Ward 7 Candidate For Alderman Comments On New Traffic and Parking Costs



 Ward 7 Alderman candidate Joan Whitney Puglia reacted yesterday to new parking fee increases voted by the Traffic Commission at a hastily-called five-minute afternoon meeting on June 16th.

“To compensate for its unsound fiscal management, City Hall has already forced permit parking on streets where residents don’t want it, doubled meter rates, and grossly inflated fines,” she said. “Now we get hit again. Raising the cost of a resident parking sticker from $20 to $30 after having just raised its cost last year is unreasonable. Our next-door neighbor Medford charges only $10 for a resident sticker.”

 Ms. Puglia advocates the following reforms:

• Eliminate permit parking on streets where residents don’t want it.
• Start street sweeping at 9:00 A.M. rather than 8:00 A.M.
• Return meter rates to 30 minutes for 25 cents.
• Require the Board of Alderman to set fees and fines, but only after a public hearing.

She believes that “City government should not misrepresent its hostile revenue-boosting scheme as a policy to improve parking conditions. For many residents it imposes greater hardship.”

Read more at JoanForWard7.org