City Manager's Messages

I am writing to remind everyone of the importance of keeping customer parking spots available for our residents. I regret that I need to do this, as most of you follow the rules. However, earlier today, I was alerted by the Treasurer’s Office of continued problems with employees parking in visitor’s spots both in and around the Ruppert Sargent Building. I have also recently personally observed employees using the limited visitor spaces in front of City Hall. While I realize it is more convenient to park closer to the building, it is simply not appropriate. 

Please be reminded that:

• All visitor spots are reserved for customers, not employees. Removing your employee pass to park in one of these spaces “unnoticed” is not appropriate. 

• Time limited spots around the Ruppert Sargent Building or City Hall buildings are for customers, not employees. When employees park in time-limited spaces, they are taking spaces intended for quick transactional business such as paying taxes or getting a permit. Furthermore, our employees should not be getting up from their desk to move cars around when time-limits are up, nor should they ignore posted limits. Thus, even if these spaces were not intended for customers, it would not be appropriate to use them.

We are all here to serve our community, and we should be willing to leave the premium spaces for those who pay taxes to support the services we provide. We want our customers to have positive experiences with us, and that is not fostered when they have to either circle the building for a period of time or park further away than they should  just to conduct simple business with us. While this is always the expectation, I want to stress that during tax season it is even more critical. The last thing we want is for a taxpayer to get angry because we do not have quick, convenient parking for them when they come to pay their bill.

We will be stepping up enforcement of these basic rules and the last thing any of us wants is for our hard-working employees to be ticketed. However, the continued use of these spaces by employees cannot be condoned, so please do the right thing and avoid the temptation to park in visitor spaces. 

Mary