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I feel it is necessary to respond to the Winona Daily News article in the Oct. 23 edition headlined, “Alternate Side Parking: It Comes.”
We rely on the media to inform the public of the upcoming winter parking regulations every year. We feel it is important to get that information out in a timely fashion so the public can prepare for the winter season parking regulations.
The reporter, Kevin Behr, not only made a decision to attempt to make humor of the news release, but also made some statements that were inaccurate.
He states that “police officers and towing companies seem to find special pleasure this time of year.” There is nothing further from the truth.
Police officers and towing companies take their responsibility to provide streets that are safe for both motorists and pedestrians very seriously. We understand that the safety of our citizens is dependant on us doing our best to provide a snow removal system that works.
The alternate-side parking program has been in effect for 19 years. It replaced a system that wasn’t providing safe streets for the public.
Under the old system, we ticketed and towed only when a snow emergency was declared. The ticketing and towing lasted for three days, and 200 to 400 vehicles were towed by the two towing companies hired by the city. Both companies provided three to five tow trucks, and each had a large vehicle storage area. They had hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in equipment and storage lots. On days when snow emergencies were not called and one to three inches of snow fell, much of the snow stayed on the streets and caused serious problems for vehicles to move safely on the streets.
In 1989, Director of Public Works Bob Bollant, Streets Superintendent Gene Gile and I met and recommended an alternate-side parking program. The program was necessary for two reasons.
First, there were environmental concerns with leaves and foliage moving into the river and lake. We felt that if we could orchestrate people moving their vehicles in the first two weeks of November, that the Street Department could utilize the street sweeper through the day and night hours to remove the leaves and foliage. Second, we felt that if people
got into a pattern of moving their vehicles nightly when a snow emergency was called the plows could move easily through the city and plow streets to ensure clean streets for the public.
We work with the media and Winona State University every year to get the word out to citizens that the program goes into effect on Nov. 1 each year. We also make certain we have done everything possible to inform citizens of the program.
Behr, in his article, states that “police boast of the number of parking tickets they write.”
It has been our experience that once the program begins Nov. 1, some of the news media reporters are diligent in asking every morning how many tickets were written the previous evening. The Data Practices Law requires that we release those numbers to the media, as it is public information.
In the 22 years I have been the police
chief, I have never heard any officer boast of the number of tickets written. Trust me, if every citizen complied with the program and no tickets were written, that would be wonderful.
As for Behr’s statement “the towers rake in more than $100 per vehicle.” The towing company used by the city has had to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment and a storage lot to provide this service. We hire it out so the city does not have to purchase tow trucks and a storage area. They provide a service necessary to ensure the safe passage of vehicles and pedestrians on our streets, and I thank them for their years of service.
In closing, the city has an open mind when it comes to recommendations that can improve a system. We welcome input from citizens and are more than willing to modify our system if it works to keep motorists and pedestrians safe.
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