From: Tony Daysog
To: SMITH
Cc: Yibin Shen; Lara Weisiger; Dirk Brazil
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] City’s New Parking Enforcement and Towing Procedures Need to be Changed Date: Wednesday, June 1, 2022 11:47:26 AM
Thank you, , for this email. If it is correct that your car was never tagged with some kind of notice, then we should work to refund that $895 towing fee.
Honestly, that is a very
large fee!
Frankly, that amount seems
far out of proportion to the problem at hand.
It raises
a policy question: should the City of Alameda cause the removal of abandoned
vehicles by
companies that charge such high retrieval fees.
I'll work on this. As we have switched parking
enforcement from the police department to public works, perhaps your recent experience is an example of growing pains that will surface in the coming weeks. /s/ Tony
From: SMITH
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2022 7:14 PM
To: CityCouncil-List
Subject: [EXTERNAL] City’s New Parking Enforcement and Towing Procedures Need to be Changed
I am 75 years old, retired, and live in the city of Alameda. On May 25, I discovered that my car was missing. I contacted the police department and was told that it was towed as an abandoned vehicle. This is difficult to understand as it was parked about a block from my condo. Although I do not have a need to drive the car every day, I do check it regularly. On Wednesday, May 25th, I walked down to check it and that is when I discovered that it was gone. The police department informed me that it had been towed on Monday the 23rd. By the time I figured out what the process was to retrieve my vehicle and to receive a vehicle release from the police department at the cost of $150, it was too late that day to pick up the car. Therefore, on Thursday morning I called Uber and had them take me to the lot to pick up my car. There I was charged $895 by S&F Towing.
I’m writing to ask for your help for a change in policy due to the following concerns:
1. My car was never tagged with an “orange notice” indicating that it needed to be moved or it would be towed. An owner is to be given 36 hours notice before their car is towed. I received no notice.
2. I left two phone messages for the parking enforcement staff and requested a return call. One message was left on May 25 and the other one on May 26. Neither call was returned as of May 31.
3. The cost of retrieving a vehicle is exorbitant. A fee of $150 for a form from the police department giving the towing company permission to release a vehicle is too costly. Also, the $895 fee by S&F towing seems outrageous. It cost me a total of $1045 in fees to get my vehicle back. It was in the tow yard from Monday afternoon to Thursday morning. This appears to be a predatory practice.
I am requesting that the following changes to the current policy being made:
1. Give owners 36 hours notice before towing a vehicle.
2. Check registration address to see if the vehicle belongs to someone living in the vicinity.
3. If cars are going to be towed after 36 hours without giving owners a notice, provide parking permits to neighborhood residents so that their cars will not be towed. Do not hold residents to the 36 hour limit. Many people are now working from home and others like myself are retired and have no need to move a vehicle that often. Also,
if one is out of town for three days they may come home to no vehicle. This is especially of concern as vacation time is coming up. Per S&F towing, three cars were towed from the same block as mine on the same day. It appears that perhaps the Crown Beach area was targeted. I understand wanting to control parking in this highly trafficked area however residence should have parking permits.
4. Review the fees related to towing a vehicle and readjust them so that they do not seem to be predatory.
5. Review the decision to form the new parking enforcement program. There are clearly some bumps in the road.
There is a lack of response to citizen phone calls and owners are not being noticed that their car may be towed.
As a resident of Alameda, I appreciate the city’s attempts to manage parking, however the new changes are untenable for those of us who are living with them. I would appreciate your support by coming up with some more equitable solutions.
Thank you for your attention and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Smith