October 10, 2008
One day after the city auditor exposed that parking attendants are willing to accept bribes of free food and drink in exchange for issuing tickets, Richmonders say they have left spare change in their car and begun leaving animal cracker
s, Goldfish snacks and Gatorade on their hoods.
“It typically takes me so long to find a spot in Cary Court, and being able to pay the parking enforcers with food and drinks will make things so much easier,” said Mary Hollings, a Fan District homemaker who plans to shop in Carytown next Tuesday, but usually dreads her trips there because of the difficulty in finding a spot, as many are restricted from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ”No worry though, because I already pack animal crackers and juice boxes for my twins, so now I’ll just bring an extra set for the attendants. And who doesn’t like animal crackers?”
City Auditor Umesh Dalal said surveillance tapes have shown six employees of Lanier Parking Systems, Richmond’s parking-enforcement contractor, accepting free food or beverages on 12 different occasions. While not a normal practice, Dalal said, it is “a big improvement” from the contractor’s previous - and more expensive – acceptances of the Season 3 DVD collection of Lost, car fresheners or gift certificates to Ikea.
Chris Blevins, a sophomore at Virginia Commonwealth University, also plans to take advantage of the new parking-payment system. He says he and his friends will stop carpooling to Shockoe Slip bars and instead take each of their tricked-out 1997 Chevrolet Cavaliers. “I am going to leave a sweet care package down by my tire that no parking enforcement officer can resist,” he said.
The 19-year-old added that he hopes to use the money he saves on parking to upgrade his Cavalier’s window tint beyond a street-legal shade.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This was the first story by our newest writer. With a larger writing staff at Tobacco Avenue, expect more frequent updates on the news that matters most – none of which matters at all.
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