Council Passes Parking Enforcement Overhaul

Over the vocal objections of Hyattsville City Council member Paula Perry (Ward 4), the city council approved a plan which will take most and into the hands of the Department of Community and Economic Development. 

"To me, this does not make sense," said Perry during debate over the overhaul, which is part of the 2013 budget for the Department of Community and Economic Development. "Parking needs to be in the police department, because parking and police work so closely together…I think we're making a big mistake."

that code enforcement would suffer as a result of the overhaul. The parking enforcement program would be managed by Chris Giunta, splitting his time between that and his current job as manager of the code enforcement office. 

Mayor Marc Tartaro defended the plan, easily the most controversial aspect of the Community and Economic Development budget, saying that many other municipalities have taken parking enforcement out of the hands of the police department. 

Police officers will still be able to write tickets for parking infractions, but the data from those tickets will be handled by employees working out of the city's code enforcement office. 

"It doesn't seem clear to me that this is a terrible mistake," said Councilor Shani Warner (Ward 2). "I certainly understand the relationship that this has to economic development."

With city council members Tim Hunt (Ward 3) and Nicole Hinds Mofor (Ward 5) absent, the city council voted 7-2 in favor of the budget measure and the parking reorganization, with Perry and Councilor Ruth Ann Frazier voting against it.