Only Little People Get Parking Tickets

SF Weekly has called out Mayor Gavin Newsom for parking his SUV illegally all over town. It's certainly not the first time someone in the media has noticed this and photographed it. In fact, a few years ago I worked on a remodeling job across the street from the Green and Leavenworth highrise pictured at right and I can tell you his people park their car like that (or worse) every morning, idling the engine for an hour or more while waiting for him.

SF Weekly reports

[SFMTA Spokesman Judson] True notes that the mayor is not any more entitled to park illegally than you or I -- but adds that PCOs are not in the habit of ticketing cars with drivers sitting in them. -SF Weekly

Which neither surprises nor comforts me.

I'm convinced that San Francisco needs a mayor who takes the bus every day. It's insane to think that Muni will run reliably and conveniently when the chief executive of this city gets rides everywhere in a chauffered SUV. Our streets look very different when viewed through those tinted windows.

Not bloody likely anytime soon

In the meantime, at least we do have a Board of Supervisors President with a Fast Pass. It's a step in the right direction, and here's to hoping that Chiu's experience mingling with the common folk has some bearing on the policies his board enacts.

But with a mayor so distant from the lives of his constituents, livable streets advocates have our work cut out for us.

Utah St Sidewalk Parking

Clearly it's street-sweeping day:
To report sidewalk parking in SF, call DPT at (415) 553-1200
Hit 1 for English
4 for "more options"
3 for "sidewalk parking"

You'll need to catch the address in front of which the car is parked. It's stupid and unnecessary, but DPT won't send someone out unless you give them the exact address. Local activist Carleigh notes that this is a blatant violation of ADA laws, so maybe mention that if you're given a hard time.

Also, it's worth going back a few days later to everyblock.com, which lists police reports by location, to check on how your report was resolved. And if you like, take a picture and upload it to Flickr with "pedestrianist" as a tag. I'll post it here along with any resolution or notes in the comment section.

Sidewalks Are For Everyone

News from Streetsblog SF about the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired's current campaign against sidewalk parking, Sidewalks are for Everyone (SAFE).

The aim of SAFE is to discourage sidewalk parking not punishing them through enforcement measures, but by gently but pointedly reminding drivers of the consequences of their actions. I hope it works, and I commend them for making the effort.

As I type this, however, my freaking jaw is on the floor:

SFPD Sergeant Steve Quon of the Taraval Station said he's not inclined to enforce sidewalk parking, except in instances where there are significant complaints. "There are so many cars on the sidewalk on 19th Avenue, if we cited one, we'd have to cite all of them. That's a lot of citations. There's not a lot of pedestrian traffic on 19th. As you can see, there's nobody on it right now."

When it was suggested he's missing out on a lot of fine revenue, he replied: "We don't look at it that way. We can't look at it from a money factor, because it doesn't really go into our pockets. We don't get a percentage or anything." (Streetsblog SF)

My first thought is that nobody walks on 19th Avenue because there's no enforcement of parking and traffic violations. I'd have to be insane to walk on a sidewalk dotted with parked cars, along a street with one of the highest pedestrian injury and death rates in the city! Any talk of improving the situation along 19th Ave is useless if we won't even make the most bare minimum effort to enforce violations.

And the inference that PCOs have no interest in enforcing the law because they don't get a cut of the fines... what?! I'm speechless.

SFMTA spokesman Judson True assured Streetsblog San Francisco managers at the Department of Parking and Traffic (DPT) have told their employees to enforce any instance of sidewalk parking they encounter. (Streetsblog SF)

This runs counter to both Sgt Quon's statement above and to my own experience. More that once I have called the DPT hotline and reported a sidewalk parker, only to have nobody show up to cite the offender. I can go onto everyblock.com to see the resolution of my report, and read with my own eyes that no action was taken. If you like, you can stand on the sidewalk in front of your house on street sweeping day and watch the PCOs ticket cars parked on the street and ignore those on the sidewalk. They are clearlty not enforcing "any instance of sidewalk parking they encounter." Not even the low-hanging ones.