STK- letter to the editor
Tuesday night should have been a celebration in Provo — for the individuals graduating from Provo High, their families, the school and school district, and the city in general. A job well done! But the city went out of their way to mar the event and remind attendees that the city and its coffers were more important than anyone else.
My family and I left the event early only to see a city parking attendant ticketing every car parked (too close) by corners in the neighborhoods surrounding Provo High School. When I told him it was a really distasteful thing to do (yes, I used much stronger language) he responded with his badge number and boasted that he was following instructions and just doing his job. He didn’t care this was a city celebration. He wan’t ashamed of what he was doing, nor was he concerned about being reported — obviously an attitude passed on to him by those ordering his actions.
I could understand citations if there were real safety issues involved with the parking, but the fire lanes (literally across the street from the corners being ticketed) at Provo High were packed with cars parked on red lines that were not ticketed. If there was a problem at the graduation ceremony there would have been no way to get emergency vehicles in–but the parking officer didn’t care about safety. He apparently had his orders. We returned after the even ended to take photos with our graduate and found the cars in the fire lanes still unticked and the parking attendant gone. He had bravely fulfilled his duties while no one was watching.
Graduation is obviously an annual event. How does is Provo city not prepared, or even thoughtful? At the very least they could have told parking attendants to arrive early and tell people where not to park, or have them stay late and warn people about parking on corners in the future. They did neither. The city didn’t care enough about its own citizens to think that far ahead.
This type of behavior by a government by/for/of the people is disgusting. Provo city sponsored an event and then wasn’t prepared for the turn out. They responded to their own failures by ticketing attendees for minor violations that the city should have, but did not prepare for; all while ignoring real safety issues.
Provo city could have used the high school graduation as a celebratory event to build good will and have positive interactions with the community. Instead they choose to poorly prepare and react punitively to their own inadequacies. The city might indeed make a few dollars from the citations, but they’ve also made enemies.
David Dayton, Provo
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