The Allentown Parking Authority

The Allentown Parking Authority Officer shown here is by far the most productive person they have, he may well be the most productive city worker period. I estimate he easily writes over a $half million dollars a year by himself. He spends the day hopping from one fertile hot zone to another. You can see him everyday, several times working Chew Street, between 16th and West. That block, because of the hospital, has time restricted parking. He's like a fisherman, a very good one, who knows the good spots. For those less familiar with this blog, please use the search engine on the upper right; type in parking authority. Along with taking them to task numerous times, I documented fictitious data they provided to City Council to justify doubling the meter rate and fine structure. I also 

"They're acting like a vampire sucking the blood out of downtown," Molovinsky said of the authority.

conducted a news conference, covered by Channel 69, on unnecessary parking meters as far out as 10th and Chew. Those meters were finally removed, only this year. Some comments on the previous post suggest that there is justification for the Authority and their policies. As a student of this bureaucracy for years, I can tell you that it has actually had a negative affect on center city commerce. It's simply a back door tax, mostly on those who can least afford it. The cars shown are being ticketed for not moving for street sweeping, despite the snow.*

*photographs from 2007, Parking Authority supposedly no longer gives "sweep tickets" during snow storms.

This is a reprint from September of 2010 and March of 2014.   I was told by the former Authority director that although the regulations haven't changed, they now use discretion concerning enforcement during snow hardships.