Tickets and Towing Hot Topics For City Council

The city didn't provide residents with enough warning leading to its April street sweeping program, city councilors said Tuesday night.

The council unanimously passed a resolution requesting city hall reimburse residents who were ticketed and/or towed as a result of the street sweeping, which began the first week of April.

"I think it's poor judgement by city administrators the way things were done," Councilor Breanna Lungo-Koehn said.

Instead of posting notices leading up to street sweeping on residential roads, the city instead used an electronic board -- like those sometimes seen on highways -- in Medford Square, and directed residents to the city website, Lungo-Koehn said.

“Signs weren’t put on poles like the year before and the year before that,” she said. "I really hope those people are going to be reimbursed."

The approved resolution is a recommendation to city administrators.

The initial resolution to discuss ticketing and towing was submitted by councilor Robert Penta, who was also upset over the implementation of parking enforcement in Medford Square.

The city began to issue tickets to vehicles in violation of parking rules in the square last week, .

Penta said he learned of the new program after reading the story on Medford Patch. McGlynn should have come to the city council first, he said.

"It makes no sense to even discuss it because nothing is discussed with us," he said.

A parking enforcement plan should include the entire city, not just Medford Square, Penta said.

"That's nothing more than public harassment in one part of the city," he said.

City councilor Michael Marks said he was pleased to learn McGlynn had begun parking enforcement in the square.

“I am pleased that the mayor has recognized, after this many years, the need for enforcement,” Marks said.