Published: August 27, 2008 10:19 am      

New Albany City Clerk disagrees with waiving outstanding tickets for downtown parking passes

City Clerk Marcey Wisman likes the idea of downtown parking permits in New Albany, but is opposed to waiving unpaid tickets for those who purchase a pass.

Wisman made her concerns known during Tuesday’s Board of Public Works and Safety meeting, reading aloud a letter she drafted questioning whether Mayor Doug England’s administration realizes the ramifications of waiving outstanding tickets.

“No one is ever happy about paying a parking ticket, but to change the rules to benefit a few makes it even more difficult to justify the need to pay to many others who receive them,” Wisman said.

The board is waiting for a final draft to be approved by City Attorney Shane Gibson before voting on a resolution that would create parking passes for residents who live downtown.

The board already had approved the idea of the parking program at an Aug. 12 meeting, when Deputy Mayor and Director of Development Carl Malysz said England intended to have outstanding parking tickets of downtown residents expunged if they purchased a pass.

The permits likely will cost $100 a year and allow residents to park on city streets in the downtown area.

The downtown boundaries where residents can park are still being determined, according to Matt Denison, president of the board.

“We still need to define the exact area,” Denison said, adding the board likely will vote on the resolution next week.

He said the parking stickers will probably arrive next week, as well.

Wisman prefaced her speech to the board by saying she is pleased that parking permits will finally be available for downtown residents, yet she accused the administration of having a “knee-jerk” reaction to a few complaints.

“Your office will not be written up by the State Board of Accounts, mine will and your office will not have to deal with the many residents demanding refunds, mine will,” Wisman said.

The clerk’s office and the traffic officers in charge of writing tickets were left out of the parking-permit discussion, according to Wisman.

“To void the outstanding tickets of these residents is unfair to all the individuals who have paid their tickets, and for the administration to do this without consulting me is unfair to my staff,” she said.

Denison told Wisman the administration would take her comments into consideration over the next week as they put the final touches on the resolution.

In other news

• A reminder that the New Albany boat ramp will be closed beginning at 9 p.m. Friday through 12 a.m. Sunday for the Labor Day concert scheduled for Saturday at the city’s amphitheater. River Road will be closed from East Sixth Street to the amphitheater from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday. Several local bands are scheduled to play at the free concert, which is sponsored in part by the City of New Albany and The Tribune. For more information about the event, call 812-948-5333.