Why is city ticketing cars with permits?
Healy: Court should dismiss bad tickets

Wednesday, November 21, 2007
By N. CLARK JUDD
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The city has a policy not to issue tickets to folks like Joseph Parlapiano, 65, who parks his car in the metered space across the street from his Montgomery Street home, says Jersey City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill.

Meters were installed on Parlapiano's block about five or six years ago, he said, and since then the Jersey City Parking Authority has been issuing monthly permits that allow residents to park there without feeding the meter.

Parlapiano has that permit neatly affixed to the inside of his windshield.

Just the same, he said, "Every year they give me about five or six (tickets). They get new guys, they don't know what they are doing."

Normally he would get them dismissed with an affidavit from the JCPA. But after a ticket-fixing scandal rocked Jersey City Municipal Court this summer, he says he's having trouble getting JCPA mistakes corrected.

Parlapiano said a neighbor has already elected to pay three $29 tickets he didn't have to pay rather than fight them in court. That neighbor did not answer his door yesterday.

Morrill confirmed that Parlapiano's permit is still valid, and that after receiving an affidavit from the JCPA verifying that he is a permit holder, the court would be expected to dismiss the ticket.

Last month, Parlapiano got another ticket and that was dismissed with no problems. But a ticket he got the next week was not so easy to deal with.

"I went back, they gave me the same form and everything, (but) the judge said, 'No, you have to pay.'" Parlapiano added that he continued to contest that ticket and has another court date on Dec. 18.

Asked if judges were hesitant about dismissing tickets after a scandal that ended in official misconduct charges handed down in October against four of their peers, Jersey City Municipal Court Director Rebecca Mason said only, "Each case is heard on a case-by-case basis."

Mason declined to comment on the particulars of Parlapiano's case because his paperwork was not available yesterday, and she said Judge Sheila Venable, the head judge in Jersey City's court, was out of town.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy was more vocal.

"We certainly hope the suspension, resignations and criminal charges from the (state) Attorney General's Office in the Jersey City Municipal Court will not dissuade our municipal court and our municipal judges from doing their duty, which is: to dismiss parking tickets that have been illegally or mistakenly issued for any number of various reasons," Healy said through Morrill.

Parlapiano just wants to know if he can park across the street or not.

"It's a crazy story I just want to make clear," he said.

There may be something else adding to the confusion. Rather than a parking permit for Montgomery Street, the JCPA-issued sticker on Parlapiano's windshield is for "Montegomery Avenue."

The same idiots issue tickets to residents on Essex Street with Essex Street resident-only permits.

A strong leader would call the JCPA to straighten them out, instead of complaining about the courts not forgiving the JCPA's constant mistakes.

WTF, just get rid of the contract with the JCPA and give the control to JCPD - like in NY. They can check the cars if they are stolen, not tagged etc. It would give another level to the local police to act as the eyes and ears.

From what I hear from a NYPD friend, their traffic arm work closely with the regular cops and share information.

This private contractor running the parking control have proven time and time again to be useless, untrained and without question a dumb-ass service provider for our city.