Fed up with complaints from the public about malfunctioning city parking meters, Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) said enough is enough and is requesting the owners of now privately-owned meters to appear before the City Council.
Fed up with complaints from the public about malfunctioning city parking meters, Alderwoman Leslie Hairston (5th) said enough is enough and is requesting the owners of now privately owned meters to appear before the City Council. As of December, the city’s 36,000 parking meters were leased by Chicago Parking Meters LLC for $1.2 billion. And since then, many using the meters, including the South Side alderman, have lost quarters, amounting to time, to the company. “I, like thousands of others in Chicago, have been cheated out of my minutes on the parking meters,” Hairston said. Laz Parking, who will manage the meters for the next 75 years, said they are aware of the problems but stopped short of offering a resolution, according to Hairston. She and other council members said they weren’t given enough time –– only two days –– to digest the deal before it was approved. And, other payment options should’ve been offered instead of quarters only, the alderman said. Mayor Richard M. Daley defended the deal, stating the city is in a cash crunch. ______ Copyright 2009 Chicago Defender. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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