Opinion: If the parking meter isn’t running, it should be

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I can’t ever remember an economy so dismal that Los Angeles’ police and fire departments were told to cut their budgets -- but they were today.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also ordered the rest of the city’s departments to hand over new, skinnier budgets by December 1, budgets that have to chop out another three percent from their already emaciated funds. LA is $110 million in the red and it could only get worse.

At the same time, there’s a big money-making opportunity sitting right under our noses.

Thousands of imported cars -- pretty, shiny new models from Japan and Germany -- are piling up at the port of Long Beach. Nobody’s buying ‘em, but still they keep coming off the ships and taking up acres of space. Nissan reportedly has been trying to get a deal with Long Beach for more room, and Mercedes evidently already has an agreement.

Hey, all you container ships! Looky here! Los Angeles’ port is right next door, with thousands of acres, some of them surely vacant.

Let’s do what the car dealers do: wheel and deal! Come on, Mercedes -- park your white elephant-mobiles on our city property! We can even work out a group rate. Slide on in, Toyota -- plenty of room for your Corollas and Camrys! [Our freeways are already part-time parking lots, but that’s a blog for another time.]

If we’re insisting that animal shelters and libraries slash their budgets, it’s unconscionable to waste any city resources, including space -- especially not in Los Angeles, where parking is so hard to come by. So come on, LA let’s make a deal, and make some money!

Just don’t let them pay us in quarters.