Decatur Consolidates Positions to Create “Parking Manager” Job
Decatur Metro | November 2, 2010
“May God have mercy on this person’s soul.”
So said Mayor Bill Floyd when the city commission came upon this particular action item during last night’s Decatur City Commission meeting.
After hearing a synopsis of the city’s request from Assistant City Manager Lyn Menne to consolidate the two parking supervisor positions into one, higher paid Parking Manager position, the city commission unanimously approved the change. (One position is currently vacant. The other employee is being recommended to take on the new job with the Decatur Tourism Bureau.)
This individual may well be crying “Mercy!” by the time they learn the full job description and get a taste of all the attention and criticism that will inevitably come with the territory.
According to Ms. Meene’s note to the commission (page 23), this person will have experience running a comprehensive and holistic parking management program and will be tasked with coming up an “efficient and effective downtown parking management plan.” This means anything from developing working relationships with private property lot owners, to assisting downtown employees with finding off-site parking for their employees, to finding ways to publicize the “wide array” of parking options to visitors, to improving bike parking, pedestrian safety and maintaining parking data to “assist with the implementation of the Community Transportation Plan.
(During last night’s meeting one of the commissioners asked whether this person would also be tasked with giving out parking tickets. Ms. Menne stated that while this person would supervise the 4 part-time PALS employees already tasked with giving parking tickets, they would spend a large majority of their time working on the other items described above.)
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Let’s just hope this person keeps Park Atlanta out of the mix.
Hmm, I’ve been looking for a new career. After living in NYC for a number of years, I’m the best parallel parker I know. Does that count as experience?
Hmm. When I lived in Manhattan, people mostly seemed to park by sound: Back in until you bump the car bumper behind you, then turn the wheel and ease forward until you hit the car bumper ahead of you, then straighten the wheel and back up until you hit the bumper behind again, then ease a few inches forward. I listened to it all night long!
But whether or not you learned to parallel park by sound, I agree that anyone who learned to park in NYC deserves the job. I may have one up on you–I also lived in Los Angeles and figured out how to park near the beach.
Tis’ true Karass. Bumpers are aptly named in regards to parking in NYC.
Hopefully this person will tell the parking ladies to stop giving me tickets when I am parked (with my flashers on) for three whole minutes in a loading zone so I can unload a few things and carry them into my office.
I am still amazed they could mysteriously appear, write me the ticket, and then vanish in the time it took me to walk up two flights of stairs, down the hall, drop something on the floor, and then walk back.
Definitely a step in the right direction. Do we have anyone in charge of transportation generally? Parking should be an integral but subordinate part of a broader transportation plan, which hopefully will come out of the 10 year planning.