Parking ticket officer sought

Authority struggling to fill position as merchants complain about scofflaws

The Altoona Parking Authority has been struggling to hire a ticket officer -- an effort that could help solve the problem of downtown employees or students parking all day in front of businesses.

Merchants have been complaining about seeing the same cars in the same spots all day in front of their shops in two-hour zones, Altoona Blair County Development Corp. Director of Business Expansion Matt Fox said at a recent authority meeting.

An authority employee with other responsibilities is ticketing when he can, but the coverage isn't the same as when there's a regular ticket officer.

The authority so far hasn't netted enough candidates to justify conducting interviews, according to office Manager Vickie Chilcote and Chairwoman Sherri McGregor.

Authority employees have noticed there are routinely unoccupied spaces in lots leased by downtown businesses and other organizations, according to McGregor.

The normal users of those lots are evidently "choosing to take chances on the street," McGregor said. "They're probably not getting ticketed as often as we'd like, because we're down an officer," she added.

The authority's parking fine is $5.

"It's an ongoing problem" -- likely aggravated when workers who park on the street instead of the spaces leased for them tell colleagues about it, Fox said.

Conversely, some leased spaces may be unoccupied because of employees working remotely, at least part of the time, McGregor said.

Businesses whose operations he's familiar with require workers to park in leased spaces, but there's been a recent "uptick" in the number of Penn State students parking on the street instead of in the parking garage or the lot spaces the university leases, said Mayor Matt Pacifico.

A downtown parking study currently underway will be "crucial" in helping determine how the authority responds to these issues, McGregor said.

The authority will work with the city to help ensure "people park where they need to," she said.

For now, there is enough off-street space for those individuals, she said.

"I would hope that people would be leaving those spaces (on the street) open for customers," Pacifico said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.