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Residents upset over parking violations
Updated: Monday, 15 Jun 2009, 8:27 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 15 Jun 2009, 8:25 PM EDT
TOLEDO, Ohio - Although not outlined in the city charter, a city memo has allowed workers with the city of Toledo’s Division of Streets, Bridges and Harbor to issue parking citations to citizens.
It was learned over the weekend that Susan Frederick, acting commissioner with streets, bridges and harbor, fined several motorists for parking in their driveways on Holland-Sylvania near Dorr Street.
"I've lived here 43 years and last Thursday we had our 44th wedding anniversary," said Charles Robertson, who received a parking violation. "I got a present from the city. Isn't that nice?"
Residents' vehicles were parked on a turn-around portion of their driveway in front of their property, something they need to safely get out of their drive on Holland-Sylvania, which, at times, can be busy.
Megan Robson, spokesperson for Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, released a statement to the media Monday evening.
"The Commissioner of Streets, Bridges and Harbor responded by going to the location of the complaint to assess whether it was valid or not," Robson said in the statement. "She personally observed that it was a valid complaint. She observed several illegally parked vehicles along the first street she visited."
"While there, a neighbor asked her to check out his street, which also had a number of illegally parked vehicles. Once she observed they too were illegally parked, she cited them as well. The City of Toledo supports its laws in general and illegally parked vehicles can and will be ticketed, and these tickets are considered valid."
The city fined residents $25.
Mayor Finkbeiner said residents who were ticketed in fact broke the law for parking on a park of a drive that was not paved. He stood by Frederick, who wrote the violations.
"Every law in the city should be enforced and I will defer to the director over the media, that's for dag-gone sure," Mayor Finkbeiner said Monday during a news conference for the city's latest model block project. "I will not second guess her because more times then not she's right and the citizens that are criticizing her are not right."
"He made the statement that more times than not we are the ones that are wrong," said Shelly Cousino, who also receiving a parking violation ticket. "What we were wrong in doing is electing him again."
City Councilman D. Michael Collins met with
Councilman Collins met with residents and collected the tickets. He assured the problem would be resolved.
"If we have time for this Mickey Mouse nonsense something is radically wrong with that," Councilman Collins said.
FOX Toledo's Michelle Zepeda contributed to this report)
BlackEco wrote:This is when Castle Doctrine can be put to good use! Ohh I thought they were trying to steal my car!?!?!
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Frederick overstepping bounds again 071009
Collins says Frederick acting outside
her dept
Updated: Friday, 10 Jul 2009, 5:48 PM EDT
Published : Friday, 10 Jul 2009, 5:27 PM EDT
Barrett Andrews
TOLEDO, Ohio - Toledo's Division of Code Enforcement posted an unusual incident report July 8 asking the owner of TNS Inc. to get rid of all its vehicles, equipment and nuisance material.
When the Sterling Street business didn't remove its material in a timely fashion, Acting Commissioner Sue Frederick of the Division of Streets, Bridges, and Harbor showed up to take care of it.
"She's over there, completely out of the scope of her responsibilities to the city of Toledo," said Councilman and mayoral candidate D. Michael Collins. "She's the commissioner, or acting commissioner, of Streets, Harbors and Bridges and she's out functioning with nuisance abatement, which comes out of housing."
Collins wasn't happy to hear about what happened over on Sterling Street.
Megan Robson, Mayor Carty Finkbeiner's spokesperson said there's a good reason Frederick was there Wednesday morning. A pile of asphalt on TNS Inc.'s property was in question.
Robson said the city wanted it knocked down to a reasonable level and that is "a streets, bridges and harbor-type job," Robson said.
A source close to Wednesday's situation tells FOX Toledo, trucks from that division were being used to haul away steel the city considered selling as scrap.
Frederick seemed to be running the show.
In the nuisance complaint filed with the Toledo Police Department it stated Frederick "directed members of her staff to go to the property and being the process of abating the nuisance." Her staff mentioned is from the streets division.
Collins said he wondered if Frederick realizes she doesn't work for the department of neighborhoods anymore.
"Frankly, I am inclined not to want to be the big witness against the city of Toledo in pending litigations, which she has been instrumental in creating," Collins said.
Even though there was no official police report made on this case, because no one was charged, police officers did file an unusual incident report detailing this whole situation.
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City sued over towed vehicles 063009
City sued over towed
vehicles
Lawsuit filed over Sept 2008 incident
Updated: Tuesday, 30 Jun 2009, 10:38 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 30 Jun 2009, 10:38 PM EDT
WEST TOLEDO - A West Toledo business owner filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the city and the acting commissioner of streets, bridges and harbor improperly towed various vehicles off his storage business late year.
The lawsuit was filed in Lucas County Common Pleas Court on behalf of 60-year-old Christian Ewert of CMT Limited and State Line Group.
The suit claims Acting Commissioner Sue Frederick used a bolt cutter to enter the private storage facility on Alexis Road and towed several boats, trailers, mobile homes, and classic cars back on Sept. 12, 2008.
Fredrick, who has been in local and national news in June, claimed the vehicles were nuisance vehicles. She make national headlines after she ticketed several cars parked on homeowners property along Holland-Sylvania.