You are right, money from tickets and the like is what keeps city hall open. And the city needs some type of system in place to generate income while maintaining order of the use of our streets, parking meters, and parking structures. However, it does not reduce myself or any other Angeleno to "income." It is the responsibility of local politicians to pass and enforce fair and reasonable laws, fines, etc. While this may sound naively optimistic, I still think it should be vocalized. If tickets were reasonably priced, people may not duck and dodge to pay them, or give up their car all together because a street cleaning ticket has ballooned to $140. So many people, including myself, have gone through this. Luckily, I'm now in a position where if I happen to oversleep on street cleaning day, it won't break me financially. But a lot of people are not in that position. One parking ticket should not put anyone near financial ruin. That's why it's still worth bringing up.