Dear Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce,
 
I wanted to write to you about an experience that I had today that does
not bode well for Menlo Park businesses. I parked my car in the city
lot on the north side of Santa Cruz and ran some errands at various
Santa Cruz stores. In the 40 minutes that I was away from the car I
received a ticket, as did the Mercedes parked next to me. When I
checked the ticket it was for not having a front license plate. I would
point out that most new, high end sports cars do not have a place for a
front license plate. I feel this is a ridiculous waste of time for me
and the officer that wrote the ticket (Officer Bell). Worse than that
it is going to make me think twice before I park my car in down town
Menlo Park again. That means that I am much more likely to drive out to
Stanford or Redwood city to do my shopping. I was born and raised in
Menlo Park and it saddens me to see the city that desperate for revenue
that they are willing t o sabotage the downtown merchants for a few
quick dollars. I can put a license plate on my car and get the ticket
signed off, but what person is likely to drill holes in their expensive
car to do that when the only time they have ever been sighted is in a
parking lot in Menlo Park?
 
I hope the merchants take note of this before many other shoppers
receive the same citation or citations on other minor infractions and
stop coming to Menlo Park to do their business.
 
Best Regards
 
Brian Gilmer
 
cc: Menlo Park City Council
Received on Wed Jan 10 23:02:15 2007