Many have heard the aphorism “The best government is that which governs least,� famously quoted in Henry David Thoreau’s seminal essay, “Civil Disobedience.�
While we at the Leader are not calling on residents to revolt against city government, we mention this quote because it would seem members of the Hutchinson City Council need a gentle reminder of its meaning.
In recent weeks, City Council has dealt with the ongoing issue of parking along streets near Hutchinson High School.
A brief summary of the issue is that students appeared to be ducking out on the $50 school parking lot permit by parking their vehicles on streets in nearby neighborhoods. This was to the chagrin of residents, who complained to the city and Hutchinson Police Department that the extra volume of cars on the street was disrupting services such as mail delivery and garbage pick up.
From there, the city took a prudent course of action. Along with discussing the issue with school Superintendent Daron VanderHeiden and buildings director Brian Mohr, the city sent surveys in September to the surrounding residents, asking for their feedback regarding the issue.
To make responding as convenient as possible, the surveys included self-addressed, stamped envelopes for return. The response from residents was excellent, with the city reporting more than 76 percent of the surveys returned.
From those surveys, the city reported that the most common response was to restrict parking from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school days. The report stated 54 percent were in favor of the regulation, while 16 percent were in favor of parking restrictions on only one side of the street and another 29 percent did not want any restrictions.
From this survey, the City Council correctly determined that it was the will of the majority of residents in those neighborhoods to have parking restrictions, and so it approved those restrictions during a meeting in November.
This was not the end of the parking problems, however. Shortly after the new restrictions were approved, council began to hear complaints from residents who did not like the decision.
Due to these complaints, council is exploring a permit system for residents of those streets. To use Police Chief Dan Hatten’s words, we think this idea is “problematic.�
As Hatten pointed out at the last council meeting, there are several enforcement issues that could arise from a permit system such as this. For instance, what if a person forgets to use the permit and receives a ticket, then calls HPD to complain.
Hatten recommended the council leave the restrictions as they’ve set them and let police officers deal with enforcement, and we agree.
While the idea of a permit system may come from a place of good intent, we don’t think it’s a wise course of action. The result would be a classic case of creating two more problems to fix one. If council reacted this way to every complaint it received, it would be engaged in a never-ending game of Whack-A-Mole.
And it isn’t as if residents opposed to the restrictions have no course of action. Council recently approved lifting the parking restrictions on Kay Street following a successful petition that had signatures from about 80 percent of the residents on that street.
City Council members should stick with what they’ve approved so far regarding parking restrictions, and in the future remember Thoreau’s words.
