It will cost $40 to park a car on the street and stick a “for sale” sign on it, under an ordinance adopted Tuesday by the Common Council.
Anyone wanting to sell a car on public property — namely, streets — will have to fill out an application and have the vehicle inspected by the Department of Public Works. There could be fines and towing for those who don’t obey.
The public not notified of the ordinance or provided an opportunity for input before the measure was debated and approved, 10-4, by the council Tuesday morning.
The $40 fee already is in effect in small areas of the city, and Ald. Joe Davis asked the council’s Public Safety Committee to extend it to his district as well. The committee, instead, recommended Tuesday morning that it be extended to the entire city and the council agreed a short time later.
A portion of Ald. Robert Donovan’s district was the first to be subject to the $40 fee. Donovan told the committee that the large volume of car sales on the streets were causing problems in some areas. He said some of the cars sold turned out to be stolen.
Ald. Robert Puente said it would be easier for police to enforce the ordinance if it were citywide.
Voting against the measure were Aldermen Jim Bohl, Michael Murphy and Joe Dudzik and Alderwoman Milele Coggs.
Barrett should veto this idiocy
Thursday, April 16th, 2009The Common Council, without a shred of public input, this week decided that anyone wanting to park a car that is for sale on the public property must get a $40 permit from the city, show the Department of Public Works the title to the car and have the vehicle inspected by a DPW employee.
This burdensome, idiotic requirement was adopted on a 10-4 vote without much thought at all. The justification behind it is absurd.
“The Common Council finds that a disproportionate number of vehicles that are for sale on public property are unlicensed, unregistered or are offered for sale by individuals who have no legal authority to do so,” the newly-expanded ordinance reads.
Poppycock. Show me the data on that one. And how the hell is requiring a $40 permit for a street sale going to prevent someone from selling a stolen car through some other — any other — means?
Ald. Robert Puente suggested the ordinance should apply citywide, rather than limited to areas where street sales of cars is a problem, so the police would have an easier time enforcing it. Yup, residents of Milwaukee should face a burdensome, expensive, useless requirement so cops don’t have to think or learn a new set of boundaries. I thought the police were here to serve the citizenry, but it looks like that idea has been totally flipped backwards and upside down.
Technically, the ordinance prohibits parking any car for sale on public property, whether there is a “for sale” sign on the vehicle or not. You can get busted for driving the car and parking at the library, even if you leave the “for sale” sign at home. That is not what the council intended, but it is what the ordinance says.
Mayor Barrett should veto this idiocy. The ordinance, even narrowly interpreted, obviously will hit hardest at people in the city who can’t park their for-sale cars on private property — those whose garages are accessed through alleys or who don’t have private parking at all. The latter, of course, includes many poor people of the variety who don’t have the money or time to go chasing down to City Hall to pay $40 and go through a hassle to sell a $300 car.
We are in danger of having a bad ordinance that has been poorly drafted inflicted on the city. The Common Council should have realized that is a common result when legislation is rammed through without much thought or consideration. Barrett really needs to kill it.
Tags: Barrett car sales, Common Coun, Common Council
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