(40th in a series of posts on parking)
The Parking issue that Gadfly has devoted 40 posts to is probably entering the final glide path Tuesday, and, on reflection, Gadfly has two profound thoughts:
- it’s amazing what our quarters add up to, hundreds of thousands of dollars
- the Bethlehem Parking Authority is a slippery devil
The BPA has requested increases in parking meter rates and parking fines. The Mayor has approved the meter increase, and, though there is vigorous resistance, smart money is probably on Council approving the fines next week at first reading of the bill.
Gadfly has been thinking about where he stands. Earlier he used the term “confused.” Today he’s thinking “twisted.”
Honestly, Gadfly could live with a $1.50/hr. meter rate, though realizing that could be a hardship on some or even many. And Gadfly has no trouble with the fine increases. Gadfly might even go along with new Walnut St and Polk St. garages.
So why does Gadfly feel twisted?
Because, Gadfly thinks, of the disingenuous way the BPA presented its case, and the condescending view of its audience (“us,” Gadfly followers) contained in that presentation.
Gadfly finds himself in the curious position of willing to accept the message while being repelled by the actions of the messenger.
Isn’t that “a revoltin’ development”?
Further, Gadfly finds himself in the “revoltin’” position of hoping Council can do something, if not to deny the BPA proposal, but to force it to recognize how it has acted.
In the next few posts, let me give you some examples of why I have become so unenviably revoltin’.
Well, BPA & their allies at City Hall are not the messengers, they are the authors of the message.
I think they’re all demonstrating Parkinson’s ‘Law of Diminishing Interest’: the amount of time spent discussing an issue is in inverse proportion to its importance. (Or perhaps it’s a corollary that says it’s in inverse proportion to the numbers of better alternatives proposed by the public.)