The mayor’s office and the Milwaukee Department of Public Works are defending the city’s parking enforcement during last week’s flooding.
From April 15 to April 16, the city issued 4,666 parking citations, according to data provided by the Department of Public Works, or DPW.
Officials said enforcement is still necessary during extreme storm-related conditions.
“Severe weather events make it particularly important for people to obey the posted parking restrictions,” said Jeff Fleming, spokesperson for Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “During rain events, quite a number of parking restrictions are in place to enable full street cleaning.”
Fleming also said flooding can be exacerbated when street cleaning is impeded by parked vehicles.
South Side resident Jacob Quinones said he was too busy dealing with the flood to worry about parking.
“My basement flooded, and I was late to work because of getting towed,” he said.
Parking enforcement looked much different during the historic storms on Aug. 9 through Aug. 10, which also caused severe flooding throughout the city.
According to DPW data, 991 citations were issued on those days, which occurred over the weekend.
Behind the numbers
The 4,666 parking citations issued on April 15-16 include all standard parking enforcement activity, said Tiffany Shepherd, DPW marketing and communications officer.
Citations were issued earlier on Wednesday before the storm and after conditions improved on Thursday, she said.
She said officers did adapt during the most intense conditions.
During a peak storm window, from roughly 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., parking enforcement continued but focused on responding to complaints, resulting in 141 tickets, said Shepherd.
She said safety concerns limited enforcement during that time.
“Our staff is not going to be driving through flood waters or anything like that. That’s just not safe,” Shepherd said. “For those two hours where things were really bad, no tickets were being issued,” she said.
Response in August
During the August floods, there was a period when parking enforcement was formally suspended and staff redirected to flood-related work, said Lisa Vargas, administrative specialist with DPW, in an email.
Overnight enforcement was also formally suspended in the days following the storm, from Aug. 11 to Aug. 14. Enforcement was not suspended as a result of last week’s storms.
Staff assisted stranded or abandoned vehicles, conducting 88 free relocation tows, Vargas said. During last week’s floods, four free relocations were provided.
‘It cost me $566’
When Quinones’ car was towed near his home on South 13th Street and West Ohio Avenue, he said it left him with no real alternatives.
“It’s my only form of transportation,” he said. “It cost me $566 plus a favor from a friend for the ride to the tow lot.”
Quinones said being ticketed and towed while also dealing with flooding created a great deal of stress. He said the city needs to rethink its approach.
“If severe weather is on the horizon, keep your meter maids and parking checkers safe at home,” he said.
The importance of parking enforcement
Shepherd emphasized that although most enforcement took place before and after flooding conditions, weather is still not an excuse to park irresponsibly.
“What you’re going to find out is the majority of these tickets don’t have anything to do with anyone being affected by the flood,” she said. “Just because there was bad weather, you can’t block a hydrant.”
Appealing citations
The mayor’s office has no plans to forgive tickets issued during last week’s floods, but residents do have an option to appeal.
“The appeal process is pretty straightforward, so we do not have plans for any blanket amnesty,” Fleming said.
People can go through the appeals process if the flood was pertinent to the ticket, and the city will look at that on a case-by-case basis, Shepherd said.
More parking information can be found on the city’s website.
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