Parking Enforcement Officer Kept Putting A Blue Bag In A Vehicle Displaying A Fake Ticket

If you drive & park in an urban area you’ve likely received a parking ticket one time or another. So it’s no surprise that I frequently see tickets on vehicles on my trips to/from the grocery store 7 blocks East of my loft. Earlier this month I noticed the same vehicle parked in the same spot as the day before — with a ticket just like the day before. How unusual.

Then I noticed a Parking Enforcement car park behind it. Maybe they’re about to boot it, I thought. I go to the corner and then across the street so I can get a good view. The woman from Parking Enforcement grabbed a blue bag out of the back seat of her official vehicle and walks toward the ticketed vehicle.    I wasn’t expecting what happened next.

She opened the front door, unlocked the other doors, opened the back door and left the blue bag on the rear seat. She locks the doors at the front, returns to her official vehicle, drives off. Huh?

A Parking Enforcement Officer (PEO) takes a blue bag from her official vehicle and puts it in the backseat of the ticketed vehicle! Why? What’s in the bag? What started as a curiosity about a vehicle getting ticketed for parking in the exact same spot quickly became a curiosity about the connection between this vehicle, the PEO, and the contents of the blue bag.

I thought by now the ticket had to be a decoy, but I needed proof.

I’ve documented the fake ticket, but I still needed the bag drop off.

At this point I feel I have enough to blog about my observations and report to Parking Enforcement and Treasurer Tishaura Jones.  I still have unanswered questions: Is this her vehicle? Is she dropping off her gym bag for after work?

Two days later, Wednesday last week, I go to the grocery store and the vehicle isn’t there both times I pass by the space. Five minutes later I go out in front of my building to talk to someone — they’ve left but I can see the vehicle now parked there. I go down and see it has the fake ticket under the wiper — of course it does!

A man approaches me and starts yelling at me.

“Why you fucking with my car?”

“You’d better mind your own fucking business!”

Then something about being in a wheelchair. By this point I’m leaving — I felt threatened and vulnerable. But across Locust at 16th I turned to look back and take one more photo.

Given that I was threatened I called 911, the police looked at my photos to get the vehicle plate and city number on the parking enforcement car. They talked to the PEO supervisor.  I then emailed the head of Parking Enforcement, Tishaura Jones, and her Chief of Staff — a reply said they’d investigate.  At this point I don’t know anymore than you do.

At the very least this guy and the PEO were in cahoots with the fake ticket, but I think there’s much more to the story. When, and if, I find out I’ll let you know.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Think You Will Be Personally Affected By Climate Change Within The Next 20 Years?

It has now been a decade since Katrina hit New Orleans, causing their levees to fail.

Today’s poll question is related:

By affected I mean forced to change a routine(s). The poll is open until 8pm, the answers are displayed in a random order.

— Steve Patterson

Long Vacant St. Louis Union Station Reopened 30 Years Ago

Tomorrow marks 30 years since Union station reopened as a “festival marketplace.”

A festival marketplace is a realization by James W. Rouse and the Rouse Company in the United States of an idea conceived by Benjamin C. Thompson of Benjamin Thompson and Associates for European style markets taking hold in the United States in an effort to revitalize downtown areas in major US cities in the late 20th century. Festival marketplaces were a leading downtown revitalization strategy in American cities during the 1970s and 1980s. The guiding principles are a mix of local tenants instead of chain stores, design of shop stalls and common areas to energize the space, and uncomplicated architectural ornament in order to highlight the goods. (Wikipedia)

This occurred just as I was starting my freshman year of college — studying architecture. The reimagining of Union Station, and other historic buildings, was influential during my college years. Just 5 years before reopening, Union Station looked so bad its Grand Hall was used as the location of a big fight scene in Escape From New York!

As noted yesterday, I moved to St. Louis just 5 years after Union Station reopened. At that time the retail portion of Union Station was still doing well. It’s impossible to say how well it would’ve done if it hadn’t received competition from downtown’s St. Louis Centre mall and the Westroads Shopping Center not been rebuilt into the Saint Louis Galleria. Lacking big anchors the retail probably would’ve declined regardless of competition.

Some history:

On September 1, 1894 St. Louis Union Station opened as the largest, most beautiful terminal in the United States. This enormous project was built at the cost of $6.5 million. The gem of this new Station was the Grand Hall with its gold leaf, Romanesque arches, 65-foot barrel vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows. The most magnificent of these stained glass windows is the “Allegorical Window” which is majestically framed by the famous “Whispering Arch.”

Just beyond the Head house was the Midway, which was the midway point where friends bid farewell or welcomed home visitors from across the nation and around the world. In its heyday in the mid 1940’s, the Midway was the spot where over 100,000 passengers a day traversed on their way to or from a train. The platform area was covered by an enormous single-span train shed designed by George H. Pegram. This was not only one of the largest train sheds ever built, but it also covered the greatest number of tracks. After World War II, the general public began choosing other forms of transportation. In 1976, this magnificent station was designated a National Historic Landmark. Finally, on October 31, 1978, the last train pulled out of St. Louis Union Station. (Union Station)

What this doesn’t say is the newly formed Amtrak (1971) ceased using the head house a few years before the last train left in 1978. Many wished train service was still at Union Station, but the back in train shed just doesn’t work well for low volume train stations.

Yes, the very same space where the Escape From New York fight scene was filmed. I’m very glad outside developers & bankers saw what locals couldn’t.

— Steve Patterson

Twenty-Five Years in Saint Louis

I didn’t go to high school here, but 5 years after high school St. Louis became my new home — 25 years ago today. A couple of weeks earlier I arrived in St. Louis for a 2-night stay on my way to Washington D.C., but I quickly feel in love with St. Louis.

After visiting Washington D.C. for a few days, then Chicago for a few hours, I loaded up my car (a 1984 Dodge Colt) in Oklahoma City and moved to St. Louis. I was 23.

I’ve lived in several neighborhoods, 6 months in the Central West End, 3+ years in Old North St. Louis when it was still officially Murphy-Blair, 10+ years in Dutchtown, 3+ years in neighboring Mt. Pleasant, and now nearly 8 years in Downtown [West].

When I moved here we didn’t have an NFL team, razing buildings to build a stadium to attract a team was an odd priority. The street grid and solid brick buildings were too irresistible.

I often wonder what my life would’ve been like had I kept to my original plan and moved to Washington D.C. Or had I left St. Louis for Seattle in 1999 — I’d sold my furniture and was preparing my house for sale when I got a new job that kept me here.

The other day on the bus I passed by the house where I stayed my very first 2 nights and about a month after I returned permanently. I saw the for sale sign out in front of 2930 Lemp.

— Steve Patterson

Readers Would Like Bernie Sanders To Get 2016 Democratic Nomination

On the night in 2008 that Barack Obama was first elected president I told myself in the future I wouldn’t support a candidate born before him. In the years since I realized there was nobody born in the 1960s or 1970s I could support. My first choice would be Sen. Elizabeth Warren, like me, she’s also a native of Oklahoma City. A year older than my brother, they briefly attended the same high school — then my parents moved. Like George W. Bush & Bill Clinton, Elizabeth Warren was born in the 1940s — June 22, 1949.

While the GOP field is considerably younger than the six Democratic candidates, none represent my progressive liberal views. I took a look at the ages of all 17 GOP candidates and the Democratic candidates (+ Joe Biden).

Here’s a breakdown of the decade the 17 GOP candidates were born in:

• 1970s: 3 (Cruz, Jindal, Rubio)
• 1960s: 3 (Christie, Paul, Walker)
• 1950s: 8 (Bush, Carson, Fiorina, Graham, Huckabee, Kasich, Perry, Santorum)
• 1940s: 3 (Gilmore, Pataki, Trump)

The average of the field is 59 years old.

Here’s a look at the Democratic side:

• 1970s: 0 (–)
• 1960s: 1 (O’Malley)
• 1950s: 1 (Chafee)
• 1940s: 4 (Biden, Clinton, Sanders, Webb)

Their average is 67 on election day, 68 on inauguration day. To date the oldest president was Reagan — he was 69 at both election and inauguration.  Biden will be 73 & 74, respectively. Clinton will be 69 at both, Sanders 75 at both.

Here is a very short video of Bernie Sanders’ supporters.

Here’s a long video of Bernie Sanders speaking in Los Angeles, with introduction by Sarah Silverman:

Here are the results from the Sunday Poll:

Q: Of the following, who would you LIKE to see get the 2016 Democratic nomination?

1. Bernie Sanders 25 [49.02%]
2. Hillary Clinton 14 [27.45%]
3. Joe Biden 6 [11.76%]
4. Unsure/no answer 4 [7.84%]
5. Martin O’Malley 2 [3.92%]
6. TIE 0 [0%]
   1. Lincoln Chafee
   2. Jim Webb

Some further reading:

• Bloomberg: Hillary Clinton’s Bernie Sanders Problem Is Bigger Than Anyone Realizes
• Huffington Post: Almost Every Major Poll Shows Bernie Sanders Challenging or Defeating Clinton and Republicans. Here’s Why

Missouri & Illinois both hold their primary on Tuesday March 15, 2016:

• Missouri has open primaries, so if you’re registered to vote you can vote for Bernie Sanders. You must register by 5pm on Wednesday, February 17, 2016.
• Illinois has closed primaries, so you must be registered as a Democrat to vote for Bernie Sanders. Those who will be 18 by November 8, 2016 can vote in the primary even though they’re 17.

I recommend everyone — even those who think they know who they’ll vote for —  take the quiz at ISideWith.com to see which candidate from both major parties best aligns with your views. The more detailed you get in the questions the more accurate it’ll be.

— Steve Patterson