Here is another example of the ineptness and disorganization in regards to parking in our village. Working in downtown Oak Park, I park my car in the Holley Court garage. I purchase a quarterly parking pass, which comes with a transponder. The village also requires a sticker to be displayed in the rear windshield, which they also supply.
On March 29, I paid my quarterly fee for the upcoming quarter online, which was received by the village and confirmed via e-mail. The village did not mail me the required sticker upon payment, and I was surprised to find a $30 ticket on my windshield on April 22 for not displaying a sticker (even though I was paid up in full).
I took the ticket to village hall the same day and explained to the woman at the front desk that my sticker was not yet received from the village. She typed into her computer, said that the fee was indeed paid and printed out a sticker and a receipt. I was sent to the office of adjudication to have the ticket eliminated.
A week later, I received a notice in the mail finding me liable for the $30 fine, even though the village was totally in the wrong. I have the ability to appeal in the Circuit Court of Cook County, but there’s no way I’m taking off from work for a $30 ticket.
I can now see why so many people are agitated with our village and refuse to frequent our shops and restaurants. This is just a lack of common sense and mismanagement. I do have one question I would love to have a parking official answer for me:
What if I decided back in March that I didn’t want to utilize the transponder and was just planning on paying cash each day; how would they have known that? And how could they have issued a ticket? I am being punished because the village did not remit my sticker in a timely fashion; that’s unbelievable!
Kevin Wirag
Oak Park
