fb-pixelCity boosts number of workers with free parking privileges - The Boston Globe Skip to main content

City boosts number of workers with free parking privileges

The placards dangle from rearview mirrors to remind parking-ticket writers that privately owned vehicles have privileges reserved for city employees on official business.John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

Eighty-one went to city inspectors. City Council staffers gobbled up 22 more. And at least one went to a municipal worker who needs convenient parking to keep tabs on Boston’s rodent population.

The hot commodity? Official City of Boston parking placards stamped with the moniker “Mayor Martin J. Walsh.”

The placards dangle from rearview mirrors to remind parking-ticket writers that privately owned vehicles have privileges reserved for city employees on official business.

The perks — free parking for two hours at meters, exemption from resident-only restrictions — have long been enjoyed by city councilors, who have been caught abusing the program. (The State Ethics Commission fined former councilor Michael P. Ross $2,000 in 2007).

Advertisement



This year, Walsh expanded the program and extended the privilege to include at least 245 city employees, which is 40 percent more than the administration initially told the Globe. The program allows placard holders to have parking tickets dismissed if they are doing city work.

New data provided under the state open records law showed that 75 percent of the pass holders are men. Placard recipients have included architects, at least two city Cabinet chiefs, and scores of other employees in the school department, Inspectional Services Department, Boston Housing Authority, and Boston Water and Sewer Commission, among other agencies.

“These are city employees that are working on behalf of residents of the city,” Walsh said late last month when asked about the parking placards on WGBH radio, adding, “I don’t know where the story is here.”

Most of the parking placards were issued this spring, and at recent count, employees have had 34 tickets dismissed, saving $1,300 in fines. Records show that at least one City Council staffer, Daniel Sibor, had a ticket dismissed for a parking violation issued outside his home on a Friday afternoon.

Advertisement



The Globe reported last month that Sibor’s boss, City Councilor Josh Zakim, had a half-dozen tickets tossed that were written for not feeding meters while his vehicle was parked near his Back Bay condominium. Sibor and Zakim both said they were working from home on official city business when they were ticketed.

The city’s fiscal watchdog, Matthew A. Cahill, urged the Walsh administration to tighten the definition of what constitutes “official city business.”

Parking in a resident-only spot to attend a community meeting is one thing. “But if you are in front of your home, I think it’s questionable whether you are on official city business or not,” said Cahill, executive director of Boston’s Finance Commission, adding, “I think they need to tighten up the rules, and the rules need to apply to everybody.”

In his radio appearance, Walsh took issue with the earlier Globe story. The mayor said television stations recently asked for a similar perk that would allow camera trucks to park in loading zones.

“I don’t understand what the big deal was” about placards for city employees, Walsh said. “The press did make an issue out of it, and I thought it was ironic because we were able to get placards for the press to park.”

City employees seeking to have violations dismissed must sign an affidavit attesting under the pains of perjury that they were on official city business. In the past, city councilors were the only municipal officials with a special procedure to have fines thrown out.

Advertisement



Some city departments previously used an ad hoc system that involved placing laminated cards on dashboards in the hope of preventing tickets. The old laminated cards were not sanctioned by the city Transportation Department, according to Boston’s new transportation commissioner, Gina Fiandaca.

The Globe reported last month that Zakim has had 14 tickets dismissed since taking office in January 2014, including the violations near his home, which were often issued after 8 a.m., when parking meters go into effect. Zakim said he was home e-mailing constituents, at breakfast with a local business owner, or attending to other officials duties.

Sibor received his parking placard in January and has had three tickets dismissed, including the violation issued outside his home in East Boston. In an interview, Sibor said he worked from home some days because his dog has cancer. He received the ticket, he said, because he had failed to get a resident sticker. Sibor said he was working that Friday afternoon, and provided the Globe time-stamped e-mails to prove it.

“I’m intelligent enough to know the difference” between city and personal business, said Sibor, who is an attorney. “I’m a licensed member of the Massachusetts Bar. I’m not going to jeopardize my good standing to get out of a $25 parking ticket.”

If the parking privilege is abused, city employees can be held accountable by their department head, but transportation officials are not actively checking for misuse.

The Transportation Department said last month it had bestowed the perk to 175 city employees. In response to the public records request, the administration provided a spreadsheet that showed 245 placards.

Advertisement



Recipients have included at least two Walsh Cabinet officials: Sheila Dillon, chief of housing, and Patrick Brophy, chief of operations. Another notable placard holder is Rob Consalvo, a former city councilor and mayoral candidate who now works for the Department of Neighborhood Development.

The largest number of placards went to the Inspectional Services Department, which received 59. The most significant concentration, however, remains in the City Council.

Councilor Ayanna Pressley does not have a driver’s license and did not receive a placard, but four of her staffers have the parking passes. Three councilors — Tito Jackson, Salvatore LaMattina, and Charles C. Yancey — received a placard for themselves and three for their staffers.

Councilor Stephen J. Murphy got a placard for himself, his chief of staff, and one of his new employees, Robert E. Powers. Murphy hired Powers after he was fired by the state’s highest court for belligerent behavior, and failing to show up on time for his job as clerk-magistrate in Barnstable District Court.

Andrew Ryan can be reached at andrew.ryan@globe.com .