Letters to the editor

About three months ago I parked on St. Paul Street as I had a meeting to attend at a business on Bernard Ave. I went to put the only loonie I had into the meter as I expected to be about two hours.

Sadly, not to my surprise, the meter ate my loonie without registering any time.

This happens on a regular basis, the city has received a lot of free money from my pocket with no possible recourse and I'm a young professional trying to make my way in this expensive city.

In a rush and without any change, I called the number posted on the meter to report the issue only to get an answering machine.

I left a detailed message and my phone number. When I returned to my car about an hour and 45 minutes later, to my dismay, I had a $30 parking ticket.

I again called the number only to get the machine and asked if someone could return my call.

About 20 minutes later I received a call from a nice lady from the Commissionaires office. She proceeded to explain to me that the Commissionaires had not been responsible for parking downtown for over three years and that I was basically out of luck unless I could convince the city otherwise (I thought that was a pretty funny joke).

Perhaps the city could get around to updating their meters sometime over the next couple of year?

Oh, and rescinding my ticket would be nice too.  If I didn't have to park downtown, I certainly wouldn't bother with the never-ending hassle that it is, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it.

John West