[Search for users] [Overall Top Noters] [List of all Conferences] [Download this site]

Conference 7.286::maynard

Title:Maynard -- Center of the Universe
Notice:Welcome to our new digs...
Moderator:PRAGMA::GRIFFIN
Created:Wed Aug 06 1986
Last Modified:Thu Feb 20 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:509
Total number of notes:4062

199.0. "Maynard's Priorities" by SENIOR::IGNACHUCK () Sat Jan 27 1990 00:23

    On Thursday night there was a basketball game at the Memorial 
    Gym between the Junior High teams and the Fowler School Teachers,
    to benefit the *unfunded* school basketball program that has 
    been tin-cupping for support all over town for months.  The 
    response and attendance was tremendous, and a great deal of
    money was raised to pay for the expenses required to have a 
    junior high basketball program this year.
    
    However, while all these people were inside enjoying this 
    outstanding example of community support of our children, the 
    Maynard police were outside putting tickets on cars parked
    in No-Parking Zones.
    
    What's wrong with this picture??
    
    Frank
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
199.1TALLIS::JBELLZeno was almost hereSun Jan 28 1990 14:368
>    However, while all these people were inside enjoying this 
>    outstanding example of community support of our children, the 
>    Maynard police were outside putting tickets on cars parked
>    in No-Parking Zones.
    
>    What's wrong with this picture??

    The cars in the no parking zones?
199.2ConsistencySENIOR::IGNACHUCKSun Jan 28 1990 19:5224
    RE: .1 - TREMENDOUS response.  Beyond this obvious "no-brainer", the 
    point I was trying to make was the irony of a situation where a 
    community rallies around an un-funded school function only to be 
    selectively ticketed for parking violations while several obvious 
    no-parking violations occur daily with no action.
    
    Why pick on a group of concerned parents who shell out hard 
    earned money in support of a worthwhile cause?  I don't see the
    logic or the point in this action.  
    
    Why not tag the folks who regularly park illegally on Main Street in
    front of Salamone's every afternoon between 4 and 6?  Why not tag the
    Digital employees who ignore the two hour limit in front of the Mill
    by filling the meters all day?    
    
    I was not one of the ticketed.  I would not have parked illegally.
    
    Consistency was the word I was looking for, that's all.  Those who
    park illegally should ALWAYS get a ticket for their actions, not just
    once in a while.
    
    Maybe I'm off base but the Town's timing seemed bad.
                                     
    Frank                                           
199.3Selective ticketingBETSY::WATSONPositively ThinkMon Jan 29 1990 10:3915
Actually, the meters on Main Street are checked ~ every two hours so it
doesn't pay to feed them dimes figuring on beating the system.

I agree with the inconsistencies in ticketing in this town.  (Walnut ST.
Auto Body comes immediately to mind.  Parking in the wrong direction;
parking on the sidewalk; exceeding the two-hour limit; unregistered cars
parked on the street, to name a few.)

I'm not a Maynardite, but I think your point regarding the town's timing
was well made.  Though illegal _is_ illegal, "how" illegal were these
ticketed cars?  (I.E., were they next to fire hydrants, or blocking
driveways or something else equally deserving of a ticket, or was this on
school property?)  Also, where's the Memorial Gym?

Thanks -
199.4The police do tag DECEESTHOTH::FILZDTN 223-2033Mon Jan 29 1990 11:067
    Hi Frank.
    	For your information the Decees ar tag in front of the Mill
    side of the Mill on Hillside street,chandler,elmwoo etc. They are
    the biggest donors to the town.
    
    art
    
199.5BUILD::MORGANMon Jan 29 1990 16:3318
    Re: .3
    
    The Memorial Gym is at the Junior High School, which is at the
    intersection of Summer St. and Florida Rd.
    
    Frank, I think the police department has gotten a lot of calls from
    someone on Summer St over the past few months.  We got a ticket last
    fall for parking half on the sidewalk.  I purposely do this so that
    cars can continue to pass both ways, and having pushed a baby carriage
    around myself, I'll always leave enough room on the sidewalk for 
    passersby.  But, according to Dick Tucker, they had received a few
    calls from someone in the area.
    
    It certainly casts a bit of a shadow on what was otherwise a fun and
    entertaining night.
    
    					Steve
    
199.6PRNSYS::LOMICKAJJeffrey A. LomickaWed Jan 31 1990 12:206
What I want to know is why they never ticket DEC's 40 foot long
semi-tractor trailers and dumpsters that parked next to my old huose on
Thompson St, AND MADE IT DIFFICULT TO GET INTO MY (former) GARAGE but
when I was selling the house would ticket my real estate agent every
time when she parked in front of my house for a few minutes.

199.7Maynard's Finest? HA!ULTRA::DWINELLSThu Feb 01 1990 12:1916
    Ah! Maynard's finest... They never cease to amaze me. I was born and
    raised in Maynard and more times than not, these civil servents have
    been labeled as "a bunch of Barney Fifes".  Ain't it the truth?
    
    I used to live across from the Edison building at the corner of Nason
    and Acton Streets. A few times I was ticketed for parking on the side
    of the road. I was completely off the road and there was more than
    enough room for three people to walk abreast. Yet, wouldn't you know?
    Not one of the big Edison repair trucks ever got ticketed for parking
    there. I would assume they would take up more room than my Ford Escort.
    
    Bear in mind that this does not have to make sense, we _are_ talking 
    Maynard, right? This town is so screwed up it's rediculous!!
    
    I suppose they have a job to do, but I have to wonder where they leave
    their brains half the time.
199.8Drop a DimeSONATA::HICKOXStow ViceFri Feb 02 1990 12:4017
    
      Not knowing about anyone's particular incidents, and not 
    saying the P.D. is right or wrong, but did anyone who had
    a complaint in here ever call the police chief to voice
    their concerns (about DEC, Edison, etc....)?
    
      Its amazing what a few phone calls can do when directed
    at the right party, than to just complain to your friends.
    
      Anytime I had called the police chief's officer directly
    about officer performance, police actions, etc... the problems
    were looked into.  Some re-occured and again a prompt call
    rectified the situation.
    
      REMEMBER the old adage:  "The squeaky wheel gets the grease"
    
                    Mark
199.9I'm satisfiedSENIOR::IGNACHUCKFri Feb 02 1990 19:4019
    I did not mean for this topic to become a vent for frustrations 
    against the local police, because the few times I have dialed
    911 or otherwise asked for their help, the response from both
    the Maynard Police and Fire Departments has always been prompt
    and professional.  I have nothing but the highest praise for the
    overall efforts of these two departments.  The explanation that
    Steve Morgan gave about a particular citizen making continuous 
    calls about the parking around the Memorial Gym and getting a 
    response to the complaint makes sense to me, and restores my 
    faith in the system.  It tells me that the police were not out
    to selectively get the parents attending the Charity Game while 
    ignoring other violators around town, but were, again, responding 
    to a registered complaint.  I would expect nothing less if I had 
    called.  My comments about consistency were global and were not meant 
    to open a topic about the overall effectiveness of the Maynard Police, 
    which I continue to depend upon to protect and defend me and my family, 
    and in which I have the utmost respect and support.
           
    Frank