CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Clarksville City Council is set to vote on a resolution that would request the City Parking Commission reinstate free parking passes for council members and county commissioners.
According to the measure, the Parking Commission met on Sept. 23 and voted to do away with free parking passes for elected officials. Officials are now required to send a note to the parking manager to avoid a ticket every time they travel downtown for a meeting.
The resolution calls that process “cumbersome and an invasion of elected officials’ privacy,” while noting that the wording in the current legislation doesn’t set parameters and gives the parking manager full authority to approve or deny a request.
Support for free parking pass
The proposed parking passes would be inclusive of all employee parking lots and would be valid from the date of issue until the date the elected official is no longer in office.
“This was actually decided by the parking commissioners in September. I’m not sure about anybody else on the council, but I was actually not aware of it until I got a warning ticket in December,” said Councilperson Karen Reynolds, sponsor of the measure. “I just feel strongly that parking is something that we as a city councilperson should be able to do.”
Reynolds also noted that she thought it should be extended to county commissioners and not just city councilpersons.
Allowing free parking for elected officials saw support from other council members, with some citing concern about walking a long distance at night after a meeting.
Councilperson Joe Shakeenab, who serves on the Parking Commission, agreed with them.
“I think that this should be a convenience for us to come and do our jobs. The residents expect us to be able to come down here to work on their behalf at any time of the day. It’s just an inconvenience for any of us, whether it’s city or county elected officials, to have to go through extra loopholes to do this. So, an easy fix for that commission would be just to approve passes for city and county elected officials.”
Support for free parking was also seen from Montgomery County Commissioner David Shelton, who spoke during the public comment period.
“It’s the principle and the fact that we are serving the people of Clarksville and Montgomery County, and by doing so, the parking privileges are something that helps along that process.”
Why are there no more parking passes?
Michael Palmore, parking manager for the City of Clarksville, explained that the changes were made to make parking fair across the board.
“It’s less about government versus nongovernment. It’s more about a number of employees,” Palmore told the council, noting that parking agreements are in place for the sheriff’s office.
He also took responsibility for the communication breakdown, where elected officials were unaware of the change, explaining that parking is still available, and city officials just have to send their information over to the parking commission.
“County commissioners will park at the Cumberland Garage, but their secretaries or someone will send me their (license) plate numbers,” Palmore said. “For City Council, just to clarify, the idea was that you guys would park in our city (hall) parking lot (and) be allowed to do business downtown.”
Palmore went on to explain why the Parking Commission would need to know the license plate numbers.
“We have an enforcement app, it’s called Ballparc. Ballparc is a new thing that we implemented back in July, I believe, and this enforcement app allows us to recognize plate numbers. So, part of this helps us understand who has multiple tickets, but it also gives us the advantage of blocking certain locations,” he said, noting that a block list is used to safeguard certain individuals from receiving a parking ticket.
Are parking tags really needed?
Councilperson Stacey Streetman noted that she had not used her previous parking tag in the four years she has been on the council.
“I understand that it seems to be an issue for some, but we get paid a good amount of money every month to be able to serve,” Streetman told the council. “So, for me, I think if people were concerned about having to turn in license plates and turn in their schedule and prove that they’re on city business, you could really just make it simple altogether and just take that complete component out. And if we’re down here for city business and we have to park in a city parking space that’s metered or something, then you put your money in and you go to your meeting.”
Councilperson Brian Zacharias noted he felt “icky” about giving elected officials free parking.
“I feel a little bit icky voting for a resolution that would give me, as a city (official), some sort of privilege over any other nonelected city employee. I think if the rules are the same across the board, then the rules are the same across the board,” he said.
Clarksville’s Chief Financial Officer Laurie Matta added that parking tickets issued to elected officials while on city business could be voided.
“Anybody, I don’t care if you are an elected official or if you’re appointed to an individual board; the Parking Commission has given the authority to the parking manager to void their tickets if they’re here on city business. So, anytime you’re at a meeting, if they get ticketed or they get a warning, they are not required to pay for parking,” she said.
“I also want to add one thing. If free parking is given to any of you all, ultimately, not just for your meetings, it’s a taxable benefit by the IRS rules. So, now you all would be taxed on the value of that. We’ve always looked at that as de minimis because it’s only when you’re at your meetings that you’re supposed to have free parking downtown. That’s why we’ve never taxed it before.”
The council will vote on supporting the reinstatement of parking passes on Thursday, Feb. 2, at the regular council meeting at 6 p.m. at One Public Square.