May 31, 2002 By Amy Karpinsky 5 min read

When retired city police officer John Herman was hired on a part-time basis to write parking tickets two years ago, he figured the job would be a lot less stress. He was wrong. Unlike his job as a police officer when every day brought a new adventure, in his current job, Herman sees the same thing day after day, and often, the same cars day after day.

On a recent trip to the Uniontown Hospital to check for parking violations, a couple common problems reared their ugly heads. Parked at a handicapped meter was a large car without a handicapped placard or license plate, a foot away from the curb. Although there was money in the meter, there was no evidence that a handicapped person parked or owned the car. Herman wrote out a standard $10 ticket for violating the ordinance.

At nearby West Berkeley Street on a section clearly marked two-hour parking, Herman ticketed three vehicles that had been there more than two hours. He said that the same cars park there all the time.

A short time later, while driving around the hospital area, an elderly man with a handicapped placard and the ticket came running up to the car. He said he was in the hospital with his wife and he forgot to put the placard out. After giving a lecture to the man that he must have the placard visible, Herman forgave the ticket.

Unfortunately, most of the people Herman deals with are not as calm and civil as the man who forgot to put out his handicapped placard. Some are just plain rude.

Recently, an elderly man who had been illegally parked on South Street came to the police station to protest a ticket. In addition to questioning Herman about why another vehicle wasn’t ticketed, the man also accused Herman of being out to get people and told Herman he was driving people away from the city.

Herman said he gets yelled at almost on a daily basis and he just tries to tune it out. He said he can’t understand why people can’t simply put a couple quarters in the meter when many of these people will drive to Pittsburgh and pay outrageous sums to park in the city parking lots and garages. Parking in Uniontown costs 25 cents for 30 minutes at meters and less at the parking garage.

Between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., Herman does not give parking tickets.

Although the South Street project created a loading zone on one side and 20 angled parking spaces on the other side, it also created the need for parking enforcement. Herman said many times people will park near Pechin’s and do their shopping although it is clearly marked as a loading zone. And even if someone is clearly in violation, Herman said many times they want to blame someone else and tell him how many other vehicles are in violation.

Another common problem is South Street employees taking up the angled spaces that are supposed to be for customers.

The parking lot beside the 911 Center on Main Street was opened to the public after years of being a private lot. Although the parking garage is in close proximity, Herman said he sees the same cars in the parking lot day after day, or the “everydayers.” He said many of the employees that park in the lot don’t feed the meter and he gives them two or three tickets a day.

The cost of parking in the garage is $30 per month, or $1 per day. Each parking ticket costs $1 if it is paid within an hour and the costs go up to $15 after five days.

Parking enforcement in the city was nonexistent for many years and Herman said he understands that old habits die hard. Many of the people he tickets have been parking illegally for years and think they should be able to continue doing so.

G. Chamberlain, owner of House of Beauty of South Street, said she has seen various parking problems in her 42 years in the city. She said people will park in a handicapped spot without handicapped stickers and others will pull on top of the sidewalk and block other vehicles.

Unlike in the past where if tickets are not paid, they would be forgotten, Herman said now all the tickets go into a computer and if tickets are not paid, they will be sent to a collection agency.

Despite the assertions from some that Herman is out to get them, he is simply doing his job. One that he is not paid benefits for because he only works 7 1/2 hours a day. He said sometimes it isn’t worth the aggravation.

Herman’s frustrations were evident one day while walking along Main Street near the courthouse. A couple of the vehicles were improperly parked and taking up two spaces. Several cars, including a Mercedes Benz, did not have any money in the meter. Herman said sometimes people who are working in places will leave a note that they are working and expect not to get a ticket.

“What about all the other people who are working?” he asked. “All I see is cars that are parked wrong,’ said Herman.