Stop the Boot! Sign the petition!

My old friend the Parking Ticket Geek has had his great site up, theexpiredmeter.com, since March. I have always admired this masked crusader for the intrepid way he deals with parking tickets. Now he's on a mission to stop Mayor Daley's two-ticket Denver boot proposal.

PTG tells me that Daley's plan -- which we all know is just more of the same revenue-at-all-costs (to us) doctrine that the mayor has espoused since taking office -- will hit working-class folks the hardest, but it will also take its toll on all neighborhoods. He urges everyone to sign the online petition right away to "Stop the Boot."

Lincoln Parkers are particularly aware of the problems with parking tickets. You will recall in 2006 when I publicized a screwup around Lakeview and nearby streets, where hundreds of cars parked on blocks with the experimental new street-cleaning signs were ticketed on the wrong day! The city was unapologetic, suggesting people simply pay the tickets, until we raised holy hell and they backed down.

The Parking Ticket Geek is reporting on and answering questions about this sort of mess full time, and a lot of us are grateful. One amazing story similar to our Lakeview eruption involves a renegade towing company, reportedly acting on Mayor Daley's orders to boost tows, hitting an entire block of cars in Pilsen one quiet weekend morning. District 12 police took the residents' side and ordered the cars be taken off the hook.