Looking for Significance : The City’s Legal ‘Thievery’

Re: “The Great Parking Ticket Boom” (by Bill Steigerwald, May 19): Robert Yates, parking administrator, is a government employee who has no regard for drivers who must park their cars so as to take care of their business.

Is it really a $28 offense that 10 to 13 feet of curbing isn’t swept on a given day? That calculates out a charge of $2 per dirty foot of gutter. A fair charge? Maybe. Legal thievery seems more appropriate, Mr. Yates’ high-toned comments notwithstanding. The real reason the city is ticketing more cars is the same reason stores are open evenings.

As an ordinary citizen, it seems ugly to me that a government can use citizens’ necessities (cars are part of our working lives) to charge outrageous fees ($2 per foot of unswept curbing) in order to lighten that government’s financial burden.

MARVIN MALTZ

North Hollywood