Parking Ticket

Thanks a F*%^ing lot ARC!

So I yesterday I went to my classes at American river college. Paid the $1 for a parking Permit and then went to my first class. Later on in the day I drove off campus and then returned later for my evening Metal Fabrication class. Well as it turns out I forgot to make sure the parking permit was still visible on my car's dashboard because I found a citation waiting for me waiting under one of my car's windshield wipers. Citation 3A.1 “No Valid permit visible” Cost: $30.

Can I appeal this since I clearly did pay for parking for that day? Nope because:

1. Appeal can't be made at the college police department, only on-line (no info on where though is given on the citation but after some searching it was finally found) or by mailing in a form obtainable only at the college police department.

2. Doesn't matter anyway because it would evidently just change it to a Citation 3A.6 “Permit Improperly displayed” which is also $30. In fact any citation is $30 except for two.

3. Evidently the entire handling of the Ticket citation and processing is managed by a private company “Data Ticket, Inc. of Newport Beach.” AKA “Ticket Wizard” AKA "Citation Processing Center” which not only handles and profits from the collection of the Citations but also handles any appeals, Evidently they have a horrible track record almost akin to a racketeering scheme, so yeah I doubt they'd be willing to change anything since it wouldn't be in their best interests.

Other random thoughts:

The instructions on the ticket say that to pay a citation a check or money order is to be sent to an PO box in Newport Beach CA, however in the on-line info the address is listed as a PO box in Huntington Beach CA. Also it can be paid on-line but that adds an additional Fee of $3.25 “or more” (WTF? A convenience fee for a citation!?) either way it looks like it's all managed by some huge third party company that profits from the citations but can't be bothered to build a decent website. The college probably only gets a small percentage of the funds collected.

Data ticket also handling the citation appeals might also be illegal under California Vehicle Code Section 40215 (4) (A) which states: “The issuing agency's governing body or chief executive officer shall appoint or contract with qualified examiners or administrative hearing providers that employ qualified examiners to conduct the administrative hearings. Examiners shall demonstrate those qualifications, training, and objectivity necessary to conduct a fair and impartial review. An examiner shall not be employed, managed, or controlled by a person whose primary duties are parking enforcement( )² or parking citation, processing, collection, or issuance. The examiner shall be separate and independent from the citation collection or processing function. An examiner's continued employment, performance evaluation, compensation, and benefits shall not, directly or indirectly, be linked to the amount of fines collected by the examiner.”

Since as I mentioned Data ticket goes by multiple names it seems that they've successfully eluded scrutiny and reprisal from those who they have wronged and maintained a good better business bureau rating while raking in profits from citations.

http://www.la.bbb.org/Business-Report/Data-Ticket-Inc-13091227

The OC weekly had a few interesting things to say about them and the overall privatization of Parking citations:

http://www.ocweekly.com/2006-06-08/news/the-ticket-wizard/1

http://www.ocweekly.com/2007-03-22/news/ticket-wizard-revisited/2

lastly I actually had gone to ARC business services last week to see about getting a parking permit but I was advised not to by the clerk since it would have cost $4 more for the rest of the semester then just paying for the daily passes. If I had bought the pass it would have been hanging on my car's rear view mirror and I wouldn't have gotten the citation. So now it's costing me $30 plus the remaining $16 that I'll pay for the rest of the semester.

Also giving out citations is all ARC police seem to do now. They didn't help ease traffic during the start of the semester and I don't see them paroling anywhere but checking the cars in the parking lots. And twice I've had a permit machine be either out of service when I went to it. Add to that again that the punishment for not displaying a permit correctly is the same as not paying at all? Thanks allot ARC for burning me again. And thanks politicians for making another profitable industry biased on punishing as many citizens they can for any mistake they make.

Adding this incident to the other problems I've had with the administration's hurdles and shortcomings during my time at ARC I'm really getting to loathe the place....

AGHH! It make me so angry! Is there any justice in the world anymore or is it to late and Corporations and those with money now make the law?