Even a fair judge can’t administer an unjust law. Tommy Fiorina tried and they rode him out of town on a rail.A City parking enforcement vehicle that was parked illegally in a Santa Fe downtown yellow zone was ticketed with an over-sized 'citation.'I recently got a parking ticket for a loading zone violation. I left my vehicle running and dashed out to deliver something at a downtown store. I came right out and found one of those cursed ticketing City employees hovering over my car like some hungry vampire.
I yelled, “I’m leaving. I’m out of here.”
The heartless creature turned toward me, smiled and then pushed the button on his hand-held torture device. Out popped a $37 ticket. Now, judging from the line at the once-a-month municipal court session to challenge a parking citation, I bet many people regularly face the brutal money-grubbing unfair parking policies of Mayor Coss and Judge Yalman’s administration.
As much of a monopoly and CORRUPT program and as bad as the punitive selective tax called ticketing is, the worst part is it is not designed to solve the parking problem. It is a cash cow. It is government for profit and injustice for sale.
Sitting in Judge Yalman’s court one has to take pity on those poor (and soon to be poorer) people who have gotten caught entering the hallow grounds of a “Handicapped Zone” without a permit issued with approval of any quack in New Mexico.
Do you know that there are now more handicap permits issued in Santa Fe than there are parking meters? Why is this important? That is because if a handicap space is not available to a permit holder they can park at any meter without paying anytime.
In Yalman’s very P.C. court one sad pizza delivery guy was made to grovel to get his fine reduced from the doubled $500 to “normal” 250 smackers because he had pulled in front of his employer’s business where there were five vacant handicapped parking spaces. I bet that fine was more than the man took home for the week.
When I asked Judge Yalman about people coming to her court pleading “No Contest” to a parking ticket (mine or the pizza guy’s) that should really be handled ‘administratively’ rather then ‘judicially’; that had mitigating circumstances; that was part of a fee collecting scam by, for and of bureaucrats; and that was driven by rich doctors facilitating permits for anyone who would pay … Judge Yalman’s cold reply was “There no sliding scale based on …” What Judge? Justice?