Paid Parking Dead

This statement came prior to the City Council meeting on Tuesday, March 2 during a workshop that was held that was originally designated for discussion about what were the two "most favored" responses to a Request for Proposal from the City for paid parking.

However, at a meeting on February 25, a committee organized by Ivins to evaluate and prioritize these responses found flaws with all of them to such an extent that they would not recommend any of them. Also, substantial opposition over the last few weeks was generated by groups such as the Saratoga County Chamber of commerce and Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association.

At the beginning of the workshop, Commissioner Ivins conceded that he would not receive support for paid parking from Commissioner of Accounts John P. Franck and Mayor Johnson (who was absent that evening but had previously expressed opposition). During a polling of the Commissioners in attendance, it became clear that Commissioners Wirth and Scirocco would not support paid parking either, leading to Ivins' concession that paid parking would not be coming to the City.

His concession drew applause from the public which had overflowed the seating in the Council meeting room.

The public comment meeting that was scheduled for next Monday, March 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Canfield Casino will still take place, but the focus will change from comments about paid parking to eliciting feedback from the public as to the budget situation in macro, in order to develop plans to combat a $1.3 million City Budget gap for 2010.

Commissioner of Accounts John P. Franck was skeptical about the ability of the City to implement paid parking in a timely manner since it was announced as part of the budget by Commissioner Ivins, and was similarly dubious about what could be collected.

"It was fairytale revenue" from the beginning, Commissioner Franck said. "We need to make some hard choices." He was of the opinion that many of the jobs that were originally slated to be laid off might have to be looked into again, although he expressed optimism that the City would get through these times.