Morality: Rehoboth city leaders want visitors to spend big in restaurants and gift shops, but then charge $25 to purchase a pass to park near beaches. If a family is beaching it for four days, that is $100! Immoral!
Justice: Once a parking pass is purchased, it says it must hang from your vehicle’s rear-view mirror. Many newer autos have much stuff between the mirror and front glass, and mine also has the E-Z Pass so there is nothing on which to hang the parking pass. I managed to wedge it in some of the stuff up there, but the pass could only be viewed from the sidewalk. The bicycle-riding parking enforcement officer pedaled down the street, stopped by my car, looked in from the driver’s side, saw no pass, and wrote a $30 ticket. Angered, I went to city hall. I asked an agent to come look at my car. “No, we can do nothing. Appeal online.” So, I did, sending a photo I took of the car with a parking pass stuck above the rear-view mirror, viewable from the passenger’s side. Magistrate ruling on appeal? Denied! Now you owe $40, and the decision is not appealable! I never heard of a judicial decision in this country being not subject to appeal except when decided by the U.S. Supreme Court … and even then a constitutional amendment can reverse a high court ruling.
Arriving back in Virginia, I get two U.S. mail notices and one email from Rehoboth demanding $40. I sent the $40, as clearly the city needs it to pay the $250,000-plus salary of the new city manager!
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