Parking Enforcement Officers Help Spread Holiday Cheer

Shoppers scrambling to get their last-minute Christmas purchases in West Hollywood on Tuesday received a holiday surprise when their ticking parking meters ran out--a friendly holiday card instead of a parking citation.

West Hollywood parking enforcement officers spread Christmas cheer to the equivalent of $10,000 in lost parking ticket money on Monday and Tuesday, but city staff members said a little more peace on earth was well worth less city revenue.

“It’s been a fun day,” said Janis Rhodes, the city’s parking manager. “When people would see the parking enforcement officer, they would run out and say, ‘Oh, please don’t give me a parking ticket!’ And then when they were handed a colorful holiday card, they were really surprised.”

The city of West Hollywood asked parking enforcement to give out cards Monday and Tuesday instead of tickets as a way of thanking procrastinating shoppers for patronizing West Hollywood businesses.

“We’ve put out about 150 cards on cars in violation of meters, and people just couldn’t be happier,” said Sam Ohan, a parking enforcement supervisor. “It’s a real nice thing to do for people on the holidays.”

The seasonal wishes also included a friendly reminder to pay parking meters in the future, as well as a coupon for 200 free minutes on the city’s parking meter cash key.

Drivers can get a parking key at City Hall, which then can be used in electronic parking meters instead of feeding change into the machines. Each time a driver punches the key into the meter, 25 cents is deducted from the total that is programmed on the card.