EPC ignores public consultation promises: why the public needs a watchdog

This powerful episode, recorded live on location, explains more background and ties together media reports about Red River College's privacy law woes, the scrambling of the CMHR plans to hire staff and open on - well it isn't on time cause it was already late - and their "Orwellian" question and answer exercise; and lastly, what happened at city hall when the Downtown Parking Plan was rubber-stamped with no regard for the unconnected common folk who are being denied input.

This is the third neighborhood this week to report an absence of fair treatment by city "planning".

Listen for an online comment about the difference between Coun. Eadie's tirade about his own backyard and the silence of councillors when other areas get steamrolled by city processes.

We explain how this ties in to the launch of a new website next week, and why the general public needs resources like our Podcast and our coverage of city hall, the Legislature, and local blogs to help them stand up to decision-makers and hold them accountable. Listen for how you can be part of the next stage.

Plus :
- more on homicides number 36 and 37,
- a Level 5 car thief tries to injure cops twice,
- the price of cocaine in Winnipeg plummets, and
- are the HA's picking up stakes?

A newspaper columnist and a local clothing designer now follow us on Twitter- you'll hear who they are!

LISTEN HERE:

http://tgctspod.podbean.com/2011/12/08/epc-ignores-public-consultation-promises-why-the-public-needs-a-watchdog/

TWITTER: @TGCTS
PS -- WATCH FOR A STORY ABOUT OSBORNE HOUSE IN TOMORROW'S METRO !

Special podcast: Listen to the story behind why TGCTS on Kick-FM was canceled by Red River College (part 1)

WELCOME TO OUR NEW READERS FROM ACROSS CANADA.

Whether you are from British Columbia, the Yukon, New Hampshire or Washington, your interest in our stories and the attack on freedom of expression in Winnipeg is very much appreciated. The past 4 months has generated 25% of our all time blog traffic and we had already doubled over the previous 12 months. More and more people are seeking out the alternative media for the details and analysis they need to help them find the truth about matters that concern them and the community.

I'd like to also recognize our many new visitors brought over from my columns in the Winnipeg Sun. The feedback from column 1 led to the follow-up. I see the print column as giving you a voice in the mainstream media, so keep sending your story tips to martygoldlive@gmail.com
and I'll keep holding elected officials and bureaucrats to account. If you have not seen those columns, scroll down to our earlier posts in December for the links.

More information about the rush to cancel our show, on the verge of the 4th Anniversary with no complaints filed with the CRTC, will be acquired in the new year.

For now, the first step is to correct the mistaken ideas and misinformation about TGCTS that circulated in the community and online, in the days following November 8th.

This confusion was caused in part by the behavior and statements from Red River College, much of it by the Dean of Business, Graham Thomson, who is a non-voting member of the Kick-FM Board and acts as its mouthpiece. He is also the person who read (but would not hand over) the termination notice to me that last day.

Note that NO one truly responsible for the radio station has ever made a public statement for the media or consented to an interview. This has led led to a lot of questions and comments about the real reasons of why the voice of the community was silenced.

Commonly these opinions were expressed as

"why does he even have a show, he's not a student",
" people get fired in radio all the time like that, his rights weren't breached",
"the College owns the station and can do whatever they want",
" I heard there were all sorts of complaints about the show"
" It wasn't fair to the students who wanted to get their own shows"

On December 7th TGCTS hosted a Live Audience version of the show to get the facts on the record.

It was a very unique experience as a performer and commentator. What our listeners and supporters said and felt about what they heard that night -- the truth behind the cancelation - is further proof, You Have The Power.
The power to learn, to ask questions, to get answers and to act.

After some introductory banter on news and other things such as my Freedom of Information application on the Parking Authority, between myself and Spirited Kenny, who was producing the show, we embarked on a lengthy Powerpoint presentation for the live crowd.

So to explain, this is not formatted like a typical TGCTS broadcast but rather explains, step by step, why the official story is so full of holes, and how in the November 17th edition the National Post got key denials out of Thomson and Free Press editor Margo Goodhand, that are going to backfire on them in spades in the New Year.

This Podcast (link is below) covers the chronology of how the show was contracted to serve the students and volunteers with the involvement of a Kick-FM director, our work on the Civic Election, the false claims that canceling the show was actually to help train students ("core mandate"), all the way to what went on until that National Post story.

It includes comments from former RRC president Jeff Zabudsky; what listeners were hearing from their sources and their opinions about the cancelation; the scuttlebutt from Red River College students and their concerns; the important questions Kick-FM fans including RRC graduates and former students were asking, that got different answers depending on who was asking; and the on- the-record comments from Thomson and Goodhand.

Part 2, with the real story that points to a cover-up of the censorship of freedom of expression that is behind all of this, and how it all unravels, will be posted soon.

TGCTS "STAND UP FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH " PART ONE:

(PS -- as of Sunday night, this is the remastered audio for the podcast.)

http://www.mediafire.com/file/lti76d72zxfzbxi/The%20Great%20Canadian%20Talk%20Show%20Live%20-%20Part%201.mp3

PS - as seen in the post directly below, I was playing Santa this morning at the women's shelter. Here is a note posted online by the executive director following up on that post:

Barb Judt: What beautiful story Marty.

Marty was a FABULOUS Santa this morning at Osborne House!! The children and their mothers were in awe of him and everyone had a wonderful time. You made my heart smile Marty - thank you for helping us out with this and as always, your incredible support. We consider ourselves quite fortunate to have you looking out for us.

Stop signs missing on Assiniboine; 42% of downtown meters need fixing

From: Kim the Traffic Reporter

Hi Marty,

I did a bit of a walk around part of the downtown area today (Labour Day holiday) to see if the paystations were active or not.

I checked Kennedy, Edmonton, Carlton, Hargrave, Donald, Smith, St. Mary, York, Vaughan, Broadway, Portage, Garry, Fort, Assiniboine, Notre Dame, Navy Way and Adelaide. I began the checks on Notre Dame and worked my way South from that point eventually ending up in the Assiniboine area.

The checks of the meters were random and scattered to get a sampling of what was going on in the area.

In total I checked 85 meters,:

49 no charge
28% - (24) illegally accepted payment (of which I have 11 receipts)
14% - (12) out of order

42% of pay stations checked FAIL

I took note that on Edmonton between Assiniboine and Broadway, all of the meters were "no charge" parking. Some of the streets such as Carlton had one paystation that accepted payment whereas the next one did not. I found the same situation on Notre Dame, Kennedy (east side between Broadway & Assiniboine), Fort, Assiniboine, Garry and Smith.

I also noted some of signage around Assiniboine, for example, one backlane next to 303 Assiniboine has a forced right turn sign that says "temporary". Directly in front of that sign is a one-way arrow sign going west towards Edmonton St., those same forced right temporary signs are also located with the one-way arrow are also located at other north/south thru lanes. We know the changes are in fact permanent.

I watched one person turn onto Hargrave, this person ended up in the wrong travel lane, had there been another vehicle there would have been a problem. Also I noticed that the temporary no-stopping signs on Hargrave have now been extended to include the area directly in front of Hargrave Place thereby allowing larger vehicles to safely make the southbound turn onto Hargrave.

On Edmonton St. people are still parking in the temporary no-stopping zone. I think the City will have no choice but to turn it into a permanent no stop as vehicles turning from both east and west bound Assiniboine fight for space.

Which brings up another safety concern, how is that intersection going to be signed? The stop signs which had been in place last week are gone, I watched numerous close calls as people tried to get onto Edmonton and nobody figured out who was supposed to go first. I don't even want to think about what is going to happen on Tuesday with no stop signs and rush hour traffic in full effect. It could be a blood bath (so to speak). I foresee many fender benders at that corner (my crystal ball does work sporadically) especially come winter when its icy out.

Canada Day contradictions abound from Parking Authority

July 1st "Parking Authority open house" report highlights:

* The Osborne Village Parking survey is largely unknown to area residents

* 24 hour a day paid parking was experimented with on the inner-cities poorest streets, under the false premise that the city did consultations with residents;

* the WPA has been part and parcel of the Bike Lobby attempts to seize control of city streets from residents and drivers;

* Numerous contradictions between the information provided by Dave Hill at the Exchange Biz open house (reported yesterday), and the July 1st open house. "The problem isn't the questions, it's getting the answers"
**************

From: Kim the Traffic Reporter

To: talk@kick.fm

Subject: Re: July 1 Osborne parking survey open house

On July 1st at about 1pm I was headed down Osborne from River headed for the Osborne Parking Survey open house. There was already a huge amount of people in the Osborne Village. As I approached the Stradbrook lot I noted a couple of rows of books for sale. Got to the lot, for the open house and couldn't find it. I saw recycling bins and port-a-potties in the lot, but nothing for the survey.

Went back out of the lot and looked around, didn't see any signs telling me they were in the vicinity. Went back into the lot and spoke with a couple of Police Officers, who were kind enough to point out a table under the trees at the front of the lot, near the books.

I recognized MMM Group Project Manager David Patman and then I realized I had stood just behind the table when I was looking around and still hadn't noticed the survey people. I thought the people at the table where looking after the books.

I approached the front of the table and noted that only a about 2ft tall sign that said Parking Authority on it, was the only indication for the survey. There were three consultants available from MMM Group and two representatives from the Parking Authority, one of whom I know has enforcement experience.

- I asked David Patman if they had been busy and was told that it was off and on, paper copies of the survey was on hand for people to fill out. However, in the time I was at the table only a couple of people approached, one of whom wanted to know if they were handling the sale of the books.

In fact, someone I knew went to take the survey, he walked past the table..twice. Then he had to call me to finally find the survey table. The other two or three people only wanted to speak with the Parking Authority.

My friend filled out the survey, after he finally found the table, telling me that he could find no purpose and simply didn't understand the survey. That there was no information as to what they (Osborne Biz and the Parking Authority) wanted to do, the survey was "confusing and didn't make any sense".

- My friend did stop to speak briefly with the Parking Authority about the $40.00 coupon booklet people could purchase, the coupons act as a permit allowing one to park for increments of two to four hours without having to plug the meter. My friend thought this was "silly". He was told that for more information you can check out the website. My friend asked "what if you don't have a computer?" According to my friend, the only response he received was a "blank look".

- I spoke with the member representing the Parking Authority, who would only identify himself as Henry.

One question which has recently been raised on the Great Canadian Talk Show is whether or not people have to cross a street to purchase a paystation receipt if the machine is broken or isn't one on the side of a street where a person is parked.

I asked Henry that very same question, his response was "yes, people have to cross the street, that's what we tell them".

Yet a couple of days previously I had contacted the Parking Authority dispatcher, asking the same question, the response was "no" -- that people didn't have to cross the street or go to another block to get a receipt.

This means that if the paystation is broken or if there are signs for paid parking, yet no machine, people still have to go in search of a machine for a receipt or risk being ticketed.

Although Marty Gold has raised the question, is the City or the Winnipeg Parking Authority going to assume the responsibility if someone should be injured if they have to hunt down a functional paystation? Interesting question.

- I asked Henry about the 12 hour paid parking on some streets in the Exchange District. Henry did admit that there are thoughts of putting more 12 hour machines in place, Henry then admitted that those machines are actually 24 hours a day Monday through Saturday. Paid parking is in 12 hour increments with a paid maximum of $8.00.

Yet on April 22/10 the Exchange District Biz had a members-only coffee meeting with Dave Hill the COO of the Parking Authority. In that meeting I asked Hill if the Parking Authority or the City would support paid overnight parking on residential streets, Hill's response was "I don't think there is any paid overnight parking in the City".

I asked if the Parking Authority would support paid metered overnight parking, Hill's reply was "if there was a need and was asked to do it, but I don't think there is currently a need".

At the time of that meeting there was paid overnight parking on Ross, Duncan, Galt and George all of which are in residential areas.

- I asked Henry about consultation and if people on Fountain, Ellen or other residential streets that had received paystations, what notice were those people given? Were they consulted? Henry responded that "they had talked to people in that area" and the businesses and residents had been informed by City Council or their councillors.

Now, I've spoken with numerous people on those streets and was told that the only indications they had about the paystations was when they went up. In fact, the businesses along Logan knew nothing about these stations.

Cheers restaurant at Fountain and Logan knew nothing about these machines, when this business raised questions about why the meters were put in the response was the meters were put in because of the WRHA building, on Main Street. Not one person with whom I'd spoken knew anything about these paystations.

- I asked about the proposed bike lanes throughout the city and if the Parking Authority had been consulted about any of these plans. Henry replied that "yes the bike lanes are going in" and that "the Parking Authority has been consulted because this involves parking".

At the Apr. 22/10 Exchange Biz "coffee with the parking guy" meeting, I asked Dave Hill about on-street parking for bikes and he suggested that the Parking Authority "work with Active Transportation to find some spots to put some temporary platforms with some bike racks, similar to what is seen in Europe."

Belinda Squance of the Ellice Cafe mentioned several times in interviews on the Great Canadian Talk Show that she asked Dave Hill if the Parking Authority had been consulted or informed of the new bike lane plans for Sherbrook. According to Belinda Squance, the answer was "no". That Hill had never been consulted regarding Sherbrook.

This information was also mentioned at the June 8th meeting at City Hall regarding the bike lane issues on Sherbrook.

- Was this "open house" a success? Likely there were quite a few people who filled out the survey. After all there was thousands upon thousands of people in the Village for the Canada Day celebrations. Yet the question must be asked, was this a fair representation of the residents and regular visitors to the Osborne area? How many of the people attending were on Osborne for the sole purpose of the celebrations?

I spoke with many people along the side streets who knew nothing of this survey or it's purpose. People who live in the community and never knew anything about this parking survey.

After all for any of the Biz organizations, their first priority is going to be to the members of that Biz, be it Osborne, Downtown, Exchange etc.

Those Biz's are not there for the general community but for the membership of those organizations. So it is not very surprising that residents had no knowledge of a survey that could very well involve paid parking in their neighbourhoods.

- Another question to raise is if the Osborne area gets metered parking, how will this affect Corydon? After all you can't look at one area and forget the other. How far would metered parking be allowed on the streets. You can't park on Osborne until after 7pm any day of the week. So if the residential streets receive meters, how will that affect the parking situation around Corydon, which is an already congested area, as people seek unpaid parking?
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Kim's Thoughts:

I have to wonder how many people actually planned on showing up to take that survey. We can't count my friend as I asked him to take it. Which raises another issue..finding the "open house". I knew where it was supposed to be and couldn't find it. I

My friend who doesn't know the area very well, walked past the survey table TWICE before with my help, finding it. And he was looking for this table.

So I do have to wonder how representative of the community this survey truly is, at the first open house there were 10 to 12 people. At the Canada Day celebrations, how many people filled out the survey just because it happened to be there while they waited in line?

But as I was told "see the Parking Authority is here".

Only problem is, we are being given conflicting information:

* Yes you have to cross the street to purchase a paystation receipt or no you don't have to?
* Is there a definitive policy on the issue of crossing the street or going to another block to find a working paystation?
* Did Dave Hill yes know about the bike lanes that are being proposed all over the city or no Hill never knew about the plans for Sherbrook? Yet Hill has been talking to the Active Transportation Advisory Committee about bike parking.

After this survey, will the Osborne Biz and the Parking Authority say that people have been "consulted"? That they had "open houses"? If one could...well...find them. The first open house took me 15 minutes to find. Unless you knew exactly where you were going you weren't going to find this place, I had to stop and ask for directions. I couldn't find the second one and I was looking for it. Even the Police Officers had to smile at the expression on my face when they told me where to find what I was seeking.

Lots of questions with more to be raised I'm sure. The problem isn't the questions, it's getting the answers. We wait to see how the community responds to the parking issues in their neighbourhoods.

Confusion Corner: Dave Hill's 'Coffee with the Parking Guy', April 22nd

In April, Kim the Traffic Reporter and consultant Bob Axford attended one of those highly touted "Coffee with the parking guy" get-togethers that features Parking Authority czar Dave Hill attempting to engage in a Q and A with area BIZ members.

If the April 22 session with the Exchange District Biz is any indication, election-bound city councillors had better get ready to ask their own questions of the "award-winning" Hill before going door to door and soliciting support from disgruntled Winnipeg drivers.

Hill, most importantly confirmed what WPA victims Jason Ross and Phillip Fletcher have told us on-air, the Special Operating Agency (SOA) has NO complaint protocol whatsoever and all power is vested in Hill.

Ross was illegally towed by the WPA, as was Fletcher; the former claims he was assaulted at the WPA offices when he complained and the video did not get into the hands of police, while the latter was immediately slapped with a lien when he challenged the towing ticket and had it tossed out of court (ie an illegal lien).

Just last week, we broke the news that the Provincial Ombudsman ruled that the WPA breached Fletcher's privacy in 2 different ways, once by illegally taking his picture and then by leaking personal information in a smear to Coun. Mike Pagtakhan after Fletcher complained to the councillor. Fletcher has demanded a personal apology from both Mayor Katz and from Mr. "I AM the complaint department" Hill, who according to Fletcher denied either incident even occured.

Only 5 Exchange Biz members bothered to show up to the hastily called PR exercise. The Biz has thus far refused to hold another, more properly advertised and suitable for area businesses (ie a morning) session despite the request of Kick-FM management.

What follows is a very very long report from Kim that includes such areas as:

* Hill's excuses for refusing to enforce disabled permit, Saturday overtime parking, and other bylaws;

* his claims that the new pay stations (which flunked our time-compliance audit at the rate of 60%) somehow trump the long long-established bylaw that boulevard and street signage designating time limits;

* his desire for expanded powers and the battle inside city hall;

* a plan to enact evening paid parking in areas like downtown and Corydon/Acadamy, and that the meters on Selkirk that are opposed by mayoral candidate Judy Wasylycia-Leis actually "work great";

* Hill maintaining that inner-city neighborhoods were consulted on new paid parking in front of their homes 'by the city'

* that drivers in wholesale-city place a tertiary priority on "price", and that council is sidestepping the bylaw to give him blanket powers to charge whatever he wants for as long as he wants

* his denial 24 hour paid parking including Sundays existed on Ross and other inner-city streets (Coun. Jeff Browaty has seen the receipts that prove him wrong);

* Hill's assertion that meters near the Concert Hall have made the area safer, and that he'd like to boost rates in the area

* turning over scarce parking spots to the Bike Lobby

* sees public accountability sessions as unnecessary

* Hill's potential conflict-of-interest and questions about sole-sourced contracts

Plus assorted other contradictions, lack of familiarity with the bylaws, no genuine review of the 5 year performance of the WPA by city council ...

and if that isn't enough, WAIT TILL TOMORROW to learn how WPA officials told a different story than their boss on more than a few parking matters, to the Canada Day crowd in Osborne Village, right around the bend from the 'other' Confusion Corner.

********************

The coffee meeting with "the parking guy" at 75 Albert St., hosted by the Exchange District Biz on April 22/10 at 5pm had five Biz members (not included were myself, Bob Axford and the representative from the Biz, Jarret).

This meeting is an informal session for the members of the Exchange District Biz to discuss and ask questions about concerns or thoughts about parking issues.

Dave Hill began this discussion by giving a few reasons for the sessions as well as an overview of what the Parking Authority was, along with who was on the Board of Directors and Advisory Board.

Reasons for this session:
-general discussions with people around Winnipeg and with the Biz's who the P.A. talks to on a fairly regular basis.
-kind of open forum type of activity occasionally with local stakeholders

Dave Hill the COO of the Parking Authority explains what the Parking Authority is:

-municipal agency under auspices of City Council
-just like a City department except it has a little more latitude in how it operates
-don't have to go to council as much
-still respond to council, by-laws, council's directions with a little more latitude
-little more defined mandate
-run year to year with broad direction from council

Board of Directors are:
- The Chief Administrative Officer of the City
- His 3 deputies
- Representative from Legal Services
- Representative from Public Affairs
- Representative from Traffic Engineering

Advisory Board Members are:
Major stakeholders:
-Downtown Winnipeg Biz
-Exchange District Biz
-West End Biz
-The Forks
-Centre Venture
-Destination Winnipeg
(No residential groups represented, no elected representation)
The advisory board meets at the Parking Authority, according to Dave Hill "we just do stuff".

Dave Hill stated he was in charge of:
-on-street parking meters
-enforcement city wide
-doesnt' get to make enforcement regulations
-does get to interpret them a little bit
-does get to make recommendations to those who do make regulations with Public Works
-off-street parking lots which the city owns.

Some of the questions/comments discussed are as follows:

Comment was raised about to many loading zones, in particular 24hr zones in the city, including in front of buildings which are bricked up. Was there anything the Parking Authority could do to either remove some of the zones or convert some to time limited zones?

Hill's response:
-agreed there are to many 24hr loading zones
-Director of public works has responsibility for estabilshment of on-street regulations (no-stopping areas, no parking areas etc.)
-been trying to get that swung over to the Parking Authority, so the P.A. can do a cull, rationalize it (been trying for 5 years).
-was told in January by Brad Sacher (Director of Public Works) public works would delegate that to the Parking Authority shortly (including loading zones and timed parking).
-Public Works a little reluctant to give up that mandate.
-would open a lot of parking
-it's not about revenue, it's about the inefficient use of space.

There were questions and issues raised about handicap parking and the misuse of disability permits. Some of the questions asked were "there seems to be a miscommunication between you folks and SMD".

The person asking the question went on to say "SMD tells all of their clients you have free parking as long as you have that sign on your dash as for as long as you on any meter area the city owns". "You guys say no you have twice what you pay for". Anther issue raised was the abuse of disability permits. The issue being that the permits are being misued and what can be done about it.

Hill's response:

-by-law states do have to pay at meters even with a ministry permit
-council asked P.A to relax rules
-agrees there is abuse of these permits
-SMD has control of permit program and has pull with council
-by-law states they have to pay, it's not currently being enforced

Can the Parking Authority put notices on the vehicles? Hill states "they do that". "Not always, but they do". Hill further does go on to say there is a misuse of the program.

Question asked:
Parking Authority and SMD should be working together, SMD transmitting expired permits or permits of people deceased, then confiscate those permits when come across them. When ticketing handicap permits, allowed four hours, chalk the vehice. After 4 hours, come back issue the ticket.

Hill's response:
-would be helpful if SMD would share the information (SMD USED to transmit this information to the P.A., if the permit was found in some cases were told to confiscate if possible, if not get make, model and plate number of the vehicle. Enforcement staff USED to call in to dispatch with permit number suspected of being abused or KNOWN to be abused which was then called into SMD, until the P.A. told dispatch and the enforcement staff to stop because it was time consuming).

-due to privacy purposes, choose not to share information
-SMD is an agency of the Province, empowered SMD to run disability parking program province wide

-SMD sets terms and conditions of purchase and management of disability permits
-P.A. responds to council as to how to enforce them

-police don't empower the P.A. to confiscate things
-not in business of confiscating things, business of marking parking violations

A question was asked about "why would the city not have used the Square parkade as collateral to either repair aging facilities or build new ones instead of selling it for a pittance of what it's actually worth."

Hill's response:
-this is a political question
-would have been one option for that facility

-the thinking was:
* it could be sold to private sector relieving city from requirement to do some structural maintenance on building because it was 30 years old; council did not want to bear that burden
* could get cash out of it
* thinking it would still be a parkade, still operating at same standards
* get money out of it, go build new one
* council's call

I asked Dave Hill if he could please explain about tickets issued around Red River College last year that were issued to improper signage, was the Parking Authority in breach of the by-law? Paystations went in the signage remained 2hr limited time parking, no paystation logo.

Hill's response:
-sign designated time limit, meter designated terms and conditions under which payment was made

This had been limited time parking, had nothing to do with meters. Signage conflicted with meters.

Hill's response:

-it had always been like that
-in old metering system signage stated the amount of time parking permitted

-in areas of city where meters had been established, time regulation posted on a regular sign, city wide, all around the city

-meter was a payment device, on the meter was the terms and conditions for payment under that 2 hour sign.

-upgraded to new system, got new sign which reinforces fact that it's two hours and payment is to be made at the paystation

-real regulation says that the payment device is the thing that provides the instruction

I asked the question a second time as I felt the by-law question hadn't been addresed, was the Parking Authority in breach of by-laws when the paystations went in around Red River College with improper signage?

Hill's response:
-proposed a pilot project to put some pay units in there
-council approved project
-we installed the machines
-the signs took a little while to change over to the new signs
-allowed under the by-law by the old signage program
-new signs provide extra information

The issue of free parking on Saturdays was raised, one comment was that it is different for retail outlets than those who work in offices. One of the attending members stated that "if free parking was free across the board on Saturdays, there would be grid lock and there would be no place for those who wanted to shop, where do you put them? People who are working are taking up all the spots."

Hill's response:
-historically way we manage parking in the city is through regulation

-use the regulatory tool, decrease the amount of time people can park and hand out a lot of parking tickets

-was told "No we don't want this anymore, we want a more reasonable, rationale way to do this"

-can make a restrictive regulatory environment or can ease up make and environment where payment is used to turnover the vehicles, little less regulation
-is performance based pricing

-asked council to allow the Parking Authority to operate pilot programs in some areas where the Parking Authority charges differential rates at differential times see what the results are, see whether it's good or bad, understand the dynamics of the area.

-always had a problem enforcing 2 hours free parking, didn't have a mechanism to do it

-have to chalk the tire, find out what time to start, go back later prove they (the vehicle) was there to long

-the only way to actually time people parking on Saturday is to walk around downtown with enforcement

-not the optics for whats wanted on Saturdays

-have lots of options

-went to biz's said the Parking Authority was doing a promotion on Saturdays, is a promotion wanted, how do you want it, how should it work

-should it be regulated having enforcement people out on Saturdays

-not regulate, have something else, tell us

-easiest thing to do is charge for parking on Saturdays but honour that receipt for an extra 2 hours give people an extended stay

-can use a coupon system for 2 hours of free parking

-trying to encourage a behviour of "come back" come back in the evenings, on weekends when traffic is lower
-may consider doing something in the evenings
-evenings and weekends are really busy, maybe need to do something to manage the streets after hours and weekends now
-merchants around MTS complaining that even if they stay open in the evenings to take advantage of crowds at MTS Centre there is nowhere to park
-one thing Downtown Biz is thinking about is the time on the meters and if it's appropriate


Questions and issues were raised regarding broken meters. One person commenting that "at one time the regulations didn't allow for people to park at a broken meter", this person also went on to indicate that in winter the meter (paystation) would be completly frozen and people had to put notes on their vehicles to indicate a broken meter. The question of "why is that the parking persons responsibility to make sure a meter they are trying to use works?" "Why can't they stay there?"

Hill's response:
-have trouble with vandals
-when a meter is malfunction, it reports back to Parking Authority in real time
-if we have a malfunction we know that, we manage ourselves accordingly
-get repair out really fast
-had some issues with them (paystations) first couple of years with cold temperatures.
-not related to cold temperature, related to humidity in big temperature swings
-printer mechanism in system, thermal printer needs certain amount of heat to generate a ticket in the morning

A question was by one person saying she had heard the new credit card with chips don't work in the machines. This person raised the issue that with the new cards, would the machine be able to read the cards?

Hill's response:
-they do read the chip, there is a chip reader built into the mechanism
-because it's a low value transaction the chip doesn't kick in

I revisted the original question regarding broken meters, asking the question if the Parking Authority is ticketing at broken meters.

Hill's response:
-if there is a meter that goes down for whatever reason it is broadcast to the enforcement staff and we take action accordingly

I repeated the question asking "so are you saying you do ticket or you don't". Dave Hill replied with "we take appropriate action".

The question of why some busy areas in the city don't have meters but downtown does citing Corydon as an example. This lady went on to say that Corydon was "hugely busy, yet they have free parking all the time, why?"

Hill's response:
-doing secondary plans for those areas, it's only because this area have traditionally had them
-parking meters are typically used as a tool to generate turnover of vehicles on the street
-if area becomes busy first thing to do is set up a 2 hour zone, but is difficult to enforce
-have to be there every two hours, with a person and a car, take action against the people there to long, time consuming, resource intensive
-more technology to deal with it
-100's of miles of 2 hour and one hour zones, never been able to get to all of them
-with new technology able to get to most of them now

Dave Hill went on to say "it gets so busy that it's not working". Hill further responded saying that:
-businesses complain that there is not enough turnover
-the only thing to do is charge a fee, put up parking meters
-where they have those complaints and asked to look after the problem, that's the next solution in the string of solutions to too much traffic
-in certain areas of the city, just about there

Dave Hill did go on to say that businesses and residential groups who are in the very busy areas are "understanding they have a problem but not going there yet".

Dave Hill went on to say that what they try to do is "wait until there is a secondary plan which is a zoning thing. One's a neighbourhood plan to try to identify what the parking opportunities are."

Hill went on to say that areas such as Corydon and Academy are starting to get "tense". Hill did indicate the next solution for those areas could be paystations. Selkirk Ave. was pointed out that paystations had been placed at the request of the Biz. Dave Hill said "they think they (meters) work great". According to the Biz. Dave Hill did admit that some areas are "getting pretty close to the point where there are no other options."

Dave Hill did say:
"Last year we tried to be a bit proactive, found that some of the neighbours objected to those things, so now we're going to the neighbourhood councillor and saying will you think about this, in some cases councillors saying ok let's give it a try. Other areas are saying no let's wait until there is some demand from the public to do it".

The issue of additional parking on the East side of Main St. around the theatres was raised by Bob Axford who said "I've been going downtown weekends for 30 years now there's less parking on the street than there was before. Are there plans for a structure in there somewhere?"

Hill's response:
-We're pushing
-Province owns land on James St., as part of the redevelopment of what used to be the Nygaard building
-want to put condos in there
-significant long term demand for parking spaces service the condos
-Museum, Concert Hall, Sport Manitoba want to expand and other developments
-creating more demand for parking space, streets can't cut it
-no more room for surface lots

One gentleman raised a concern about vandalism in the area north of the Concert Hall. This person did say he'd "been broken into a number of time" and that "if you park north of the Concert Hall you're taking your vehicle and you're life in your hands."

Hill's response:
-what we did a couple of years ago, metered the streets north of Pacific
-created some extra capacity on the streets
-in vandalism territory, partnered with the Biz to provide security patrols for that, vandalism is one thing to look for, grafitti, clean up
-when meters go in all that (security patrols) comes along with it

I asked the question of how is the Parking Authority involved with security?

Hill's response:
-partner with our stakeholder
-improve our on-street parking, more people park, we make more money
-it is in our interest in that area to partner with our stakeholders to provide that extra servicability cleanliness, tidiness on the street, more security
-parking hierarchy when people looking for a parking space is available and convenient
-second thing people look for is safe and secure,third thing people look for is price
-charge the rates necessary to do that
-one of the costs incurred is ensuring that the safety, security and cleanliness is there
-do that in parking garages, but also on the streets, to do that partner with the Biz organizations
-Biz organizations are also City agencies, they know the community best

A discussion arose when the issues of safety and parking around the Concert Hall was brought up by Bob Axford that parking around the Concert Hall "a structured parking system would benefit all the performing arts". Bob Axford went on to say that "people are staying away from that area, a guy who used to park at the Concert Hall, it's just too dangerous and a lot of people feel the same way".

Dave Hill did say he had been asked to do a feasibility study of putting a parking garage on the north side of James St., by the old bus barn which is owned by the Province. Hill said "there is a potential to make a deal and we were asked to look at that and see if that property receives a vote for putting a parking garage up".

Hill did say that there is "enough activity there" and that there is "tons of demand there and it's probably a pretty good winning business plan". Dave Hill did say this proposition would be included in the Parking Authorities next five year plan being called "Downtown Parking Strategy", this plan is due to be given to City Council in May.

One lady brought up the issue of whether or not there will be enough space in this new structure, she wondered if it would be big enough for the demand.

Hill's response:
-if 450 stalls are added would do it
-would buy a little bit of time in the longer term
-this building will be architecturally similar to that area, fit in that area, have some other use on the ground floor such as retail or commercial
-will have wider sidewalks for an active street front
-working with Centre Venture and hoping to merge this with other developments and some possibilities for the pump house, potentially a Farmers Market

Question is raised as to whether or not 450 stalls is enough. One comment made was "it's better than we've got right now". Comments are being made that the demand is there now and "it's just a nightmare" and that "it's not gonna get better, it's getting worse".

The next question deals with last years Fringe Festival and that repairs to a sewer line were done when the Fringe Festival was due to begin taking away half of the parking for the area. The question was raised as to who would be the person to contact regarding these issues. Dave Hill answered that the person to talk to would be Brad Sacher who is the Director of Public Works.

I raised the question of Hill did say that the structure could go up another floor adding another 100 stalls but that would be more expensive. whether or not the Parking Authority would support paid overnight and Sunday parking in residential areas. Asking "does the Parking Authority support paid overnight residential areas or on Sundays"?

Hill's response:
-doesn't think there is any paid overnight parking in the City

I asked again, "Does the Parking Authority support paid overnight parking or paid parking on Sundays? Metered parking?"

Hill's response:
-if there was a need and asked to do it, but doesn't think there is currently a need
-there are residential permits with the one and two hour signs that exempts residents in that particular area from the time limit
-part of purpose of time limit zones where residential areas are combined with a small business district like on Corydon residents object to traffic on streets
-can apply for restriction, 70% of block approval is needed
-residential permits will allow the vehicle to park all day, all night, exempts from time
-cost is $25.00/year

Dave Hill further went on to say "I've been all throughout the back lanes in this city and there is ample parking, absolutely almost everywhere".

One person noted that there wasn't alot of residential in the Exchange District. Dave Hill indicated there was a limited residential program for the Waterfront Drive Condos, saying "I think there's probably ten permits out there, it's very limited and not in high demand". Hill went on to say that "probably as the downtown advances and gains more of a residential footing, we'll divide that up and we'll create specific areas for those folks to park in, typically they park overnight with them, typically".

When asked again if the city supports or has paid overnight parking in residential areas such as Pacific.

Hill's response:
-depends on how you define those things
-residential permits are available for a fee would allow parking
-if there was a demand for it from the neighbourhood, could be done
-where regulations exists it's because the residents want it, or by petition or if there is more demand for parking than there is supply, regulation then required
- some areas of the city where there are business districts or hospitals, where there is an intrusion into the residential areas of traffic that is related to that facility for example Health Science Centre. The residents can buy permits for the programs.
-where there are meters those with residential permits park for free

Next question by Bob Axford "Does the Parking Authority have a formal complaints policy?"

Hill's response:
-yeah it's me
-generally if there is a complaint it either comes to Dave Hill through a Councillors office, Mayors office or from an individual
-if it's a complaint about a rule or a clarification, Dave Hill answers it
-if complaint about one of the enforcement staff, they are contracted, there is a manager to looks after that, he would investigate that, would take it up with the employer of the enforcement officer, deal with it that way.

Question, "is the parking authority going to have an open house, take questions from the public?".

Hill's response:
-have had them in the past
-had them for the first three years on Portage, no one showed up
-city service open Monday to Friday 8:00-6:00, open on Saturdays for six hours
-have email, phone access
-people write letters

-most inquiries are (with the odd complaint about an individual who is working with us, not to many), complaints about snow routes (public works issue)

-now get complaints about things that involve cars, not necessarily parking
-such as car alarms, extension cords being run out to vehicles on the street (block heaters)

-the parking authority cannot enforce the by-laws that are covered by those violations
-have to contact another department
-the parking authority is willing to write these offenses and have made suggestions that they could do those things for other departments. Made suggestions at the beginning of the year

-complaints of parking tickets, but now that pictures are being taken, better to show what was seen
-allows parking authority to do some quality control on errors made on a ticket
-if error was made on the ticket, tickets written under provincial court auspices, can go to provincial court requesting a stay based on an error made by the officer or by an error written on the ticket (such as a missing sign)
-missing signs are reported to public works.

A question of flexibility and parking was raised, the person indicating that with the matinee's which happen at some of the theatre, people can't find anywhere to park and parking is not allowed for longer than two hours. This person went on to say that the "lots were full with daytime parkers". This person was wondering if with the computer capabilities if would be possible to extend the time for parking when matinee's are playing as opposed to being restricted to two hours.

Hill's response:
-would like to lengthen the time, but to lengthen the time and still get the turnover, still have to change the rate.

This person goes on to clarify that when speaking about matinee's, lengthening the time doesn't have to be done daily.

Hill's response:
-it's possible to establish a rate structure that does that, in that specialized are of the city can be done
-what was done at HSC demonstration project last year
-HSC had paid parking all around it, HSC has outgrown that, so expanded paid parking out a couple of blocks, increased length of time to four hours

Comment made that "the only thing that is not clear is that it is more expensive unless you really read your ticket".

Hill response continued:
-it says it on the front of the machine
-the results are you try to get to a point of "parking harmony" which is where there are enough fee and time restriction which allows people enough time to park and still have 15% availability of parking on every curb face.
-goal is to establish two free spaces out of ten

A comment indicated that this goal of two free spaces out of 10 was not working in the East Exchange as people had to keep driving around to find a place to park. The lady with the question about parking and flexibility further went on to say "when you have matinee's on you need more street parking for a longer period".

Dave Hill said "I'm thinking four hours but we gotta charge more, generates the turnover".

This lady did indicate that the four hours were not needed everyday, the matinee's are scheduled months in advance. She wanted to know if it was possible with the computers that on those days the machines be programmed for the four hours. Dave Hill replied that "it becomes more a little complex for most normal people to understand".

This lady went on to say that most of the people who would take advantage of those matinee's are season ticket holders, saying "that's part of their season ticket package telling them that your parking issues can be dealt with this way".

Hill's response:
-if we had a facility

A point was made about how many spaces would be taken by daily parkers. It was stated that there was a huge demand for parking, citing Sport Manitoba's huge demand for employee parking.

The next question was for on-street parking. The parking authority have working with the Active Transportation people, I asked the quesiton "are you going to take on-street parking spots and turn them over to bicycle parking and will it be paid parking for the bicycles?"

Hill's response:
-pretty impractical to charge bikes for paid parking, people are hooking up to trees and racks now
-in the garage facilities there are bike corrals a secure environment
-with the new machines the parking authority is now able to measure the activity on individual street fronts
-have a good idea of where the high demand areas are and aren't
-volume of cars parked increases in the winter, decreases in the summer
-the thinking now if reduced demand for curb side parking in the summer, can pick some strategic areas around the city that are convenient to bike paths, find some way to put some free bike racks in to accomodate the bike riders that are using the riders using the bike paths
-Hill thinks that demand drops down enough in summer that 10 or 20 spaces in downtown can be used, won't hurt anything
-has to be a portable system put it in spring, take it out in fall
-has been asked to look into it, have a prototype at the moment

I asked if there were plans for actual on-street parking spots where bikes will be parked

Hill's respone:
-might plunk down a bike rack
-will be on street
-Hill's suggestion is to work with Active Transportation to find some spots to put some temporary platforms with some bike racks, similar to what is seen in Europe
-wouldn't stick to the busiest areas of the Exchange District.

Bob Axford asked a question regarding the first five year report for the organization, asking the question of "what is the mechanism for renewal? Does the Council have to vote for the second five year, does it have to approve the process for the first five years to continue on or what is this mechanism?"

Hill's response:
-Council set up the parking authority in 2005 as an agency of the City
-has an operating charter established at that time, intended to be a permanent organization
-laid out what the first five years would look like, does an annual budget but wanted Council to see what they could expect in five years
-just trying to do that again

Axford asks "what is the purpose of the five year report if there is not accountability for some specific performance and will that report be in any manner public?"

Hill's response:
-everything before council is public
-approved in 2004
-financial accountability for budget that is addressed every year by council

Bob Axford continue on asking "no specific mechanism to say we are going another five with these boys, just keep on going?"

Hill's response:
-public talks to councillors
-not in a vacuum, is at city hall half the day
-expertise is on and off street parking
-expertise is also enforcement at some level
-trying to do is run a safe secure on and off street parking facility for people
-run enforcement in such a way that it's very fair, manageable and transparent

Box Axford states that he is interested in accountability. Axford wonders "the other area of accountability I'm sort of wondering about is contracts for those various pieces of machinery that are on the street and the contracts for the various pieces of machinery the enforcement officers use. Are those contracts public?" Dave Hill does indicate the contracts are public.

Axford asks "where are they?" Dave Hill answers "they are purchased through the material management division of the City". Axford asks "are they tendered?"

Hill's response:
-yes they are tendered
-unless there is a sole source that is determined for a unique reason, could be a specialized function or a particular element of our environment that determines a certain used as opposed to another
-case of hand held computers, number of companies considered, the selection made on best value, lowest price, lowest long term price, decision was made in 2004
-in the case of the on-street equipment, some experiments made, weather testing suggested these (current) would operate the best given our winters

Axford asks about the hand held are a single source? Hill replies:
-enforcement program went out to public tender in 2004

Axford asks about the hand held equipment saying "I thought you just finished saying that it was specifically requested that you had a specific product you were after".

Hill replies:
-same policy that governs the rest of the city
-if there is a specific product that does some specific thing that you need to do in the city there is opportunity with authority from the city manager, the CAO or his designate through the purchasing department to create a sole source opportunity

Axford asks if "this was one of the things that had sole source?"

Hill replies:
-not the enforcement program
-not the hand held computers, not the software that went with them

Axford "what about the paystations?"

Hill:
-paystations were tendered, the requirement in tender document, had to perform at -37 at an acceptable level
-only one organization at that time who could meet that requirement

Axford: "Reason I asked those questions has to do with your past employment with some of the firms that you end up buying equipment from, I'd like to know what you've done to protect yourself from conflict of interest?"

Hill:
-recused himself from those decisions
-worked for T2 Systems briefly in 1999
-familiar with the product
-but was not involved

Axford "same thing with G4S?"

Hill: I was not involved with those decisions

I asked "how many paystations does the city actually own? Or are they all leased?"

Hill's response:
-deal with supplier, get them at no payment for the first year, then pay for them another successive three years
-at the moment approximately 630 paystations, around 4000 metered stall areas

I asked "so how do you justify the large investment in the equipment that isn't being returned?"

Hill's response:
-it's being returned, meter revenues $4 million dollars

I asked "when there are zero cars parking on Waterfront by Higgens and there is a paystation there that will never see any return, how do you justify that cost?"

Hill's response:
-it's a pilot, put it out there, see what's happening in that area
-lots of activity going on in that part of the city now, more activity on those street corners, make more capacity for that 15% availablity of parking
-if at a point with some of these if there is no activity in the area, they (paystations) are moved

I asked on Waterfront, south side of York at Waterfront. Dave Hill answers that it belongs to the Forks. Approximately two years ago it was sorted out as to who owned the property.

Bob Axford speaks of the pilot projects put in place in some of the residential neighbourhoods and that there have been complaints particularly about the lack of consultation in those neighbourhoods. Axford points out that Hill had talked about acting on the neighbourhood desire.

Hill's response:
-when parking authority set up, had years or problems to deal with
-last couple of years has been some suggestion back to the parking authority that some things should be done in different ways based on experience before

I asked about consultation specifically residential streets, where people found about the paystations on their streets when the machines went in, why was there no consultation in many areas?

Hill's response:
-what rule changed for residents?
-paystation generates turnover in traffic

I stated that these were purely residential streets, nobody had told the residents about the paystations. Where was the consultation with the residents saying you're going to get a paystation?

Hill's response:
-went out the year before talked to a lot of people, not everybody became aware of it (Hill guesses)

Question of where these areas are located I answered Assiniboine, HSC, Pacific

Hill's response:
-in the case of Assiniboine, went door to door and had support of the councillor there

(Kim) - actual door to door or did you go knocking on the supers door, handing out the letters in everybody's mailbox

(Hill) -"little of both we talked to everyone"

(Kim) -I spoke to alot of the residents and they said they knew nothing up to and including alot of the businesses

(Hill) -(Hill did an aside to the other members in the room saying "this isn't an exchange issue)
-in that scenario what actually changes for the residents, except their parking improves? What changes

I said, "what they wanted was consultation?" "How about some of the residents, Pacific, Alexander they didn't know this was happening" Businesses up on Logan didn't know about the paystations.

Hill's response:
-"public works dug up my front yard this morning, I didn't know it was happening".
-things happen in the public right of way, it's public property
-is governed by council, by the whole process
-if people have specific complains, they are not shy about calling or letting the parking authority know the complaints
-what found from Assiniboine, is going to be turned into a bicycle way, limited parking
-with pressure thats on parking south of Broadway, there is a need to create a greater turnover of traffic
-had a number of consultations with that
-nothing changes for residents except for parking meters, transient traffic moves on farther away, it thins out
-for residents overall situation improves, residents aren't paying at the meters it's the people who aren't really supposed to be there in the first place.

A zoning question arose asking if any new developments required parking spaces to be provided. Dave Hill answered saying that the zoning by-laws had changed and parking does not have to be added, residential or commercial. Hill did say that there is no permanent parking on the streets for condo owners, the street is public property.

Hill went on to say that "in the future they may have to work with the residential permit program a little bit downtown." Hill went on to say that he (Hill) had been in discussion with Councillor Browaty about this issue.

I asked a question about the meter permits, asking if permit holders were allowed to sit at a meter all day?

Hill's response:
-meter permits are for 3 hours
-police them every 3 hours, but with time restrictions hard to be there every 3 hours
-did say that typically they turnover quickly

I asked if it was a three hour permit in a two hour zone, doesn't that violate the by-laws? Dave Hill answered "no".

I asked how it didn't violate the by-laws.

Hill's response:
-it's sold for a three hour period
-it's in our budget, budget goes to council, the budget constitutes an act of council, if there is changes in the by-laws it's incorporated in the budget, changes to operating charter it's incorporated in the budget, if changes to schedule of fees and times it's in the budget

I stated the meter by-law section 5 and the traffic by-law section 26 states you can't exceed your parking time, so wouldn't the three hours exceed the two hour limit.

Hill's response:
-is it the current by-law? I replied yes
-"when we put our budget together we said here's the permit we're selling, here's the time limit on it, council approved that, has the same basis as a by-law".

I asked if the parking authority was ticketing for overtime parking at a meter. (In January at the seminar I asked the same question. Hill's reply was "that overtime parking at a meter wasn't an offense".)

Hill's response:
-"what staying at a meter longer than two hours?" (I said yes)

I further clarified by saying either paid or permits.

Hill's response:
-"from time to time we do, we try not to issue as many tickets downtown as possible".

A question was asked about what were meter permits. Dave Hill gave an explanation what kind of permits were available saying the three hour permits were $85.00. Hill did mention that the permits were "a really good deal for real estate people".

Bob Axford asked what revenue was generated for the last year and the income that is turned over to the city from this operation. Axford asks what kind of shape the parking authority is in? Dave Hill stated that all budgets submitted went to Council. Further saying that the parking authority generated more than they spent. Axford asked "how did you do last year...what was generated?" Dave Hill said "this year even with losing Winnipeg Square is $3 million". (if you listen in the background you can hear Hill say "last year I think it was five").

Bob Axford continued on "what you're saying is, you're generally going up?" Hill did say that money generated gets turned over to Council, is part of the overall city budget. Hill then said "our suggestion is leave it with us, we'll build more parking garages."

Axford asked "you appear to be going up considerably higher than the rate of inflation on how you are generating revenue".

Hill's response:
-thinks the parking authority is stable now
-had a large deficit before, push was on to generate funds to fill that gap that was being created.

Axford asked if Hill's compensation package had a performance component to it? Hill's answer is "no".

I asked if ticket counts were on the rise or decrease?

Hill's response:
-thinks the counts are stable
-with new ability with the automated process with time parking out in the "burbs", able to hit those areas more often because it's automated, bit more ticket activity but it's generally stable
-when the Commissionaires were enforcing there were 170 000 to 180 000 tickets a year, but due to changes in enforcement activities, more flexible on the street.
-the city is steady at about 150 000 tickets per year.

Dave Hill did say that they "try to do things so that people don't get parking tickets". Further saying "that they are trying to create a program that allows people to do what they need to do with as little of that activity as possible".

There was some chatter, but this is pretty much the end of the session. I did ask Jarret from the Exchange District Biz about being part of the City. The Exchange Biz along with the Downtown Biz were agencies of the City, does that mean that they are actually affiliated with the City. Jarret said that they are an "arms length agency of the City".

EXCLUSIVE: Parking Authority cash grab - majority of parking meters improperly collecting weekend fees

An audit of pay stations in the Exchange, Downtown and Health Sciences areas has found that a clear majority are taking payment from parkers outside of legally prescribed times - this despite repeated assurances of the award-winning Winnipeg Parking Authority that their vaunted technology prevents such after-hours fee charging from happening.

Kim the Traffic Reporter found:

* Payments are being accepted outside of the legal hours the WPA can charge for parking, including taking payment on Sundays, such as the 300 block of Ross Avenue, which Coun. Jeff Browaty was told months ago was a glitch and would be fixed. Not only was it not fixed, the number of machines that did so steadily increased.

* Contradictory signage is resulting in confused WPA officers writing up parking tickets for "no receipt" after 3.30 on Saturdays, when parking ought to be free. Many of the victims of that cash-grab are visitors to the Women's Pavilion on Notre Dame Avenue, who only buy time until 3.30 PM as instructed by the street signs and are swooped down upon by the patrol within 15 minutes.

* The restrictions placed upon the WPA by the street signs, such as 'paid parking until 3.30 PM', are being illegally over-ridden by the WPA trick on motorsists. Miniscule stickers on the front of the pay station no one reads, listing a later time ie "17.30" (5.30 PM), is being used to justify tickets being issued.

* Over half a dozen areas have signs issues so those streets are unenforceable.

* In May, the WPA began programming pay stations and designating Exchange District streets such as Adelaide as 12 hour parking areas, requiring payment of up to $8.00, just like 300 block Ross Avenue. These were also set-up to REQUIRE payment before 9 AM and after 5.30 PM contrary to the city bylaw.

However within a week, all these machines were reverted to their previous 2 hour limit state, with city crews scrambling to change the street signage back again after having just changed it to read "12H'.

Kim the Traffic reporter reports:

Improper programming- the Sunday rip-off:
Here is the tally of meters I checked on 3 separate Sundays to see if they would issue tickets:
114 total of meters checked.
68 either issued receipts or was willing to accept payment = 60%
36 meters said "no charge" when payment was attempted
10 meters were broken 8.5%

All meters checked were located in the Exchange, East/West and West Alexander areas. The meters checked were a random sampling where more than one meter per street existed.

Improper programming- the Saturday rip-off
The total count of meters checked regarding the rush hour zones on Saturdays accepting payment after 3:30 was:
30 paystations in the downtown area.
6 meters around the HSC area .
3 machines out of order

For a grand total of 36 meters accepting payment after 3:30PM on Saturdays.

Saturday sign conflicts making pay stations unenforceable:
METERS IN A RUSH HOUR ZONE REGARDING SATURDAY PARKING AFTER 3:30:

* I have checked every rush hour street in the downtown and exchange area. Again, this is a random sampling of machines, however, I checked multiple machines on the same streets.
All the signs read: paid parking 09:00-15:30 Mon-Sat.
EVERY SINGLE MACHINE I CHECKED ALSO HAD A SMALL SIGN ON IT THAT STATED PAID SATURDAY PARKING FROM 09:00-17:30.

This is unenforceable as the traffic devise (signage) allows paid parking ONLY until 3:30 on Saturdays.

* On Balmoral next to the U of W has interesting signage.
In the morning from 7 to 9 and the afternoons from 3:30 to 5:30 Mon-Fri, this street becomes on long loading zone. From 9 to 3:30 it is paid parking, the signage reads paid parking 09:00-15:30 Mon-Sat.
On the meters a tiny sticker indicates paid parking from 9-17:30 (5.30 PM) on Saturdays. Again in conflict with the signage.
Confusing I know. First I saw these signs, I was confused.

None of the above meters either on Balmoral or in any rush hour zone after 3:30pm on a Saturday are enforceable. The traffic devices trump any signs on the paystations. Says so in the Highway Traffic Act. (can provide the act section and wording if needed).

Some of the trouble spots I came across in all my travels include:

- On Ellen between Alexander and Pacific I came across a paystation with NO signage. A few weeks after first checking that paystation I checked again, there was still no signage.

- On Pacific from Lily to Martha there is conflicting signage, one sign saying paid parking until 17:30 (5:30pm) the other sign states paid parking until 15:30 (3:30pm). I also came across the same signage issues on Pacific from Paulin to Ellen. Conflicting signage, one sign reads monday to friday, the other sign reads monday to saturday. Both these locations are unenforceable due to the conflict.

- Additional signage issues include Waterfront from James to Pacific. One sign indicates unpaid time restricted parking. A previous check had the same area with two such signs, upon a return trip noted that one sign now reads paid parking, while the other sign is still a time restricted unpaid zone. Unenforceable.

- On Galt the entire street has been shut down to parking with temporary no stopping signs put into place due to street construction on Duncan. The meters which SHOULD be hooded are not.
The machines are still accepting payment. This was on a Sunday when I checked, so if they are accepting on a Sunday, they will accept during the week. The only ticket that can be issued is a no stopping tag.

- I found 4 streets with paystation signage but no meters. The meters were located either across the street or on a completely different street, such as:

James at the corner of Amy, the signage is there, but no paystation. Rupert between King and Princess has the same issue as does Notre Dame between Albert and Arthur. ALL UNENFORCEABLE, as the WPA cannot force anyone to cross a street to buy a parking receipt.

- A further troublesome spot is on the north side of Logan between King and Princess.

One of the paystation signs still remains, however I was told that an accident had taken out the signage and the meter had been removed. This area is troublesome because of the vehicles or rather the size of the vehicles that travel in this area.

The large vehicles such as tractor trailer units, buses and most importantly, Fire Trucks cannot make the turn off King onto Logan if there are vehicles parked near the corner. Which is why there is normally such a long no stopping section in this location. I have been told by people in the area that buses are having a very difficult time making the turn and at times must back-up to try to make that turn.

False excuses abound after Parking Authority hand caught in bylaw cookie jar by CJOB

From: Kim the Traffic Reporter
To: talk@kick.fm

Marty,

On Wednesday June 16/10, Dave Hill appeared on the Richard Cloutier Reports on CJOB in regards to the issue of the WPA ticketing vehicles for a by-law ( signs advertising "car for sale") that hasn't been enforced in the past, and for which Dave Hill and the Parking Authority have no authority to enforce today.

Cloutier had found two monetary tickets on parked vehicles with 'For Sale' signs and asked Dave Hill :

"so are you folks now enforcing this big time?"

Dave Hill's response was

"not enforcing big time, it's something we have to do as part of the streets by-law."

I'm afraid I must disagree.

* Even when enforcement had been under the Police, this by-law had never been enforced, this was confirmed by someone who had almost 20 years of experience as a by-law enforcement officer.

* City Hall knows this particular offense is NOT a parking issue.

Dave Hill is authorized to deal with parking, a for sale sign in the widow of a legally parked vehicle has nothing at all to do with parking. There are parts of the Traffic by-law which the Parking Authority, a Special Operating Agency, cannot enforce.

* Dave Hill further went on to say that what had caused all of this was changing the wording in the computer systems. Mr. Hill said

"In our computer system we changed the wording a little bit, we used to call that improper parking for the purpose of advertising a vehicle and we just changed it to the current wording."

I'm afraid once again I must disagree.

1). Improperly parked had not been in the computer system until sometime in 2008 I believe. This wording replaced the previous words which was offense #14 "parked left side to curb". When the improperly parked wording was put in place, in the comments box the issuing officer would indicate "parked left side to curb".

2). Never have the words "...for the purpose of advertising a vehicle...", those words never appeared in the system.

I can say with absolute assurance that I have never seen those words, that this offense was never used and in fact never existed. Improperly parked was used for offenses such as parked left side to curb.

3). As the Parking Authority is using the offense of Improperly Parked, would someone please explain to me HOW the vehicle is improperly parked? If the sign is the offender, then how is the vehicle incorrectly parked?

Marty this "excuse" is wafer thin and borders on deception. This situation does not involve a parking issue. The vehicles are legally parked, but violate an obscure by-law (not about where or how or when a vehicle is parked, but rather, 'what it looks like') which has never been enforced.

If a ticket were to be issued, the proper issuing body would be the Streets Constables.

* As this does not involve parking, then the Parking Authority has no jurisdiction.

It almost appears as though Dave Hill is inventing a history which did not exist, in order to justify getting his hand caught in the cookie jar.

* Dave Hill would not commit to having any of the tickets stayed, saying they (Parking Authority) could ask the Crown, but basically saying the Parking Authority didn't have any say in the matter. This also is not quite accurate.

All the Parking Authority has to do is make the request of the Crown and send it to the Court. The Crown has never to my knowledge sent an order back saying they wouldn't stay the charges.

* Dave Hill has made it clear he wants to expand the role of the Parking Authority with regards to enforcing by-laws other than parking.

- We've already seen the Parking Authority abuse that authority by issuing illegal tickets.
- We've seen paystations turn up in neighbourhoods where it makes no sense to have paid parking.
- We've seen the Parking Authority ticket and tow vehicles they deemed to be abandoned or derelict when in fact they could not enforce the applicable by-law.

We've often seen the cover your rear attitude, with this controversy being a case in point.

* Dave Hill trots out a by-law he can't enforce and doesn't even have a actual offense to rely on, but somehow says the wording was changed.

Well, wording was added, so yes I guess, by technicality, there really was a "change". But can Mayor Katz and city councillors accept that as an "excuse" for trying to pick people's pockets?

(Later I'll have more to report about how this started, with Cloutier's interview with another WPA official Tuesday, and how they tried to weasel out of the jam RCR put him in.)

* Dave Hill may have experience with private lots, but from what I can gather, has no on-street enforcement experience. He doesn't seem to get the idea he can't do whatever he pleases, that there are actually rules he has to follow.

Perhaps it's time Mr. Hill began to obey the very laws he is charged with upholding instead of finding sneaky ways to try getting around those laws.

Maybe then, the Parking Authority wouldn't be in a mess they currently face, that politicians are trying to avoid taking responsibility for.