4

T H U R S DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 1

LOCAL NEWS
TRAFFIC
Virginia Ramp from Interstate 66 west to Interstate 495 south will be closed Thursday night for construction. Follow detours. Virginia Two right lanes on Interstate 66 east will be closed between Cedar Lane and Interstate 495 on Thursday night with intermittent full-road closures after midnight for construction.

COVER STORY

D.C. issuing 5,000 parking tickets a day

By Liz Essley
Examiner Staff Writer

NEWSMAKERS
MARION BARRY
The D.C. councilman is admonishing a challenger to his Ward 8 seat for protesting a planned homeless shelter in Anacostia, calling her insensitive and characterizing her as a Johnnycome-lately. Natalie Williams has organized a protest rally for Thursday to protest to the oversaturation of homeless shelters and social services that attract hundreds from outside Ward 8. Calvary Church is building a womens shelter in Anacostia after operating a separate halfway house for 30 years.

T H E WA S H I N G T O N E X A M I N E R

ROBERT ORTH
Orth, a Virginia Institute of Marine Science professor and leader of the team that conducts the annual survey of Chesapeake Bay grasses, said the huge sediment plume that formed in the Bay this summer after Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee did not destroy underwater grass beds that serve as feeding and nesting places for blue crabs and other organisms. We were incredibly surprised at how much of the grass beds remained, Orth said.

The District issues far more parking tickets than other cities of its size and after raking in $80 million last year it is poised to collect a record $90 million in nes this year alone. The citys 200 parking enforcement personnel issue more than 5,000 parking tickets a day, more than 1.6 million tickets already this scal year, according to a report released Wednesday by AAA Mid-Atlantic. Parking ticket revenue is on track to top $90 million in D.C. this budget year, up from $80 million in scal 2010 and $71 million the year before, the report shows. Thats ve to 20 times more than other cities collect. Seattle, with a population similar to D.C.s, had $21.5 million in parking ticket revenue in 2010. Portland, Ore., made only $5.1 million, according to the International Parking Institute. One reason for the abundance of tickets in D.C. is that they can be issued by so many entities, including two city agencies, District police, Secret Service, National Park Police and Capitol Police. But AAA said the high number of tickets shows that D.C. doesnt have enough parking options.

EXAMINER FILE

The District is set to bring in more than $90 million this year in parking nes.

There is still a paucity of available on-street parking slots in the city, and the cost of parking in a downtown parking lot or garage, which can range from $5 to as much as $19, is expensive and prohibitive for many motorists, said AAA Mid-Atlantics John Townsend. That means the competition for each parking space is still erce, as residents and visitors circle the block just to park. Residents say the citys parking enforcement is ruthless. D.C. resident Eric Bethel crisscrosses the city every day for work. He once parked in front of a construction site and was given a courtesy tow. But the courtesy tower plopped his car in front of a meter and didnt put any cash in it, leaving Bethel with a $50 ne. Theyre very eager to give out tickets when its only one minute or two

past the expiration time, he said. My wife is at my throat right now with the amount of money I spend on tickets. Bethel estimates he paid about $1,700 in parking tickets this year alone. Others wonder how theyll pay the nes, which range from $25 to $100, depending on the infraction, and double after 30 days. David Khatib, an unemployed Falls Church resident, was in D.C. on Wednesday to pay two tickets totaling $130. Where do I get this kind of money to pay these tickets off? he asked, saying the District charged too much for tickets. Others just think parking ofcers are far too eager to dole out the citations. They give out too many tickets for the wrong reason. Theyre price gouging, said Southeast resident Samuel Walker, who has received several parking tickets and ve speed camera tickets in the last two years. They arent enforcing trafc. Its about the money. Theyre taking advantage of you, and its sad. But that may not be a phenomenon limited to D.C. One thing we have seen is that cities, because of their budget crunches, have tried to tap parking revenue and

By the numbers
Parking ticket revenue per capita per year*
D.C., $130 New York City, $74 Seattle, $35 Portland, Ore. $8.75 Memphis, Tenn. $2.88 *Approximately, based on data from AAA Mid-Atlantic, the International Parking Institute and news reports use it for things that are not neces necessarily related, said Helen Sullivan, spokeswoman for the International Parking Institute. D.C. Council member Mary Cheh said thats not the case for the District. We should be enforcing the law and people should be parking according to the rules and paying the amount they have to pay, she said. But, she added, I want the rules to be rationalized, and as far Im concerned they arent. Cheh said parking would get less nutty if the District would hire a parking manager, a position the D.C. Council created in October but the city has yet to ll.
lessley@washingtonexaminer.com

Virginia GOP defends ballot process; Gingrich claims fraud

By Steve Contorno
Examiner Staff Writer

HEART OF THE CITY

On the Web
Find expanded coverage of fallout over the Virginia primary ballot at campaign2012washing tonexaminer.com. Gingrich Perry of Texas made the Virginia ballot. Perry failed to hand in the minimum 10,000 signatures, ofcials said, while Gingrich, a former House speaker who calls Virginia home, barely met the threshold and fell below it when some of his signers were disqualied. Gingrich said his campaign paid an outside group to gather petitions and someone from that group submitted 1,500 fraudulent signatures, disqualifying him. The State Board of Elections warned candidates in March to collect 15,000 to 20,000 signatures to ensure theyd meet the 10,000-name threshold. In a statement defending the states actions, Virginia Republicans said they also informed candidates in October to get 15,000 signatures

Too much holiday cheer? Call SoberRide

The Washington Regional Alcohol Program, a coalition of local law enforcement and business sponsors, continues its SoberRide program. SoberRide offers free cab rides to would-be drunk drivers during the holiday season. Free rides for up to $30 in cab fare are offered between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. every night, ending Sunday morning. The program provided 2,530 free cab rides in the D.C. area last December, according to WRAP President Kurt Gregory Erickson, and a total of 52,841 free cab rides since 1993. Call 800-200-TAXI for a ride.

The ght to place all seven Republican presidential candidates on Virginias primary ballot is moving toward the courts while one candidate bumped from the ballot, Newt Gingrich, insisted Wednesday that he was the victim of fraud. The conservative Citizens for the Republic and former Democratic Party of Virginia Chairman Paul Goldman said Wednesday that Virginia failed to follow its own laws in determining which candidates should make the ballot. The state delegated its duties to the political parties without double-checking their work, Goldman said. Virginia requires candidates to submit signatures from 10,000 registered voters, including 400 from each of the states 11 congressional districts. The rules came under scrutiny after two presidential contenders trying to get on the March 6 ballot Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry were rejected because they didnt have enough valid signatures. Only former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul

and noted that none of the campaigns offered any complaints until after the Dec. 23 validation process had concluded. Gingrich and Perry did not come close to the 10,000 valid signature threshold and were properly disqualied, the party said. Those challenging the ballot process say its unlawful because each political party uses a different standard for certifying petitions, and neither party veries whether a person actually signed the petition. Instead, parties cross-check names and addresses against a database of registered voters. Goldman and Citizens for the Republic are asking state leaders to convene a special General Assembly session immediately to change the rules so that any credible candidate can appear on the primary ballot. Theres a sense of urgency because

absentee ballots must be printed and mailed by Jan. 21. Theres no perfect solution, but there are better solutions than what you have, Goldman said. It basically makes us the laughingstock of the country. Lawmakers, however, see little reason to change a system that worked for more than a decade. Every statewide candidate has to do that, said Republican House Speaker Bill Howell. These arent outlandish restrictions. Weve been living with them for years. Perhaps we need to look at the law, but well do so prospectively, not retroactively. Perry led a federal lawsuit Tuesday insisting that Virginias ballot restrictions are unconstitutional. And Goldman and Citizens for the Republic are willing to do the same. The argument is weve been doing it the wrong way for years and years and we see no reason to change it, said Bill Pascoe, executive vice president for the conservative group. I dont anticipate having to go to court. But is that an option? Sure.
scontorno@washingtonexaminer.com