'Stop The Meters' Rally Set For Tomorrow
By Karl Klockars in News on Jun 18, 2009 8:20PM
The "Parking Ticket Geek" announced on his now-ChicagoNow-located Expired Meter site that there's a "Stop the Meters" protest set for tomorrow from 10:15 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in the South Chicago neighborhood. Alderman John Pope will be facing off against angered constitutents who are trying to ensure that no more parking meters go into their neighborhood, already stretched by the bad economy.
The rally has its roots in the frustration over the parking meter lease, of course, but the direct cause of the rally stems from the South Chicago Chamber of Commerce working with Ald. Pope to add more metered parking to a busy street. Chamber head Neil Bosanko went to the alderman to start the process of bringing new meters to a stretch of S. Commercial in order to keep cars from parking all day in front of businesses that could benefit from a more rapid turnover.
As word of the potential new meters began spreading in this neighborhood, and all the controversies and negative press surrounding the parking meter lease deal, the meter rate hikes and the transition of the meters from city to private control, began worrying local business owners and motorists who live, shop or frequent this area.Robert Garcia, Technology Coordinator for Centro Comunitario Juan Diego (CCJD) , began organizing a petition drive and talking to the 30 or so businesses located in this two block area. Garcia says he found very little support for installing new meters and in fact, according to him, most people were opposed to the idea.
"We hit the streets and started talking to people," said Garcia. "A lot of people are upset by the meters. They don't want them. We're upset about the (parking meter lease) deal in general, the rates are ridiculous. It just makes no sense."
A petition has been submitted to the Alderman with 1600 signatures on it, including many of the businesses that would be affected by the new meters. Rally organizers are hoping for a turnout of about a hundred people or so. The bigger question is this: For all the talk, vitrol and handwringing about the parking meter lease, is a greater number of those upset by the meter deal willing to make the trek to South Chicago to back it up?