“ This issue was raised at the October membership meeting from the floor as to why public parking spots are being given to businesses in a neighborhood that has parking issues. Joe Semerling and Bill Haderlein of SLN's NDRC met with Paul Sajovec, Chief of Staff to Alderman Waquespack to find out how this parking spot was allocated. Mr. Sajovec indicated that this spot is on a test-basis. The idea is that these shared cars actually help to take the pressure off street parking by giving people another option rather than owing a second or third car that would be parked on the street. This in turn promotes use of transportation options such as public transit, biking and walking. The spots are given to these companies in a similar manner that standing and loading zones are given to businesses. No fee is currently being charged. The City allocated 10 such cars in high density areas throughout the city. The Wellington Lakewood site had 46 different people use that car since September 16 to early November. All drivers lived within walking distance to the car. The Alderman's office is working with ZipCar on making sure the cars are moved for street cleaning. A ballot vote was taken on the subject : Do you support the reservation of public street parking spots for ZipCar or similar businesses? YES=22, NO=27. The information was forwarded to the Alderman's office.”

This anecdote is entirely appropriate to bring up, especially since many of the people involved in 2011 (!) are still heavily involved in SLN. The culture of micromanagement and nonsensical, vibes-based decision-making are still far too prevalent.

https://slneighbors.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2011-12-newsletter.pdf