April 15, 2015
Briggs eliminates legislators’ parking spots
Legislature Chairperson Susan Briggs has decided to end the recent legislator-only designation for certain parking spots during committee meetings after the move sparked opposition and outrage among county employees and fellow legislators.
Briggs (R-Cortlandville) reserved six parking spots at the County Office Building parking lot on the morning of legislative committee meetings April 7, stirring strong opposition from legislators who objected to getting preferential treatment. She also had her own designated parking spot, and that also has been eliminated
Briggs said Tuesday afternoonlegislators had approached her to change her initial decision and the parking signs will no longer be up.
The parking signs were temporarily placed in front of the spaces during legislative committee meetings.
“It will be up to the Legislature to discuss this at some future time,” Briggs said. “I imagine maybe when the paving is done it’ll be a good time to discuss it again.”
Many legislators agreed taking down the signs was a good idea because they did not solve the broader issues involving the parking lot.
Officials have been grappling with problems of overcrowding and maintenance at the county parking lot for years.
Most legislators want a better solution to the problem and not an easy fix.
Legislators Dick Bushnell (D-LD4) and Raylynn Knolls (D-LD7) agreed there are better solutions available to fix the parking lot issue without giving preferential treatment to legislators.
Knolls said Tuesday afternoon the county should invest in a tag or sticker system so cars can be identified as to whether they belong to county employees.
“There’s really no more space, there’s no more room to expand it,” Knolls said. “It’s the easiest solution and the least expensive.”
She added if there were to be designated spots, they should be for full-time county employees.
Bushnell said Tuesday there have never been designated parking spaces and the county should look into a better design of the parking lot. He suggested putting the 254 parking spots at an angle or having specific sections for employees and visitors.
He added that there are other issues in the county that need more focus, such as the landfill and the expansion of the jail.
“We got a lot of stuff that needs to be covered and to be fighting over parking spots is ridiculous,” Bushnell said.
Other legislators cited the other people the designated spots might be affecting, for example senior citizens who attend the senior center at the County Office Building.
Legislator John Troy (D-LD1) said Tuesday afternoon he is glad Briggs reversed her decision, saying he does not think it was well thought out the first time.
“One thing I don’t think they thought out was the meetings overlap,” Troy said, noting that because of back-to-back meetings, there would still not be parking spots open to legislators who chose to use them. “So it didn’t really help them (legislators).”
Legislator Mary Ann Discenza (D-LD6) was concerned with the senior citizens not being able to utilize the senior center because of the designated parking spots.
She added, however, that decisions made about the designated parking spot showed the real problem.
“It’s not six or seven spots — it’s a whole parking issue,” Discenza said.
Legislator Jim Denkenberger (R-Cuyler, Solon and Truxton) said Tuesday the legislators could not deal with the parking lot problem if they were exempt from it with the designated parking spots.
Denkenberger said the county needs to look at why there is a shortage of parking spots and try to address people who leave their cars in the lot for the entire day.
“We should be planning for 10, 20,30 years from now,” Denkenberger said, referring to suggestions made such as creating employee and visitor sections in the lot. “That’s the hard part of leadership. The easy part of leadership is solving a problem today.”
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