Will Ramiro Gonzalez Forge Ahead with His Ill-Conceived Parking Rate Raise Despite Taxpayer Opposition?

City Planner Ramiro Gonzalez

"Don't confuse me with facts.  My mind is made up!"

The above saying I heard as a teenager fits young City Planner Ramiro Gonzalez, who despite the objection of 18 out of 20 reasoned commenters at the Town Hall meeting expressing their opposition, is forging ahead, anyway, with the business-killing, poorly conceived plan to triple parking meter rates downtown.

Gonzalez initially claimed the huge raise was needed because of congested downtown parking.  That was shown to be totally incorrect by our own survey with pictorial evidence, proving that two major downtown metered streets are empty during peak hours.  The "congestion," as several, experienced downtown property owners explained is simply on two streets, Elizabeth and Washington, and limited to a certain group of blocks downtown.  

Jefferson Street, metered and empty at noon
St. Charles is similarly empty

Gonzalez, oblivious to the concerns of downtown property owners, has forged ahead with his foolish plan to drastically increase downtown parking meter rates.  The young planner is hell-bent on increasing downtown rates based on a book he has read and keeps on his desk, "The High Cost of Free Parking."

City insiders have told us that the inflexible Gonzalez now insists on an immediate increase to 60 cents per hour, increasing to 75 cents within three years.  It's as if the Town Hall forum never happened or the comments of citizens fell on deaf city ears!

The root of the congestion problem, according to the city's planning department is parking by downtown city workers, who, it is said, "pump" the meters with quarters all day long, tying up parking spots.  Gonzalez' solution is to move those workers to one of several lots within two or three blocks of downtown at a rate of $60.00 per month.  While Attorney Trey Mendez and others suggested moving the  downtown workers to the city lots, but at a discounted rate or even free, we have been told the city is sticking to the original plan.  Perhaps, Ramiro feels he has the votes on the City Commission to pass the item.

Strangely, the original intent of revising the 1976 city ordinance was to change language enabling enforcement of improper parking.  The existing language allows enforcement only for parking at an expired meter.

With respect to revenue generated by the increased rate, we are told that possibly $350,000 would be earmarked for use by the planning department to improve downtown, with anything beyond that going into the general fund.