South Norwalk Parking

I got this letter yesterday and after thinking alot about what to say, I responded. Tell me what you think of this:

'I am writing today to express my displeasure with the parking situation in South Norwalk. Specifically I am writing about my parking experience in the North Water Street lot this weekend (the Imax Theatre lot). I went down to Donovan's on Friday night with a group of friends for dinner and drinks, and paid my $5 for the maximum parking in the lot. As a group, we spent over $700 at Donovan's. Because I had too much to drink, I did what I though was the responsible thing, and did not drive home. First thing in the morning when I returned I had a $50 parking ticket on my car for overnight parking. I find that to be completely outrageous. The pay to park situation in South Norwalk is terrible to begin with in my opinion. I understand it is a large revenue source for the City of Norwalk, but it is also a deterrant to going down to SoNo to spend money at the restaurants and retailers. But my larger problem is to punish someone for being responsible. With the effort the police department makes to crack down on drinking and driving in an area of large alcohol consumption, to fine people $50 for not drinking and driving seems absurd. I learned two lessons on Saturday morning...if I had driven home drunk I would not have gotten a ticket, or if I went to Westport where you can park for free and leave your car overnight, I could have spent $700 there. I'm sure the latter is not something the business people of South Norwalk would like to hear. Lastly, a $50 fine for this offense seems awfully excessive as well. Where many of the fines in South Norwalk are $25, for this to be $50 seems out of proportion. I understand the idea is to make plowing easier, however, with the exception of maybe 7-10 nights a year, that is completely irrelevant. I think this is a very poorly thought out rule, that completely disregards the reality that a large part of SoNo's income is based on drinking. I can promise I will not be returning down there, and I will encourage others to not bring their business there as well, as long as this stays in place. '

This was my responce:


'As a commissioner of the Second Taxing District I am responsible for the municipal electric and water department of the Second Taxing District only, so as a commissioner I have no control over what the city does, but I am appalled at what has happen to you. Therefore, I have forwarded this e-mail to the following common council persons for some kind of action to be done on their part. I have also forwarded it to the mayor and suggest that you contact the press to get involved. I applaud you on your choice to not drive that night, and wish that I had an answer for you right now. Just know that YOU did the right thing, but the city let you down. Any question or suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact me again.'

Well, what do you think?