Remember this? I had almost forgotten because it’s kind of insignificant and kind of long ago too, but I was reminded today. How? I got a letter from a collection agency hired by the municipality in which I reside. The collection letter said our beloved mayor had created an amnesty program for people with unpaid tickets. Our beloved mayor’s name goes on all municipal letters, as if everything was his idea. As an aside, I think he’s carrying this advantage of incumbency thing too far.
For your information, “Parking-ticket amnesty program” is government speak for, “Hey, we’re really getting desperate for money around here.” The letter said if I paid right now, I could get a 40-percent discount. But wait! There’s more! It said if I didn’t pay, my car could be immobilized with what used to be called a Denver boot. The letter didn’t say “Denver” though, so maybe “Denver Boot” is a trademark.
First reaction: hey, if they’re giving a 40-percent discount on illegal parking, maybe I should take advantage of it and go park illegally. That’s the proper reaction to a sale, isn’t it? Instead, I got in my car and went right to the courthouse. Why? I was annoyed because the letter implied to me that I had ignored the parking ticket, but I didn’t; I blogged about it. I also returned it with my not guilty plea in June. I appeared for my calendar call on September 8th too. After that appearance, I predicted that I would have to decide what I wanted for my birthday and for Christmas before they called me back for a trial. I even said getting a trial date would take so long I might die before the trial of the century. I was right about birthday and Christmas presents, and I did well on both occasions, thanks. I hope I was wrong about dying before the case comes to trial. I don’t know yet, because the case hasn’t been scheduled yet.
I went to the courthouse because I thought maybe they sent out a trial notice, I didn’t get it and therefore I actually was a scofflaw, although an inadvertent one. Nope. They’re so desperate for money that they’re offering amnesty to people whose tickets are still going through the system. How about speeding up the process a little? That would bring in some revenue too and maybe without a discount. I got the ticket in early June and it’s now late January of the following year. Plus, when I went to court in September, they already knew I plead not guilty. So it would have saved time if someone was empowered to deal with the ticket then. If I lost then, I would have paid then. I have no plans to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
If the case develops further, dear readers, you will be the second to know. After all, if I don’t learn about it first, I can’t write about it and post it here.
