An Athens parking ticket is a rite of passage for visitors and Ohio University students, especially those who come from towns where police are not manic about parking enforcement. It often seems like the enforcers are lurking in dark corners or in the alleyways between buildings, waiting to pounce.
Few students with cars manage to avoid the ticket ' or more often, tickets. And so, between June 1, 2005, and May 31, 2006, Athens made $463,430 in parking fines and penalty fees for late payments.
That's nearly half a million dollars.
But that's not enough, according to Athens City Council, which has proposed an ordinance to raise parking ticket fines. More money is needed to pay for two more police officers to patrol neighborhoods, council said. And the choice comes down to raising more money or catering to drivers, a councilwoman said.
Before council tries to increase fines, it should invest some money to tell drivers what they can do to avoid them. Parking in Athens already is a challenge, thanks in part to the lack of clear signage showing where drivers can park and for how long. Twenty-four-hour streets are a particular pain for off-campus dwellers. In a city where it's an anomaly to own a car and not have gotten a ticket, increasing the fine seems like an exploitative move.
Local business owners say the increased fines would be a damaging move to their business, though there isn't much evidence to back up that statement. If council voted to increase the fine, students driving Uptown would be more aware of the delicate parking situation and the number of tickets would probably decrease.
For an alternative, Athens City Council should take a look at the proposal by Ralph Scarmack, owner of Interior Concepts: instead of targeting drivers, increase fines for those who litter, especially the ones who litter the sidewalks with cigarette butts. The city could make money and look cleaner.
Having a full staff at the Athens Police Department is important, but there are others ways to raise money.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Post executive editors.
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