So the question is, how much do you pay  for 15 minutes — $4  or $33, or $24, $20, $16…?

And people wonder why the parking community is often a laughingstock. Wow!

H/T: Joe in Philly

JVH

This post might make it seem like I watch beauty pageants, but I’m not that guy. I do read the news plenty and couldn’t miss the story about Miss Utah-USA’s idiotic flop during her pageant interview. The interview portion is the one that comes after the bathing suit portion and it is meant to make the women seem less like walking Barbies and more like smart walking Barbies. Here it is, a good question made famous by a terrible answer:

“A recent report shows that in 40 percent of American families with children, women are the primary earners, yet they continue to earn less than men. What does this say about society?”

Miss Utah-USA could only stutter and sparkle. The irony.

If these statistics apply in the parking industry, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they did, what is the answer to the question? What does this say about society, industry, education, economics?

I have received word that the founder of Valet Parking Service in Los Angeles, Herb Citrin, passed away Saturday night.  Herb  founded the valet parking industry, grew his company, and was known nationwide. A businessman, a parking pro, and a true gentleman.

Services will be held on Wednesday, June 19at 2 PM at Hillside Memorial Park, 6001 W Centinela Ave‎.,Culver City, CA 90230

I wrote this piece for PT about Herb in 2006:

Sitting at lunch listening to Herb Citrin talk about his life is an instruction book on how to succeed. He is the definition of quality and service. He insists that the success of his Valet Parking Service, celebrating its 60th year this month, is a result of a focus on those two attributes.“And relationship-building,” he adds.

“When I came back from the service in 1945, I went to work for my uncle’s friend, a jeweler. I didn’t like being inside,and my dad suggested I contact Lawry’s restaurant, where I had worked with him before the war. He told me to offer to take over their valet parking operation.”

The 23-year-old got his contract in April 1946 and never looked back.

“It had an interesting clause in the contract. They told me I had to personally be there every day. And I was, for the next 14 years. That made company growth a bit difficult, but a contract is a contract.

“My mother told me I was born under a lucky star. It must have been true. Virtually all of the new business I had in the early years was from people who called out of the blue and asked me to come over and talk about running their valet operation.”

(Herb also mentions an incident during the war. He was assigned as a radio operator on the submarine Tullibee. After two patrols, he was transferred to the Tinosa. On the Tullibee’s next patrol, it was sunk. Herb is certain that his mother’s lucky star had a lot to do with that transfer.)

“I noticed that most of the valets at the time were dressed in dungarees and sloppy shirts. I thought they should look smart. So I bought U.S. Air Force officer uniforms – without the insignia – and dressed my crew in them. It was a big hit. Those uniforms were expensive, but they became my marketing program.

“In the beginning, I put the name of the account on the jacket. After we began to grow, I had to stop that. It was too difficult to keep track of the uniforms and staff.”

Citrin focused on Los Angeles’ Restaurant Row. Lawry’s The Prime Rib was surrounded by other first-class restaurants, and they noticed his sharp-looking crew and great service. Before long, he was handling accounts throughout the area.

“I made it a policy to never say no. I took advantage of every opportunity.”

By June 1956, he had 20 accounts and was still working nightly parking cars at Lawry’s.

In 1960, Los Angeles International Airport was expanding and needed valet service. He got the deal, but knew he couldn’t handle it if he was still parking cars nightly at Lawry’s. He had a discussion with management, and after guaranteeing impeccable service, was provided an amended contract. Valet Parking handles Lawry’s The Prime Rib to this day.

During the 1960s, hotel and department store accounts began to grow. He also followed his customers as they expanded into San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Austin, San Diego and Honolulu. VPS operates only in Los Angeles today. “We didn’t leave any of those cities, but sold the operations. You will still see our logo in over 180 locations in Chicago, Dallas and Austin.”

Herb Citrin’s company has provided valet services for the Academy Awards for more than 30 years. It covers the Emmys, Golden Globes and other major Hollywood events, and supplies a permanent staff to Hugh Hefner’s Playboy mansion.

“Most people don’t understand that no matter what it says on the ticket, valet operations take responsibility for the car when you drop it off. Any damage or loss and we have to pay. The insurance deductible is high.”

In the beginning, parking was provided free at the restaurants. VPS worked for tips and maybe a little support from its customer. Labor laws changed, and it was no longer able to require that the valets turn their tips over to the company.

“It was a problem to get the restaurants to agree to let us charge. They all told us that when Lawry’s did, they would.

We began charging $1.50 a car at Lawry’s in 1978. Think about it. Thirty years later, we can’t get more than $4.50 in most locations; $5 is a lot. At the fanciest restaurant in Beverly Hills, we get $7. That’s less than the cost for one martini and we are accepting responsibility for a $100,000 vehicle. Makes no sense.”

The restaurants fear that if they charge more, customers will go somewhere else.

PT commented that it was strange that folks would pay $10 to park at Dodger Stadium or the Hollywood Bowl, but balk at $5 for valet service. “It’s the way it is,” Herb says.

Do they lose locations? “Sure – but usually we give them up when they become financially negative. In the beginning,

we were paid to park the cars; now, in some cases, we pay the restaurants rent for the right to park the cars. When they demand more than is reasonable, or when a competitor over- bids us, it may be time to move on. Sometimes a new owner will come in and bring a parking company with them.”

Citrin was first with valet parking at an airport, started the first valet services for special events, and while most valet companies had one or two locations, he grew his operation to more than 200 locations and 1,500 employees.

He sought retirement, and sold Valet Parking Service in 2003. The commercial self-park portion went to Ampco System, and the valet portion was sold to his two senior staff members, Tony Policella and Victor Morad. Herb was provided a three-year consulting contract.

A former member of the National Parking Association’s board of Directors, Citrin keeps in touch with people across the country. “I have a lot of contacts, and do a little additional consulting now and then.”

“We have made quite a difference in the parking business, particularly in L.A. At least half the valet companies in town were started by former Valet Parking Services staff.”

As we pick up the car after lunch, sure enough, the manager of the garage comes out and shakes hands with Herb. A former employee. Herb remembers him by name and smiles as he notes that he now works for a competitor.

Retire? He still keeps a desk at VPS and goes in often. “It wouldn’t seem right. I’ve been doing this all my life.” Herb Citrin is 84, plays tennis twice a week, and works out with a trainer the other days. He lives in a Century City high rise with his wife, Ione, and two cats.

Would he use a valet or park on the street? “If there’s a spot on the curb out front, I’ll take it. Frankly, I’ll use whatever’s closer. I want convenience.” And that’s what he gave his customers

Herb Citrin, dead in Los Angeles at 91.

I now there are always extenuating circumstances, but..

Here’s the thing — Kansas city hired a consulting firm to tell them what was wrong with their parking downtown. The results, received in January of 2012, told them that their current rules weren’t being enforced and they needed more enforcement staff.

This month, the local merchants started to complain that there weren’t enough parking spaces because people were parking their cars and staying all day. There’s a great picture here of a lonely enforcement officer writing a ticket in KC.

Of course there were people who don’t want the rules enforced, but the only ones they could find lived in the area and surprise surprise they didn’t want to have to pay to park their cars on street. Could it be they were the ones actually causing the problem experienced by the merchants?

The city said it let the number of enforcement staff dwindle while they figured out whether or not to hire an outside firm to handle enforcement (They decided NOT, but only after the number of enforcement staff was down to 2 in an area that formerly had 6 or 8.)

I sympathize with the parking staff in KC, but surely when the saw the amount of money being lost due to the dearth of citations, they could have quickly justified additional enforcement staff.  Its hard to believe that an enforcement officer can’t write enough tickets to cover his salary and the rest.

In the mean time, consider the problems faced by the merchants and the sales tax lost when folks decided to go elsewhere and shop and play where there was easy parking.

JVH

A parking spot in San Francisco’s South Beach neighborhood sold recently for $82,000. The 8- by 12-foot spot is in an enclosed garage in a condominium building near AT&T Park.

Now that’s lot of money for a rectangle of concrete, but real estate analysts confirm it’s a fair price and a good investment. I’ve been to San Francisco and seem for myself how tight parking can be, so for those with the cash, a reserved spot must be a terrific perk.

Maybe I’m not the only one who reads and article like this and shakes his head in dismay thinking “What has the world come to?” and then thinks “Well, I’d do the same if I lived in San Fran and had the wherewithal” and then goes to make a sandwich and forgets all about it.

Handicapped parking is a kind and generous offering for handicapped people. It’s one of the many benefits Americans enjoy because they live in a free and wealthy nation with an arrangement of federal, state and local governments. I say “arrangement” because I can’t say “organization.”

Case in point, 1 in 8 Seattle parking spaces are occupied by people with fraudulent handicapped parking placards. According to this article, these parkers are going to get away with their crime quite easily. The city has abandoned the parking division that used to be assigned to enforce handicapped parking laws.

There are many similar scenarios in the United States – benefits offered to different populations and no money to support the implementation of these benefits. I’d like to see our government slow down on its creating of new programs until its sure it can pay for those already in place. There are a lot of people that need and deserve support – but a measured approach is always a good idea.

Chicago aldermen approve Emanuel’s parking meter changes

I saw this headline and I wondered what church folk had to do with making decisions on Chicago parking policy. Then I realized I was confusing ALDERMEN with ALTER BOYS. An important difference there. Then I thought maybe ALDERMEN was just a nice way of say bloody Mafia killers. But I’m wrong and it’s actually what they call their city council members in that area – and maybe others – but no where I’ve ever lived. My mistake.

Chicago Aldermen where hard at work this week drumming up support for their leader – Mayor Rahm Emanuel – not Jesus or Al Pacino. In the end, they were saved, I mean, successful. The church/mafia parallels are killing me on this one.

The Chicago City Council today approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s controversial plan to change the terms of the city’s parking meter lease despite questions about the deal’s financial impact and fear of giving Chicago Parking Meters LLC another windfall.

I have no idea what they have done, decided to do or decided not to do – and my comprehension is pretty good. That might be the fault of the writer, but it might have something to do with the convoluted process in Chicago – too many priests and godfathers in the mix.

Try to understand the scenario better here.

Homeowners owners near the Merion Golf Club in Ardmore Pennsylvania are making an easy buck off the U.S. Open Golf Championship. Craigslist ads have private parking at a home within walking distance of the course at $500 for the duration of the event. The golf club offers little parking on site but provides off site parking and a shuttle for spectators. Some residents are offering their homes for rent, others are advertising parking and meals

I have no idea what the parking industry thinks of these kinds of parking “operations,” but I say “nice work.” If you can’t rent out your driveway for a few days and make a sweet chunk of money what’s the use of being an American?

Read the rest of the article here.

This has got to be the strangest story yet. Sweden, yes, Sweden, has been experiencing riots and car torching for the past week or so in predominately immigrant Muslim sections of Stockholm. So far about $10M in damage and cars alight every night. The local police are doing little to stop it. I just love this quote:

• ”Our ambition is really to do as little as possible,” Stockholm Chief of Police Mats Löfving explained to the Swedish newspaper Expressen on Tuesday. ”We go to the crime scenes, but when we get there we stand and wait,” elaborated Lars Byström, the media relations officer of the Stockholm Police Department. ”If we see a burning car, we let it burn if there is no risk of the fire spreading to other cars or buildings nearby. By doing so we minimize the risk of having rocks thrown at us.

IN the mean time, the local parking enforcement team is out in force, writing citations to the vehicles that have been burned:

As one wag put it — Sweden certainly has pretty parking officers.  I love this:

When questioned, the officer explained that the ticket was issued because the vehicle lacked a tag showing its time of arrival. The fact that the vehicle had been effectively destroyed – its windshield smashed and the interior heavily damaged by fire – was irrelevant according to the meter maid, who asked Fria Tider’s photographer to destroy the photos he had taken. Her employer, the parking company P-service, refused to comment when Fria Tider contacted them on Wednesday afternoon.

It just doesn’t get any better than this.

JVH

There are scofflaws and then there are scofflaws. A UK driver managed to rack up 18,000 pounds in parking fines and his or her car was finally seized by local authorities. I can’t tell you how many dollars equal 18,000 pounds, but I bet it’s a lot.

Vehicles removed by the council can be destroyed if the owner does not make contact and pay outstanding fines along with the removal and storage fees.

“The amount of fines this motorist ran up shows a lack of respect for all road users, so we used our enforcement powers to take action against this persistent offender.”

It’s my opinion this repeat offender will abandon the car – after all, it might just be cheaper to get a new one.

Read the rest of the article here.