San Francisco’s mad dash for revenue has recently translated into some overzealous parking enforcers. While they’ve been instructed to write tickets for even the smallest and often invisible infractions, sometimes they go too far. In other words, the “parking police” can be wrong. And when they are, it’s the wrongful ticket recipient’s job to put them in their place.
Such has been my experience over the past three months, finally ending today in my favor, I’m happy to report. The keywords are there in the above letter: Valid, referring to my claim. Dismissed, as well I always knew the citation should be. And as an added bonus, inconvenience, for which the city apologizes!
That’s right, three months I said. The erroneous citation appeared on my car in mid-March; my carefully and clearly worded letter, along with photo documentation, went out within a few days. I received a reply about a month ago, telling me my claim was being processed and would take a bit longer than usual to resolve. What this said to me was that I stood correct, and that the city was now coming to terms with this fact. Then today, my vindication was sealed.
I share with this you as encouragement to contest any citation you yourself might receive, in any municipality, if indeed you truly feel you have a valid case. Some people might just shrug their shoulders and pay the fine, perhaps quietly admitting guilt that isn’t there, or just finding the cash loss to be easier than taking the time to write a letter.
While the City of San Francisco might expect this attitude, I’m here to say: “I don’t think so!” For a few extra minutes of my time, I saved $65. Plus, it feels good! After all, sometimes you lose, but…
Ryan R. Sanderson 