CommentsRANTZ & RAVEZ--It was a nice Friday evening when I met my son for dinner. He is a commercial airline pilot with a major airline and is often out of town in other parts of the world enjoying the life of a pilot.
It is a rare occasion when we can get together for dinner and catch up on activities due to our conflicting schedules.
Since my son was not feeling very well, he wanted to go to an Asian Restaurant and get some unique soup combination to help him feel better. The restaurant is in the Granada Hills area and very popular with community members.
I parked my car on a public roadway and we enjoyed dinner. When I returned to my car, I noticed a red envelope with a parking citation inside. I read the citation and was cited for parking in an alley. 80.61 LAMC (Los Angeles Municipal Code) with a fine of $68.00.
Knowing the California Vehicle Code from my many decades working as a Traffic Enforcement Sergeant with the LAPD and instructing officers at the police academy on the California Vehicle Code, I noticed that the roadway was over 25 feet and the Vehicle Code specifically reads that to qualify for an alley the roadway can’t be over 25 feet in width. I took photos of the location and measured the width of the roadway and determined that it was a minimum of 36 Feet wide and clearly not subject to any enforcement for parking in an alley.
I filed an appeal via the internet on the citation and will let you know the results of the review. If the appeal is not granted and the citation is not cancelled, I will take it to the next level of appeal and keep you informed of this travesty of justice!
While the Parking Enforcement Officers have a difficult job to perform and encounter many angry motorists who receive parking citations for a variety of parking violations and verbally abuse the officers, the officers need to know the rules and not cite vehicles for a situation that is not against the law.
You can always look up vehicle code definitions on the internet to make sure, if you are cited, it is for a legit violation.
I question how many other motorists parked their car where I parked mine and also received a citation for parking and just paid the citation. As in my case, it is always a good practice to check and verify if you did in fact violate the law. If not, exercise your rights and contest it. $68.00 is a lot of money to pay the City of Los Angeles when you did nothing wrong and a Parking Officer made a mistake due to their lack of knowledge.
This story will continue. I hope it doesn’t become a series!
It is Happy New Year as we enter 2019….
Here we are in January of a brand-new year. The rain has fallen early this month and helped fill the reservoirs along with a growing snow pack in the mountains. With Global Warming, every drop of rain and flake of snow helps keep us moving forward with the basic needs to survive in The City of The Angels.
While out in the community, I have been looking for Angels. I have not found any to date, but I have found more and more homeless in more and more neighborhoods I visit throughout Los Angeles.
While I am on the subject of homeless, there will be another Homeless Count conducted this month. I have been involved in previous Homeless Counts and it is a good experience for you to help identify those that are homeless in your neighborhood. You are not exposed to any danger while conducting the Homeless Count and you will always have a partner or partners for your safety and protection.
Without the support of community members, the Homeless Count won’t be successful in counting those living on the streets and other locations around Los Angeles.
8,000 volunteers are needed for the next Los Angeles Homeless Count, please go to Theycountwillyou.org to register and join the count. The Count will be conducted over 3 days.
The areas are San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita Valley and San Gabriel Valley are on Jan 22.
Jan 23 the South Bay/ Harbor Cities & East and West L.A. County. The final one is on Jan 24 for Antelope Valley, Metro LA, and South Los Angeles County.
While most of us complain about the lifestyle of the homeless living on sidewalks and other public places, we can help identify locations and work with the organizations that are using our tax dollars to address the situation. Millions and Millions of TAX Dollars are being raised and directed toward the homeless problem in the Los Angeles region.
Get involved while you continue to complain about the Homeless Situation in Los Angeles.
That is it for this edition of RantZ and RaveZ. If you have an idea for a RantZ or RaveZ article, let me know. [email protected].
(Dennis P. Zine is a former and retired LAPD Supervisor, former and retired 12-year Los Angeles City Councilman and current General Manager at Bell Canyon in Ventura County.)
-cw
