It has been six weeks since the Campus Times reported that the Parking Office had been illegally booting cars on the River Campus since September 2006. Since then, CT staff members have made numerous attempts to contact the Parking Office, all of which have resulted in unreturned calls or office members declining comment on the situation. All the while, the student body has heard nothing as to what, if anything, the office has done to rectify the situation.
According to Vice President of Facilities Richard Pifer, some students who had paid a fee to remove a boot within the past year have come to the Parking Office to ask for a refund, and the office has complied. This news is incredibly important to the rest of the students who fell victim to an illegal practice, yet there has been no school-wide announcement as to how to go about receiving reimbursement. The office has not even sent a notice to those students who would be eligible for such a refund.
Whether or not this city ordinance was passed with the University in mind, the Parking Office broke the law. As was asserted when this infraction first became clear, the possibility that the office did not know about the law is not an excuse for what happened. The office needed to publicly admit the mistake and work to fully resolve the situation for everyone involved in a timely manner. None of this has happened, and that is not acceptable. It seems as though the office is bent on staying out of the public eye, no matter the effect on their already-scarred reputation.
Now that students have begun to take action and demand what is rightfully theirs, Parking again has a chance to make some good out of the situation by announcing that coming to the office to collect a refund is an effective option. Failing that, there is no way for Director of Parking Glen Sicard and others to maintain their legitimacy.
