Now a story you’ll see on just one station: When you see a sign that says resident parking— you know what that means, right? Parking for residents only. But Hank’s discovered in one neighborhood–people are brazenly ignoring the signs–and getting away with it! And Hank went straight to city hall–you won’t believe what she was told.
Hank: “So we should see permits on every car?”
Laura: “Yes.”
We’re looking for parking permits–because these signs on certain streets in Medford are very specific: parking is by permit only.
People who live here–like Laura and James and about 2500 others–pay ten bucks a year for their blue parking stickers. If there’s no sticker–the car’s here illegally.
Hank: “So should this car be parking here?
Laura: “No.”
Resident parking? We found residents parking here all right.
Residents of Nahant. Residents of Somerville and Cambridge and New York.
Laura: “We see it every day, all day and all night long.”
And we did, too! We spot checked the streets of this South Medford neighborhood for months just to see how many cars parked in resident spots did not have those blue permits. This one didn’t. Or this one. Not this or this one, or this one. Or this one or this–you get the point—one week we found one hundred cars without stickers!
Hank: “What do you think when you see that?”
Laura: “It infuriates me!”
And if there’s no sticker, there should be something else on the windshield.
Hank: “Wait a minute it doesn’t have a permit, but it also doesn’t have a ticket.”
Laura: “Correct”.
Hank: “What do you think about that?”
Laura: “It’s wrong, it should have a ticket!”
In fact, not one of the one hundred illegally parked cars we found–had a ticket!
And when we obtained the city’s records it turned out, on the streets we checked, the total for the entire year was only 168 tickets.
Seems like in Medford, it’s “No permit? No problem.”
We went to City Hall to find out why and the mayor actually admitted: When the city’s budget was cut a couple of years ago, so was parking enforcement!
Hank: “People are paying for resident parking and yet people with no stickers are using their spaces. What are they getting for their money?”
Mayor Michael J. McGlynn, Medford: “We recognize there’s a problem.”
But no one told that to the residents–who paid extra–and expected priority parking.
Hank “So you knew those people weren’t getting tickets?”
Mayor Michael J. McGlynn, Medford: “ Oh. we knew. Absolutely we knew.”
The Mayor now tells me they’re putting a new patrol system in place that’ll solve that problem. And then, he insists, the days of free parking for out-of-towners will be over. Medford residents, let us know.
If you have a story idea or tip email tellhank@whdh.com.