Fighting City Hall
I've had a '93 Acura Legend for a few years. It's been very reliable, but I had a feeling that sooner or later I'd take it to the garage and get a massive estimate for work that needs doing. A few months ago, this finally happened, so it was time to sell it and get a new car. Before I used it as a trade in, I wanted to find out how much I could sell it for privately, so I decided to put a "for sale" sign on it, and leave it on the street.
I'm sure that most people would have gone ahead and just done that, but I'm a rule-following kind of guy, so I looked online to find out if there were any restrictions. I found that there were: I couldn't leave it on the street for more than 72 hours; the for sale sign had to be US Letter size or smaller; and the for sale sign could not be in the front or back windows.
Feeling relieved that I had bothered to check, I ensured that my signage was in compliance, and parked my car around the corner, in a parking bay where I have seen many other cars for sale. Imagine my surprise a day or so later when I found that my car had a $70 ticket on the windscreen for "missing tags" and "for sale sign".
"Tags" refers to the month and date stickers that are attached to the rear licence plate in California to indicate that the vehicle is registered; they are roughly equivalent to the British tax disc. My tags, of course, were present and unexpired, so I am at a loss to explain this finding. To add insult to injury, the ticket separately has a field for listing the registration expiration date, which was correctly filled in with same date as is on my stickers.
I made a few attempts to get someone in the Sheriff's department or enforcement administration to explain what valid basis there might have been for the ticket, but couldn't get much beyond pointers to the relevant legislation and how to appeal. The first step in the appeals process was to request an "initial review" of the citation. I did this, explaining that as I understood things, my vehicle was not in violation on either point. I included photographs of my tags on the licence plate, and the "for sale" sign in the side window. The response was to reduce the fee slightly, apparently because my photos were taken as proof that I had "corrected" the missing tags.
I again tried to get someone in the enforcement office to talk to me, seeking some explanation of why this ticket could have been issued. From this, I learnt that the initial review is non-independent by design, proceeding from the explicit assumption that everything the police officer said is entirely true, and that anything I say in contradiction must therefore be false. The only way to prevent that assumption is to proceed to the second stage of appeal, which is a hearing with an independent Hearing Officer. At this hearing, I would have the opportunity to testify, present evidence, and cross-examine witnesses.
Today was the date of my independent hearing. I prepared a short statement explaining my position, and brought printouts of the legislation, the Sheriff's parking FAQ, and various relevant photographs. I also prepared a list of questions to ask the citing officer, with a view to obliging him to explain the intended basis for the citation and expose any weaknesses in his story. (I naïvely assumed that if the officer failed to turn up, then this would grant me an automatic win.) My case was, of course, primarily based on my personal testimony. After all, who arranges for notarized photographs of legal parking? I didn't bring any witnesses.
When I arrived, I found it was just me and the hearing officer (a professional mediator). The citing officer did not attend, and was apparently not expected to. No-one from the enforcement administration attended. The hearing officer listened politely and courteously to my case, and asked me some questions. She did not have any information on the citation beyond the ticket itself, and was unable to explain which of the various sub-clauses I might have been found to be in violation of. Every time I showed her a piece of paper, she carefully marked it with an exhibit number.
I was in and out within about twenty minutes. I couldn't get any read on how it went, except that the hearing officer thought I seemed "very organized". So now I wait up to ten days for a written decision.
I never left my car out "for sale" again after I got the ticket. I eventually used it as a trade-in at $1,500 less than my advertised price.
I'm sure that most people would have gone ahead and just done that, but I'm a rule-following kind of guy, so I looked online to find out if there were any restrictions. I found that there were: I couldn't leave it on the street for more than 72 hours; the for sale sign had to be US Letter size or smaller; and the for sale sign could not be in the front or back windows.
Feeling relieved that I had bothered to check, I ensured that my signage was in compliance, and parked my car around the corner, in a parking bay where I have seen many other cars for sale. Imagine my surprise a day or so later when I found that my car had a $70 ticket on the windscreen for "missing tags" and "for sale sign".
"Tags" refers to the month and date stickers that are attached to the rear licence plate in California to indicate that the vehicle is registered; they are roughly equivalent to the British tax disc. My tags, of course, were present and unexpired, so I am at a loss to explain this finding. To add insult to injury, the ticket separately has a field for listing the registration expiration date, which was correctly filled in with same date as is on my stickers.
I made a few attempts to get someone in the Sheriff's department or enforcement administration to explain what valid basis there might have been for the ticket, but couldn't get much beyond pointers to the relevant legislation and how to appeal. The first step in the appeals process was to request an "initial review" of the citation. I did this, explaining that as I understood things, my vehicle was not in violation on either point. I included photographs of my tags on the licence plate, and the "for sale" sign in the side window. The response was to reduce the fee slightly, apparently because my photos were taken as proof that I had "corrected" the missing tags.
I again tried to get someone in the enforcement office to talk to me, seeking some explanation of why this ticket could have been issued. From this, I learnt that the initial review is non-independent by design, proceeding from the explicit assumption that everything the police officer said is entirely true, and that anything I say in contradiction must therefore be false. The only way to prevent that assumption is to proceed to the second stage of appeal, which is a hearing with an independent Hearing Officer. At this hearing, I would have the opportunity to testify, present evidence, and cross-examine witnesses.
Today was the date of my independent hearing. I prepared a short statement explaining my position, and brought printouts of the legislation, the Sheriff's parking FAQ, and various relevant photographs. I also prepared a list of questions to ask the citing officer, with a view to obliging him to explain the intended basis for the citation and expose any weaknesses in his story. (I naïvely assumed that if the officer failed to turn up, then this would grant me an automatic win.) My case was, of course, primarily based on my personal testimony. After all, who arranges for notarized photographs of legal parking? I didn't bring any witnesses.
When I arrived, I found it was just me and the hearing officer (a professional mediator). The citing officer did not attend, and was apparently not expected to. No-one from the enforcement administration attended. The hearing officer listened politely and courteously to my case, and asked me some questions. She did not have any information on the citation beyond the ticket itself, and was unable to explain which of the various sub-clauses I might have been found to be in violation of. Every time I showed her a piece of paper, she carefully marked it with an exhibit number.
I was in and out within about twenty minutes. I couldn't get any read on how it went, except that the hearing officer thought I seemed "very organized". So now I wait up to ten days for a written decision.
I never left my car out "for sale" again after I got the ticket. I eventually used it as a trade-in at $1,500 less than my advertised price.