Office of Parking Management

The city parking office is probably one of the most universally despised government bodies any of us can imagine, so I’m sure it will come as no surprise that I’d rate them with one star.
Other than towing the occasional abandoned or double-​parked car, what good is the Office of Parking Management, really? Who wants parking tickets? Permits? Horrible.
Maybe it’s the spirit of the upcoming holiday season that brings this idea to mind, but in my mind, the parking office is the exact opposite of Santa’s workshop. It’s a hot, nasty place full of unhappy elves who sit around all day and dream of new fines and penalties for people who have the audacity to park their cars «illegally».
I use the quotes because, let’s face it, in 85−90% of LA county, particularly where I live, there’s virtually no need for metered parking, or parking enforcement of any kind. This place is urban sprawl! When you fly into LAX, all you really see out the windows of the plane are parking lots and freeways with buildings spattered in between.
OK, this rant is far from over, so I should probably cut it a little short and get to my real beef with the parking office.
I live in permitted parking District 55. Essentially what that means is that, because I live within a three mile radius of Universal Studios, I have to attach an ugly sticker to the bumper of my car in order to park for longer than two hours at my own house.
Now, it’s not that big of a problem, since it’s only a Monday through Friday rule, but the people at the parking office are so unbelievably bureaucratic, dense, and unable to service the public who pays their salaries not only through the taxes we pay but also in parking permit fees and tickets. Please feel free to read the crazy, strongly worded letter I wrote to them, uploaded here as a photo, which will give you some idea of how much I hate this office.
Basically, my problem is that I’ve been trying to get a permit switched from the car I sold in September to the car I purchased at the same time. As a working, single adult, I don’t have time to physically walk into the parking office for the THIRD time this year, hoping to have all the paper work in hand, to get the new permit.
So instead, I’ve mailed paperwork back and forth with the jerks at this office for two and a half months. No matter how much paperwork I send, there’s always some additional proof they need to show that I own this car, live at this address, etc!
The thing that I find most annoying is, the whole District 55 parking permit thing is a total crock in the first place! The only time it’s difficult to find parking on my street is when the car rental place up the street parks it’s over stock on our streets on weekends. Incidentally, if they’re trying to prevent tourists from Universal from parking on my street and then hauling themselves up the hill, why isn’t the permit required on weekends?
When it comes to government, I’m not a nut who thinks we should disband it all and descend into anarchy. I believe that government should exist to supervise the people and encourage better citizenship through logical rule & law, with occasional fines as punishment.
What our city’s parking department does is, by contrast, wasteful, illogical, and punitive.

Well of course, just by virtue of being the bureau of BLOODSUCKERS WHO HAND OUT PARKING TICKETS, this review should be a one-​star experience.
I got a parking ticket from the beach a few weeks ago, and realized this morning, «CRAP! it is due TODAY!» that I’d be paying a stiff fine for the late payment. Snail mail, ya know.
But luckily, the parking ticket had a pay-​on-​the-​web option. Woo hoo!
Actually, not so lucky. The site does not work. After 5 frustrating minutes of watching that damn «page loading» excruciatingly slowly, I gave up.
So I used the pay-​by-​phone option instead and got my tickie paid. It took about 3 mins with the interactive voice menu. You can pay by Visa or MC and there’s a $ 2 processing fee. The easy phone payment option was the only saving grace of this experience. City of LA pay-​by-​phone option is at 866−461−9742.
Oh, and learning not to park on the corner across the cross-​walk. (Hey, I’ve done it before, maybe I just caught the meter-​maid on a slow day or she/​he was vengeful on the trusty Honda. Either way, I am $ 47 poorer.) Blech!