Thursday, December 5, 2013

Putting The "Montreal Model" In Front Of Minneapolis Mayor Elect Betsy Hodges...

Wiki Commons image, blog post by John Hoff

Recently, Minneapolis Mayor Elect  Betsy Hodges sent out an email to numerous citizens of Minneapolis soliciting ideas and input about how to make our city better. I took the opportunity to put some ideas in front of Hodges about crime and revitalization issues in North Minneapolis and, of course...

The Montreal Model Of Non-Consensual Towing.

Click here for previous coverage about this topic. 

When there is a snow emergency in Montreal, Canada, and citizens park mistakenly or can't move fast enough to avoid the snowplows, their vehicles DO NOT end up at the impound lot. Instead...

...they just move the car out of the way.

This is a far more humane system than seizing the vehicles of poor and working class people who are often unable to redeem the vehicles from the impound lot.

Madison, Wisconsin uses an even better model. The vehicles are taken to a nearby street where parking is legal. Tickets are slapped on the windshield, but the tickets still cost less than bailing your car out of the car jail.

If Mayor Hodges wants to make our city better, the answer is easy...

Stop making a miserable snow emergency even worse by seizing the vehicles of people who couldn't move fast enough in Minnesota's harsh winter. 

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