One thing is for sure: Parking meter attendants are hated worldwide, and while the initial incident was a self-inflicted bit of melodrama, the job is well noted as very stressful and it involves a high rate of violence directed at the workers. The attendants don't usually carry weapons for self defence, and pissed off motorists have been known to direct their anger toward them.
Even the people who work for Lanier Parking Solutions, the private entity that handles parking citations here and in Wilmington, will tell you that they don't enjoy being hated. It really isn't their fault. The law is the law, and the violations are usually fairly obvious ones. Since we need someone to blame, the most obvious culprit here would have to be the large corporation whose only function is to improve earnings annually.
When a private entity or publicly traded corporation handles something that directly affects consumers on a daily basis, their thirst for continued profit is their only goal. To them you are a cash cow and your wallet is the target. It always has been and always will be about money. Let's take a look at the Lanier Parking website: http://www.lanierparking.com/ Nicely done, huh? It's very pleasant, calm, and reassuring--maybe too much so. "We are about much more than parking. We're about accelerating ideas." Yeah right. Keep your ideas about how to get more of our money to yourselves, creeps. Do not accelerate them.
This type of service would not exist if there was not a need for municipalities to outsource aspects of city business that they find too expensive or bothersome to handle. Remember the plot to "Robocop?" Well, that is where the country continues to head. Health care, prisons, parking, etc., etc.--it will all be out of th
e hands of local governments who prefer to have the job done just as well (or better) than they could do it.This is from The Greater Wilmington Business Journal, July 18, 2009:
How much does the Town of Wrightsville Beach pay for parking? In the 2008-09 fiscal year the town spent about 40 percent of its total parking revenue ($650,756) on the parking program itself.
The cost breaks down to be $73,158 paid to Lanier Parking contractor for a five percent “incentive fee,” $89,604 for vehicle maintenance, fuel, and ticketing, and $256,017 for payroll.
Of the capital costs, $212,000 was spent on purchasing new meters, $18,895 for renting 18 pay stations and one truck, and $1,585 of interest on the rentals was paid.
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