City Hall Nixes Parking Ticket Phone-In Appeals; Online Or Mail-Ins Still On Track
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- An effort in Philadelphia City Council to let you fight parking tickets without having to show up in person is being tweaked today, in advance of a final vote on the measure later this month.
Councilman Bill Green originally proposed three new ways to fight parking tickets: online, on the phone, or through the mail (see previous story).
But Mayor Nutter's office wants the telephone hearings taken out.
"The administration has requested that we remove the option of a telephonic hearing," Green said today.
Officials say live, phoned-in appeals present logistical and manpower hurdles, a view that Green does not dispute.
"There are practical problems with it that are real, which are causing us to look at this other approach."
His other approach is to allow for telephone appeals only for individuals who are disabled. Anyone else, under the revised plan, would be able to appeal with snail mail or online.
Amendments are being voted on this week, and a final vote could come next week (see previous story).
