The stalking practices of the Parking Authority go on

The following letter was sent to the Parking Authority today by Grovite Ana Miranda, as you know the Miami Parking Authority stalks people in order to write tickets. They did this to Grove shoppers all through the holiday season. They have no class, no good will in them and their only goal is to defeat and mock citizens in the name of the almighty buck. They ruin quality of life.

First at foremost, I am an almost 10 year Coconut Grove resident. As such, I appreciate the ticketing of cars who disregard the parking ordinances and time limits. However, I believe there is a difference between that and a predatory mentality which is precisely what your attendant was doing this morning at the Coconut Grove Montessori School located off 27th avenue.

Before I explain further, note that there are less than 10 public parking spaces adjacent to the school. That is not an issue 99% of the time, but this week school has ended early for all students and there’s a rush for mostly working parents to pick up their kids, many of them during their lunch break between 11 am and 12 noon. Now, common sense indicates that not only are parents rushing (they are in and out in about 3 minutes) but the parking spaces are obviously limited.

This brilliant attendant decided to park her work vehicle in one of these few spaces (FOR FREE) and proceeds to wait for the unsuspecting parents run out of their cars only to return within about 200 seconds to find this woman ticketing their cars. I was there for about 15 minutes with the intention of observing her operation, and sure enough she gave tickets to 6 cars in that time frame.

Yes, there are rules, but this is RIDICULOUS. It takes more time to get a ticket out of these impractical totem poles –which do not even function correctly half of the time, than what it takes to pick up your child and be on your way.

I really hope and expect that someone at the Miami Parking Authority has the intellectual capacity that permits them to analyze this situation rather than simply repeating “that’s the rule” like bureaucratic tape recorders, and understand the difference between doing your job and that of taking advantage of the time school lets out and lying in wait like a weasel in the bushes.

Finally, my name is Ana Miranda. I live at [omitted by editor]. My telephone number is [omitted by editor]. If you need any further information, do not hesitate to contact me or your attendant who will remember very clearly who I am.

Editor's note: We have asked the Parking Authority for their side of the story, we'll publish that when we receive their response.