The city of Los Angeles always seems to find creative ways to tax that ass, from $234 moving violations to broken-meter parking tickets.
An area state Assemblyman, Mike Gatto, is working to block the city from issuing the latter. Previous state legislation outlawed broken-meter tickets, but it allowed cities to opt out of the rule, and the L.A. City Council did just that. So, yes, you can get a ticket for parking at a broken meter in Los Angeles. Gatto's bill, AB 61, confronts that head-on:
The bill would prohibit cities from enacting their own broken-meter loophole laws, like L.A. did in December.
Gatto's people announced this week that the proposed legislation surpassed a “key hurdle” by being approved 8-0 in the Assembly Committee on Local Government.
We can't wait for this thing to get through the entire legislature and end up on Gov. Jerry Brown's desk. You can't beat City Hall? This is a middle finger aimed right at the blood-sucking City Council.
Gatto:
We pay for street maintenance, meter installation, and meter upkeep. It is the responsibility of local governments to keep parking meters in good working order, not to squeeze a double-penalty out of its citizens.
Amen.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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