It was one of the hottest days of the summer, as Sean Means, an east Baltimore resident, made his way through the choking dust bowl that is the city?s impound lot.
Standing defiantly in the glaring sun, Means, frustrated by hours of standing in line at the impound lot?s reception area, searched for his SUV, which was towed by the city after he neglected to pay three parking tickets.
He lost his car to the city, not because he was speeding through a school zone, or parked overnight in a handicap space, but because a few parking meters ran out on him. He?s now lost in what poet T.S. Eliot might describe as the automotive wasteland, trying to find his car. Sitting on a wide stretch of Pulaski Highway in east Baltimore, the city?s terminus for stolen, impounded and abandoned vehicles seems like a vulture beckoning to passing traffic. Unpaved, dusty and surrounded by a chain link fence, the impound is destination misery for unfortunate drivers like Means who seems caught in the city?s myriad private tow contractors.
During a typical day, dozens of cars are plucked off city streets and parked on this desolate lot, waiting to be claimed. Residents stand in line, cursing the city as they begin the process of getting their cars back.
“The service is terrible, and they?re making millions down here,” said Sean Means as he waited for information about his car. “You would think they could be expedient.”
What started as three unpaid parking tickets for Means has turned into a $1,000 tab.
“It?s unbelievable. I forget to pay, and that is my fault,” Means said, “But the fines are abusive.”
City Councilman Jack Young (D-2nd District) said that the city?s towing business is all about making money, and the fines accumulated for a few parking tickets discourage people from living in the city.
“It is a tool that the city uses to fill the coffers. It?s unfair,” Young said. “A lot of people can?t afford these fines.”
Young recently introduced a bill to limit penalties to three times the face value of the ticket. Otherwise, he said, the fines become insurmountable for city residents.
“It?s another form of taxation,” Young said. “Youget a ticket, forget to pay, and suddenly you owe $200. It?s ridiculous.”
Unfortunately for city parking scofflaws, Young?s bill is currently stuck in committee.
Even tow-truck drivers said money drives the city?s towing policy.
“The big companies are making millions, and the (city) doesn?t even let the contracts go out to bid,” said Fred Madero, an independent tow driver who waits at the lot, hoping to pick up odd towing jobs.
“Why pay $5 million to $6 million a year to contractors, when they can hire another shift for the city and do the work themselves? Something?s wrong with the city?s towing business,” Madero said as private trucks passed his vehicle en route to the lot, car in tow.
The city?s Department of Transportation, the agency that manages the impound, disputes Madero?s assertions. Officials claim there have been significant reduction in complaints of property stolen from vehicles. They also say plans are in the works to improve the city facility by constructing a new building on the lot. The fines that many citizens say are too high are set by the city council, not them, adds Ken Strong, deputy chief of safety for the department.
“People are not in the best frame of mind when they?re picking up their vehicles” Strong said.
Still, according to their own statistics, the city wrote 364,041 parking tickets for more than $12,363,412 dollars in fines in the fiscal year ending in July. Last year nearly 93 percent of vehicles brought to the city?s impound lot were towed by private contractors, records show.
Meanwhile, back at the impound lot, tension continued to build.
A city employee demanded that an Examiner reporter on the scene leave immediately, even after the reporter showed proper identification that provides access to crime scenes and accidents.
The employee snapped, “This is no crime scene.”
That didn?t sit well with several angry residents who defended the reporter and told the employee to his face: “This is a crime scene.”
Here are some of their “crime” stories.
Towing for Dollars
» Number of cars towed by the city : 46,501
» Number towed by private contracts: 42,927
» Fees paid to private tow contractors: $4.2 million
» Number of vehicles sold at auction: 10,176
» Number of vehicles sold due to a police of narcotics hold: 9,465
» Money earned by the city auctioning vehicles: $2.8 million
» Number of parking tickets written: 364,041
» Parking fines: $12 million
Source: (CITISTAT) Baltimore City Department of Transportation for year ending June 30, 2006.
?What can I do about it??
» What it was towed for: Abandoned vehicle
» The fine: Forfeiture
Chris Nissley said he thought his missing pickup truck was stolen until he got a letter from the city.
“I always park it outside my business, but they said it was abandoned, so I moved it.” he said.
It did not matter. His car was still towed. “I told the city I moved it but they said it didn?t matter. Once the car is on a towing list, they tow it.”
Now, Nissley said, the towing fees and ticket costs mean he is giving up the truck he used for his masonry business in downtown Baltimore.
“Once I fixed the damage and paid the fines, it?s not worth paying to get it out,” he said. “I?m angry, but what can I do about it?”
Resident: ?I was just washing my car?
» What it was towed for: Guilt by association
» The fine: $210
When Michael Robinson?s cousin was arrested for drinking a beer in Druid Hill Park, he was shocked when he also ended up in the police wagon. He was just washing his 2005 Chevrolet Impala at the time of his arrest.
“The officer said it wouldn?t be fair if they locked up my cousin but not me,?” Robinson said.
Robinson was sent to Central Booking, and his parked car impounded. Robinson couldn?t believe it when he was told he had to pay $210 for his towed car.
“Why do I have to pay for towing when I didn?t do anything wrong?” he asked.
The city state?s attorney?s office told Robinson that if he filled out a form, the towing costs would be refunded.
Still, the aggravation of going to jail and getting his car towed has caused Robinson to lose faith in the system. “I was just washing my car. Why did they have to tow me?”
?It?s just another hurdle?
» What it was towed for: Two unpaid parking tickets
» The penalty: $475, two days of work lost
“I spent two hours up here, and I don?t have a car charger,” said frustrated Kenneth Ward, who lives in east Baltimore, after he reclaimed his impounded car and discovered his Blackberry charger was missing.
Getting his car towed for two unpaid parking tickets was bad enough for Ward.
But losing the $40 car charger for his Blackberry in the process added insult to injury.
“They said I can?t file a complaint about the charger here; I have to go to the towing company,” Ward said.
Ward?s car was towed after he neglected to pay two parking tickets. Now he said he?s out $475, plus the car charger.
“It’s just another hurdle that makes people think twice about living in the city,” he said.
Central Booking is ?terrible?
» What it was towed for: Driving with a suspended license
» Penalty: $210
As far as state correctional officer Sheree Finney is concerned, there is little irony that she ended up in jail for what she said is a minor fraction.
“My license was suspended and I didn?t know it. I should have been given a second chance.” she said. Finney added that besides leaving her mother and niece on the street when they towed her car, she?s upset that the city said any damage that occurs during towing is the owner?s problem.
“They say when they tow your car, they?re not responsible for it,” she said. “If that?s the case, they should give people the option of leaving it or getting someone to pick it up.”
Finney said her brother arrived on the scene, a licensed driver, but the officer said since he wasn?t on the registration, he couldn?t drive the car.
And while Finney has spent a lot of time in the State House of Corrections in Jessup where she works, she has little love for the state?s Central Booking facility, the warehouse for the city?s arrest suspects.
“It?s terrible, they need to work on it,” she said.
?They shouldn?t be able to sell your car that fast?
» What it was towed for: Driving with suspended license
» Penalty: $200, car on the auction block
When Derrick Jessup of Baltimore City was pulled over by police, he says he didn?t know his license had expired.
“I got a speeding ticket in 2002, and they sent the notice to the wrong address,” Jessup said.
Arrested for driving with a suspended license, Jessup was sent to Central Booking, and the car was impounded. But the worst part for Jessup was that car he was driving was a friend?s.
Now, he?s at the impound lot getting the car back before it?s sold off by the city.
“They’re going to sell the car for having an unpaid speeding ticket,” Jessup said.
Jessup said a letter from the Department of Transportation informing him that the car would be sold at auction arrived four days after the date it was mailed, giving little time to help reclaim the car and pay the fine.
“I?ve been calling the [impound lot] number for days, but I can?t get through,” he said. “How hard it is to put in another phone line?”
Jessup said it?s not fair to sell towed cars in just 11 days for a minor infraction.
“They shouldn?t be able to sell your car that fast,” he said.
