posted by richard gill
Fifth Ward Alderman Leslie Hairston has announced plans to use money in her ward menu budget to pay for public parking this summer at the 63rd Street Beach, according to a story dated April 30, 2010 in the on-line Chicago Maroon. This follows on the Chicago Park District’s implementation of parking charges this year at its facilities citywide.
It is not the intention of this posting to delve into the various merits and drawbacks of implementing parking-for-pay where it was previously free. That has been covered heavily on this blog and almost everywhere else.
It is, however, the intention of this posting, to question the validity and the Alderman’s motivation for using public money to enable people to avoid paying a legal tax. Parking fees are, after all, a user tax. Is this what the menu budget is supposed to be for? There are other far-more pressing needs in the ward, one of which is the miles and miles of broken pavement and teeth-rattling potholes still left over from last winter. Then there are youth issues, crime issues and other things.
As for motivation, the Alderman says she’s against making people pay to park at the beach and will fight against it. Sounds sincere, sort of. But let’s not forget that it’s a hot-button political issue, and Alderman Hairston wants to get re-elected in February 2011. Voters always remember a political freebie.
Yes, be sure to remember. If you live in Chicago, you pay for Alderman Hairston’s “free” parking at the beach. Remember that in February…..February 22, to be specific.
It is not the intention of this posting to delve into the various merits and drawbacks of implementing parking-for-pay where it was previously free. That has been covered heavily on this blog and almost everywhere else.
It is, however, the intention of this posting, to question the validity and the Alderman’s motivation for using public money to enable people to avoid paying a legal tax. Parking fees are, after all, a user tax. Is this what the menu budget is supposed to be for? There are other far-more pressing needs in the ward, one of which is the miles and miles of broken pavement and teeth-rattling potholes still left over from last winter. Then there are youth issues, crime issues and other things.
As for motivation, the Alderman says she’s against making people pay to park at the beach and will fight against it. Sounds sincere, sort of. But let’s not forget that it’s a hot-button political issue, and Alderman Hairston wants to get re-elected in February 2011. Voters always remember a political freebie.
Yes, be sure to remember. If you live in Chicago, you pay for Alderman Hairston’s “free” parking at the beach. Remember that in February…..February 22, to be specific.
