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SanJoseInside.com An inside look at San Jose politics
Parking and San Jose’s Anti-Business Attitude
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<8ICP )' p\Xij X^f# @ nifk\ X Zfclde ]fi fli [fnekfne Zfddle`kp e\njgXg\i# City Times# i\^Xi[`e^ k_\ gfc`Zp f] k_\ :`kp f] JXe Afj\ Xe[ `kj i`[`Zlcflj gXib`e^ cXnj% >l\jj n_Xk6 Efk_`e^ _Xj Z_Xe^\[% N_\e\m\i pfl nXek kf Z_Xe^\ k_\ Y\_Xm`fi f] g\fgc\ fi Xe`dXcj# pfl Xggcp `ek\id`kk\ek jk`dlclj kf Z_Xe^\ k_Xk Y\_Xm`fi% 8e D D ZXe[p fi Xe \c\Zki`Z j_fZb Xj X i\nXi[ ]fi Z\ikX`e XZk`fej ZXe Z_Xe^\ k_\ Y\_Xm`fi f] k_\ jlYa\Zk% 8jb 9%=% Jb`ee\i The City’s parking rules accomplish this by giving tickets out near the wonderful, new Paesano’s Ristorante in the outskirts of downtown San Jose, situated in the newly designated Little Italy. You’d think the City of San Jose would make a super effort to encourage people to visit the area. Not our city. On Thursday evening, I decided to have dinner at this new restaurant. I fed the meter two hours worth of quarters. I went inside and had a nice glass of wine served by the lovely and attentive Josephine and owner Pino. I was not in a hurry, so I drank my Italiano vino slowly and ordered the insalate verde. Delicious. I then looked up and saw the meter maid parading outside, giving fines for frequenting this fine dining establishment. Tickets are given out all day until 10pm! And the ticketing people are relentless. Luckily, this time, I had eight minutes left on my meter, so I did not receive a ticket. Pino came out with a pocketful of quarters, lamenting that the city and its stupidity was making it tough on his business and customers. His clients feel on edge because the parking situation will add 25 percent to the restaurant bill if a ticket is given out. So there we were, standing in the
rain, with Pino shoving quarters into the meter. Four dollars worth so far! Back inside we went so I could finish my dinner and chat with some friends. Safe in the city that does whatever it can to hurt businesses and train customers/citizens to stay away. As I left the restaurant and walked to my car, I saw a white envelope on my windshield. How could this be? Pino, the gentleman, had just put four quarters in my meter. I checked the time on the ticket. Yes, indeed, it was 9:15pm and I had received the ticket eight minutes before. Darn! I never should have stopped and chatted with some friends. I could have made it out without adding $40 to my bill. Our lovely cash-strapped city, with silver-spoon fed union members, has continued to thwart businesses thriving in the downtown area. When will our foolish government wake up and “train” our citizens to come downtown and dine and shop? Instead they train us to avoid coming downtown. I hope Pino will prevail in getting the meters changed to more reasonable hours. Let’s make San Jose a business friendly city. At least after normal working hours. —David Cohen
Blair Whitney I]Vi VgZV ]Vh i]ZhZ bZiZgZY hedih l^i] h]dgi i^bZ VaadlVcXZh VcY adc\ Zc[dgXZbZci ]djgh# > i]^c` ^h lVh YdcZ hd eZdeaZ \d^c\ id i]Z VgZcV ldjaYcÉi hlVbe i]^h VgZV½Wji½^ih gZVaan WVY [dg adXVa Wjh^cZhh# I]Z l]daZ ^YZV d[ eVg`^c\ bZiZgh lVh id XgZViZ ijgcdkZg ^c [gdci d[ adXVa Wjh^cZhh hd eZdeaZ XdjaY eVigdc^oZ i]Zb# >ih bdge]ZY ^cid V XVh] Xdl½ David Cohen is the former publisher of Metro.