Andrew Miller shows off some of the 13 tickets he received for not displaying a new license plate sticker, after he’d sent in a check for the sticker but it was weeks late in arriving. (Credit: CBS)
Reporting Mike Parker
CHICAGO (CBS) – A young musician from Lakeview who has lived in the city only a few months has already racked up an avalanche of tickets and he says he has the city is being unfair and has led him astray.
The city says the man is “brazenly” disregarding Chicago’s parking regulations and deserves the tickets he’s received.
As CBS 2’s Mike Parker reports, rock guitarist Andrew Miller has been deep into the real life blues for months.
Miller said last fall he sent in a check for a new license plate sticker for his car. He says the sticker was weeks late in arriving and that over the next few weeks, he got a total of 13 tickets on his Honda for $50 a pop.
Miller decided to fight the tickets and went to the Revenue Department at City Hall. They sent him to the city Hearing Center at 400 W. Superior St. They sent him back to City Hall, then he was directed to return to the hearing center. Through all this back and forth, the fines doubled to $100 each.
“Their options are ‘Let’s get money, let’s get revenue, let’s get going,” Miller said. “I feel like it’s just a big loophole. They’re just sending everyone in a big circle. They’re not giving citizens the opportunity to tell them … what happened.”
Mike Brockway, operator of the advisory website called The Expired Meter and calls himself the Parking Ticket Geek. He said, “the city does a good job of enforcing, but does not do a very good job of educating the driver what your responsibilities are.”
Brockway said that includes information on how to fight tickets.
The city’s Deputy Comptroller issued a written statement saying, “Andrew Miller is subject to the same rules and regulations as everyone else. …This is a case of one individual brazenly disregarding the rules.”
Meanwhile, Miller said he doesn’t know how he’ll pay the fines on those 13 tickets, plus seven others that he’s received.
“There’s a lot of fees, a lot of fines,” he said. “I’m going to have to move out of Chicago.”
It appears that the officers who wrote all of those 13 same-violation tickets were within the law. They’re allowed to keep writing and ticketing the same car for the same offense every 24 hours. Miller said he doesn’t think that’s fair.
He’s since gotten the license plate sticker he needed, so is no longer being ticketed for that.
–CBS 2 Political Producer Ed Marshall contributed to this report.
23 Comments
Awww…Poor child.
If you can’t get your car/truck/Motorcycle up to date and legal…Put it into a private lot.
I probably know who wrote a fair number of those tickets as well.
January 24, 2012 at 10:11 pm
And for information: No FOIA required for the below Info:
Legally….
1 citation every 24 hours or 1 once per day if no ticket visible on the Vehicle.
Exception to 24 hour Rule: 1 meter Ticket every rotation through Box Hour Max Time (eg: 2 hour Box/3 hour Box/10 hour box).
January 24, 2012 at 10:16 pm
Tell me.. What sense does it make to ticket a person everyday for being late obtaining a sticker.. end city bullying..people are broke, have you forgotten that we are in a recession..
January 24, 2012 at 11:04 pm
Max….Fair is everyone following the Rules set down by the Municipality you reside in.
Personally….after the first 2 or 3 tickets…I’d have marched my butt down to where ever I needed to go to get that problem fixed…so as to no longer be liable for tickets for that problem in the future. Expired Plates or No City Sticker or No Front Plate or No Residential Permit tickets are easy to take care of….just get to the City Clerk or Sec State office.
And there is a Payment Plan Option for people that Don’t have excess cash lying around for tickets.
If we were talking about obscure violation codes this would be one thing….but they were obviously for a Compliance Violation.
January 24, 2012 at 11:21 pm
Oh yeah…
Driving is a privilege…Not a Right.
January 24, 2012 at 11:22 pm
So is parking also a right? Stickers aren’t even driving. Think before you type.
January 25, 2012 at 11:25 am
You have no Constitutional Amendment that says you are Entitled to Have the Drivers License.
You have no Constitutional Amendment that states you are Entitled to Drive a Motor vehicle.
If you don’t have a car…you don’t need to park it.
The State of Illinois Requires that you have a Current and valid Plate Expiration Sticker Attached/Displayed On 1 of your 2 Registration Plates (License Plates for the Noobs).
But as of the first day of the Month after your Plate Expires, you are eligible for ticketing by any Enforcement Agency.
Theoretically, this person could have received 3 or more tickets for Expired Plates each of the 13 days he got 1..
Chicago City Parking Compliance Violation
Chicago Police Operators Moving Violation
County or State Police Moving Violation
Any other City Compliance or Moving Violation.
January 26, 2012 at 2:55 pm
Pingback: Geek May, Or May Not Be On CBS 2 News At 10 | theexpiredmeter.com
This is one of the reasons why i left Chicago, and crook county. In Vernon Hills where i live now city stickers for cars are not required.
January 25, 2012 at 12:18 am
50 buck ticket dude.
Expired Plates.
Pay attention….not a City Sticker ticket complaint story.
January 26, 2012 at 2:56 pm
I purchase the required city/state stickers prior to the deadline
I put money in the meter when required
I have car insurance per state law
I do not park in tow zones
I do not turn right on red when signs tell me not to
I do not blow through red lights whether there is a camera or not
I do not get tickets or violations
Life is easy if you follow the rules
January 25, 2012 at 8:20 am
…and the first time you get one, you’ll be the loudest crying dope in the room.
January 25, 2012 at 11:24 am
What does he expect? Paying fees is what living in Chicago is all about. He should also know that the State of Illinois is broke, so they are slow to respond. Instead of complaining, he should move. City people expect to pay more.
January 25, 2012 at 8:54 am
In reality the people of Chicago shouldn’t be subject to a lot of the extra taxes imposed by the city, but until the spending gets under control hahaha never-mind what was I thinking
January 25, 2012 at 9:59 am
He lives in More Money Tunney’s Ward so this is something he should get used to . It’s a way of life down there with his Ticket Revenue Nazi’s running the streets.They are like vultures on a piece of meat.
January 25, 2012 at 10:31 am
My advice to Mr. Miller is to drop a respectful letter in the mail to the office of the Rt. Honrable Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of the City of Chicago. I was being led around in circles by some of these same city yo-yos and just got tired of it. Mayor Emanuel’s office took care of everything and apologized. If you go high enough and are respectful…you will get results.
January 25, 2012 at 11:39 am
Yup….the “pay up” reply
February 1, 2012 at 6:43 pm
LMAO welcome to Chicago loser!!!!
January 25, 2012 at 11:52 am
I hate Cub fans. Nothing but whining about everything. Move your azz to Arizona.
January 25, 2012 at 12:23 pm
I moved out of the Scity of Chicago, and i will never go back
January 25, 2012 at 4:11 pm
when Chicago turns into Gary from a tyrant Mayor thinking only of $cratch we will see. Everyone is moving out & quickly. keep writing tickets & pretty soon there won’t be anyone left to pay your salarys. Try going after real criminals ahh but that takes courage LOL ijs
January 25, 2012 at 8:42 pm
Hey stookie.
They are called revenue for a reason. And the Cops fight crime…not the revenue punks.
January 26, 2012 at 2:58 pm
This is why we don’t drive to Chicago anymore, ever.
February 4, 2012 at 7:14 pm