On Tuesday, Dec. 2 our car was towed for the first time in more than 20 years. I had wondered why the city had not declared a snow emergency but I have Long Covid and did not feel up to moving the car back into the driveway so I left it on the street.
However, the city apparently had announced the snow emergency but even though I am signed up for emergency phone calls, texts, and emails, I was not informed. When I wrote to my Ward 1 councilor, Stan Moulton, and the mayor’s office, I was told the city had announced on social media and the city’s website that the CodeRED emergency announcement system was not working. I and many others are not on those social media sites. This failure to get the announcement out properly cost me a $25 parking ticket and a $271.40 towing charge. The towing operator told me they towed about 35 cars that night, a huge increase over the 10 or so they usually tow.
Thirty-five cars towed and ticketed means drivers paid $10,374 all because the city failed to have a backup available for its announcement system. I do not know how many towing companies the city uses, so the actual cost could be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
I am appealing the parking ticket and have written to the mayor’s office to ask the city to refund the towing costs to all those towed on the night of Dec 2.
I would also like to know what plan the city has in place for the next time the CodeRED announcement system is down.
Gavin J. Grant
Northampton