Sun-Times Catches Traffic Management Authority Parking 'Illegally'

Last Monday, Minarik's car appeared to be in a metered zone on the west side of the street with no white slip on the dashboard that would indicate she had fed the parking paybox. On Wednesday, she pulled in to the same area shortly after 8 a.m., didn't pay to park and began checking for other illegally parked cars. She didn't move her car until nearly six hours later.

Uh-oh!! But the TMA has an explanation.

Reached later, Minarik, 44, offered this explanation: She was, despite all appearances to the contrary, parked legally.

She says she's sure of this because she was issued a ticket Nov. 11 for parking in the same area while on the job, then went back to the area with a supervisor who she says agreed with her that the city had not installed the proper signs for tickets to be written. Her ticket, she says, was rescinded.

My guess is this TMA knows her stuff. She knows the rules. She wasn't parked illegally.  She was taking advantage of poor signage.

I know because the city or LAZ erected the proper signs late on Monday after the Sun-Times piece was published.

If the signs are not posted properly by the city or in many cases now, LAZ Parking, you should not be ticketed for a violation controlled by the lack of, or improper signage.

This TMA saw a loophole and used it.

Bravo for her.  I applaud her.  Because the Geek, being a slimy weasel, likes doing the same thing--when the signs cooperate.

The only issue would be if she was ticketing other cars, utilizing the same sign loophole she was taking advantage of. Now THAT would be a problem.

But barring this example, I think it's BS she's facing an investigation and perhaps some sort of discipline. Maybe there are some additional details we're not privy to. But the city, so ultra-sensitive to even the whiff of impropriety, will probably make an example of this TMA because of someone else's screwup.

Perhaps she should have reported the problem, or found another parking space. Maybe she needs to be yelled at. Whatever the case, it doesn't look like she was parking illegally and therefore shouldn't be held accountable for another department's mistake.

Read all the details in Chris Fusco's report, "Why didn't worker pay to park while writing tickets?"