"Absurd, ridiculous:" State Fair visitors returned to their parked cars Friday night to find $60 tickets
MILWAUKEE -- Hundreds of dollars worth of tickets were handed out Friday night, August 5th near Wisconsin State Fair Park -- after city of Milwaukee officials switched signs without letting drivers know. City officials said Wednesday, August 10th -- it was all a big mistake!
Finding parking near Wisconsin State Fair Park can be a hassle.
"You have 10 days of crazy, and then it's nice and quiet," Thomas Jacoy, who lives near State Fair Park said.
Imagine you find a spot on a street with signs reading "3-hour parking." Then, you return to your vehicle after a couple hours enjoying the fair, to find a ticket on your vehicle -- asking that you pay a hefty fine.
At 75th and Main, near where Jacoy lives, parking is free for a few hours. That's why he said he didn't expect to see city of Milwaukee officials changing the rules on the fly.
Thomas Jacoy
"These were here on Wednesday. And on Friday, I'm not sure what time it was, a guy from the city came and put these on," Jacoy said.
On Friday night, August 5th, with the west side of the street filled with cars, new tow-away rules suddenly appeared.
"I was like 'Sir, do you work for the city?' And he's like 'yeah.' And I'm like 'what's going to happen to all these cars here?' He said 'this will not go into effect tonight. It won't go into effect until tomorrow,'" Jacoy said.
Sure enough -- that didn't happen.
"Maybe an hour or so later, here comes the police, putting tickets on every side of the car on this side of the block," Jacoy said.
Expensive tickets were placed on every vehicle. The Department of Public works says their records show 14 they placed tickets on vehicles. Neighbors say the tickets were not cheap.
"60 bones. 60 big ones!" Jacoy said.
An assistant with Alderman Michael Murphy's office admitted Wednesday this was a mistake. It was Murphy's office that asked the City of Milwaukee's Department of Public Works to put up the signs after a neighbor complained about traffic.
There was apparently a miscommunication between DPW officials and the Milwaukee Police Department about when the parking restrictions should begin to be enforced.
"It's absurd. It's ridiculous," Jacoy said.
Jacoy said Wednesday he worries hard-earned money may be going down the drain.
"These people don't even realize that what they were doing was legal -- so they're probably going to pay them," Jacoy said.
If you received one of these tickets, you shouldn't pay it. Police say there is a telephone number on the back of the ticket you should call, and explain what happened in this case.
The Department of public works says as of Friday, August 12th only one person had paid the ticket. That money is being refunded and they are working to void the other 13 citations.