State Could Block LA From Ticketing at Broken Meters

The killjoys on the LA City Council seem determined to issue tickets to people who park at broken meters, but the California State Assembly isn't letting the matter go just yet. A new state law required the Council to vote in December if they wanted to continue the unpopular practice of ticketing cars parked at broken meters, and hey, at least you can't accuse them of pandering to voters, because they voted 12-1 to keep it up (Jan Perry was the lone holdout). But now State Assemblymember Mike Gatto of Los Angeles has introduced a bill that would not only stop LA from enforcing the fines, but would ban broken-meter-ticketing once and for all. According to the Daily News, Gatto explained his reasoning thusly: "people should not have to pay for the government's mistakes or inefficiencies, especially when the people already paid to install and maintain the meters in the first place." Ticketing supporters say that the new meters hardly ever break, and that allowing free parking would encourage people to break meters. If that sounds cynical, you'll be depressed to learn that since the city started issuing tickets at broken meters in 2010, meter vandalism has dropped sharply.
· Broken parking-meter battle: Assemblyman Mike Gatto wants to stop L.A. from collecting fines [LADN]