness of asking the host for a visitor pass -- and also so aldermen can check out police or fire scenes unfettered:

Lane said the sign would also be valuable when she tries to help family members get information about emergencies such as car wrecks. "A lot of times, police and the fire department won't tell them what's going on. They just say, 'Get back, get back.'"

We can see Manny Flores now, cruising around in his car with police scanner in hand, at the ready to rush to an emergency scene to relay information back to victims' families. It will also help aldermen get around firetrucks when perhaps they've had a few too many.

Lane insists the sign/sticker could not be used to dodge parking meter tickets, telling the Trib, "I don't want to get beat up on this. I don't have any parking meters in my ward. This is not for parking meters at all." Of course not! The city's parking enforcement workers will gleefully issue meter violations to an alderman's car without fear of retribution.

Ald. Lane's proposal is expected to be reviewed by the Traffic Committee, and if passed will go in front of the city council for a rubber stamp approval vote. [Trib]