A "Citizen Uprising" Over Towing In Knoxville, Tennessee?

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Citizens in Knoxville, Tennessee appear close to an uprising over towing issues. It's pretty ugly...

Admittedly, I have only been blogging about these issues for a few months, but I don't ever expect to ever see anything like the controversy raging in Knoxville. Citizens are literally talking about cutting off metal "boots" with a blowtorch...

First, let me make one thing clear. I am a moderate. I study public administration at a Masters level at the Humphrey Institute. So I'm not into a whole lot of wild-eyed talk about rising up in open rebellion against the oppressors, who happen to be one's own government. My response would be to put forward reformist measures (like technology which could inform a citizen of an impending tow) rather than talking about organizing an uprising.

(For the record, even the Founding Fathers tried a bunch of moderate reformist measures before turning to other options, so even the Founding Fathers didn't act like a bunch of hotheads until all other options were exhausted)

Therefore, I do not endorse cutting a metal boot off your vehicle, nor do I offer an opinion on the creative legal reasoning some have put forward in that regard, except to note "creative" and "legal reasoning" are not usually a winning combination.

What I do know, however, is citizens in Knoxville, Tennessee appear to have a very low tolerance for what they perceive as official abuse, and there is quite a discussion taking place about booting and towing as a form of official abuse. I first became aware of this amazing, colorful discussion on the comment stream of this article about possible limits on booting fees.

Here is the article, reproduced in full under the "fair comment and criticism" doctrine of the First Amendment, with my (fair) comment and criticism inserted. (Yeah, OK, I guess I do actually engage in some creative legal reasoning myself, but I'm on firm ground especially when I don't actively TAKE UP ARMS like some rather hotheaded individuals are literally talking about.

The article itself is fairly bland. But, oh, what people were saying in the comments section! Blowtorches! Constitution! The McMinn County War!

And much more!
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Boots could get a cap

Parking firms say $40 limit would wreck business

By Hayes Hickman

Friday, May 23, 2008

Private companies that put boots on cars in Knoxville could be put out of business if the city enacts a proposed $40 cap on their charges, owners told Knoxville Wrecker Commission members Thursday.

The firms now charge vehicle owners more than twice that much if they want to free their cars from a boot, which act as a sort of handcuff when it's attached to the wheel, rendering a vehicle inoperable.

(Arguably worse than a handcuff. When people are first handcuffed, they will still get a trial, some legal process. When it comes to your car, though, it's "judge, jury and executioner" at the hands of some tow truck driver)

Boots are growing in popularity locally and can offer a "friendly alternative" to traditional towing for private pay parking lots and apartment complexes that contract with the firms, an attorney for the businesses argued.

But "booting requires at least two trips," said attorney Mike McGovern, who represents three firms working in Knoxville. "It's very labor-intensive, unlike towing, where you just get the car and go."

("Labor intensive?" That's just crazy talk. I'm sure if you go around towing cars all day and driving off, having to make TWO TRIPS seems really "labor intensive." However, considering the labor involved versus the revenue shook loose...you just can't call it "labor intensive.")

Among his clients, current rates run between $75 and $100.

Doug Stagner, owner of Rutherford County-based United Parking Enforcement Service, said he already pays his employees - who work as independent contractors - $40 per booted vehicle. His charge to a vehicle's owner is $95 cash or $100 to pay by credit card.

"There's not that much profit," said Stagner, who's been in business locally for about three years. "You will put us out of business at $40."

When asked what the cap should be, McGovern said, "They think they're charging a reasonable rate now."

City Council members booted the proposed price capping ordinance back to the wrecker commission after hearing from McGovern at the May 6 council meeting, where he offered a list of rates allowed in other cities nationally, including $300 in Milwaukee.

(Booted it back to the commission? OK, somebody needs to take a stand against puns like that, and...well, it's not going to be me)

City Attorney Alyson Eberting, however, said McGovern's list was flawed - many upper-end prices are in cities that don't regulate the practice. In those that do, the maximum allowed charges for booting by a private company typically are much lower, she said.

(The attorney for the tow truck company padded the numbers? Shocking)

Using that strictly apples-to-apples comparison, she offered her own list in which the prices ranged from $25, as set by state law in Virginia, to $100 in Chicago.

Knoxville is ahead of the curve in its attempt to regulate the practice, while other Tennessee cities now are waiting to see what Knoxville enacts, she said.

"We've talked about the rates before; it's come up at previous meetings," Eberting said. "And that's what we based the $40 on that we sent to council the first time."

Eberting, who recommended against any change to the proposed $40 cap, also offered the wrecker commission members a revised draft ordinance that was expanded to include requiring such companies to first obtain a permit from the Knoxville Police Department, pay a $25 annual permit fee and carry at least $25,000 in liability insurance coverage.

Feeling no closer to a compromise after the meeting passed the two-hour mark, the wrecker commission decided to continue the discussion at its next meeting, tentatively set for July 7.
Until an ordinance is approved by City Council, local booters remain free to charge what they like.

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(Sure, let them run loose a couple months. It's not like they've got anybody UPSET)

Here are some examples from the comments posted to the article and, once again, I am not endorsing any of this. But I see it as very relevant to show what the mood is among the citizens in Knoxville, Tennessee.

First, check out this website all about "tow crime" in Knoxville.

The author of the site claims "this is the website that forced City of Knoxville Municipal Corporation to fire all its car-thieving towing contractors and file a class action against them. An amazing claim, yes, but I found evidence to back the claim up in a website about class action lawsuits, and I'll be posting something about that.

Second, check out the link to this lawsuit against towing contractors in Knoxville, which reads more like a novel than a legal brief. This is inevitably what happens when you represent yourself. It all seems so important and relevant, the historical record so near and dear. All the same...the lawsuit, as colorful all-too-personal as it was, apparently worked in the way it was intended by the plaintiff, and nothing succeeds like success.

However, this revised lawsuit reads like a much more professional document.

Here is another website which explores the fascinating philosophical boundary between car theft and non-consent towing, and when does one become the other? These websites appear to all be part of the same grassroots anti-towing and booting movement in Knoxville, and I'm sure they're connected quite intimately.

As part of this discussion, somebody contributed a link which explains, in detail, how to remove a "Denver Boot" from your vehicle. As the document puts it so colorfully, "It's big. It's ugly. It looks invincible. But the Denver Boot is really a marshmallow."

More will follow on the situation in Knoxville, which appears to be developing and changing moment-by-moment. I intend to contact some of the folks in Knoxville and collect a few of the horror stories from the blog.

But I emphasize, again. I am a moderate. Right now, I am just trying to understand the complicated and (I suspect) highly relevant situation in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Citizens Boiled In Birmingham, Alabama In Outragous Towing Scam

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Behind the scenes, some email contacts in Birmingham dished up the rumor, scuttlebutt and dark innuendo...

So here it is. And I emphasize this information is UNCONFIRMED. If somebody has other information to the contrary, then submit a comment and I will most likely approve the comment for the sake of a substantive discussion.

According to an unnamed source (I love to say that!) the drivers who were caught up in the Birmingham, Alabama Crawfish Boil Towing Scam" will probably not get their money back. The issue was not even raised at the most recent "Parking Authority" meeting.

The source heard from several people who had their cars towed from that same lot during other events on previous weekends. Though there are "No Parking" signs, downtown Birmingham, Alabama is a ghost town on most weekends. (How sad and bleak!) So folks get in the habit of parking in these lots without getting tickets or being towed.

But recently some of these same lots were left open on the weekend, the owners of the lot waited for people to park and walk away, and then the towing companies got $200 for each car. There was no way to confirm whether the property owners were getting a "piece of the action." This issue has come up previously over "booting" in other parts of Birmingham. There are apparently some mass emails floating around containing articulations of conspiracy theories and I'm waiting for some of these emails to be cc'd.

(Just because I'll publish a commentary doesn't mean I endorse it)

Birmingham, Alabama sure doesn't sound like a nice place to visit, whether for the crawfish boil or any other reason.

Here's a crazy coincidence, by the way. I mentioned the small town businessman who kindly gave me a digital camera for use on my blogs? Well, I owed him some hours for a personal favor so yesterday I helped him haul 800 pounds of live crayfish on short notice. COINCIDENCE OR CONSPIRACY?

Citizens Scammed, Towed And Uncompensated In Birmingham, Alabama

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Here is a great story with lots of local color, about a "crawfish boil" that started out as a lot of fun...until a bunch of citizens got towed in a scam...

Click here for a link to the original story, reproduced below with comment.

Birmingham Parking Authority maintenance employee fired after being accused of orchestrating parking scam.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

By JEREMY GRAY

News staff writer

A maintenance worker with the Birmingham Parking Authority was fired, authority officials said, because he directed people to park on a private lot and collected fees from drivers attending the Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil on Friday.

Birmingham police identified the employee as Edward McCray. Parking authority executive director Lynn Thomas said McCray, who had been employed by the authority for several years, was on duty and using a parking authority vehicle at the time he collected money at 22nd Street and Seventh Avenue North. He then directed cars into a lot owned by the company that manages the Park Place housing community, Thomas said.

(How strange is it his name is "McCray?" Crawfish are also known as crayfish. Maybe everything in Edward McCray's life has been leading to this moment of crayfish notoriety. Did he do it for the sake of the crayfish. OK, it's doubtful. All the same...what an odd little coincidence!)

"He had no business going on private property. We have zero tolerance for stealing," Thomas said.

(How sad he feels the need to state that last part, like maybe it's a revision of the former "you can steal a little bit" policy)

Many people returned to the lot that evening to find their cars had been towed. Some reported paying $200 to retrieve their cars from an impound lot.

A co-owner of the company that towed cars that night said only about 40 cars were towed. Some victims of the towing put that number at more than a 100.

McCray was detained by police, said Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Henry Irby. He was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor related to outstanding traffic violations, Irby said.

McCray has not been charged in the Friday incident, Irby said, because none of the victims had come forward to police.

Several of the people whose cars were towed have said they gave money for parking to a person they thought represented the parking authority.

Carrie Boyce, an 18-year-old McAdory High School senior, paid $5 to park on the lot about 5:30 p.m. When she and her friends got ready to leave about 11 p.m., their car was gone.

Others, including Angela Taylor, followed a steady flow of cars that continued to enter the lot after police arrested McCray at 6:30 p.m. Cars still were being towed when she, her husband and three teenage sons left the Crawfish Boil about 11.

(Oh, my word. Despite learning of the scam, the authorities didn't try to stop the towing! And, to make matters worse, this "crayfish boil" was a charity event. Here is a link about the event, which really sounds like a lot of fun and helpful to a good cause)

"Why didn't someone put a chain back up or why wasn't someone there to tell people they couldn't park there?" Taylor said. "It just seems like such a rip-off. Anything would have been better than just towing all those cars."

On Saturday, the second day of the festival, the owners of the property opened the lot to the public.

LaVeeda Morgan Battle, attorney for the parking authority, said the matter is under investigation and she could not comment.

No provisions for reimbursing those whose vehicles were towed have been made by the parking authority, property owners, the towing company or the city of Birmingham.

Gordon Williams, co-owner of B&G Towing, which towed several of the cars, said any reimbursement would have to come from someone else.

Rick White, a spokesman for the property managers, said he did not believe they would be giving reimbursements because the money went to the towing company.

"The Birmingham Parking Authority is a separate entity, we don't have any liability," said Deborah Vance, Mayor Larry Langford's chief of staff. "They are not city of Birmingham employees. They are Birmingham Parking Authority employees."

Larry Ward, chairman of the parking authority board, said the issue could come up at the board's May 15 meeting. "The board will have to look at that."

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Well, as you might suspect, this matter did not just go away. Click here for a link to another article about this matter. (I'm undecided whether to call it a "controversy" or a "scandal" so I'm just going to label it a "rip off." Here is the text of that article, below, with commentary.

Click here for yet ANOTHER article about the scandal. As one woman put it, $200 is food for her family for a week. She has cried and cried over this.

The real question I have is not whether McCray guy is guilty and will be prosecuted. It certainly looks like it. The real question is who will be giving all these people back their towing fees? I plan to send a few emails and make some inquiries.

However, once again this is a good argument for more advanced technological systems so drivers could get "pinged" and warned of an impending tow. What happened here was the result of a scam, but with big events like the Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil (truly a monumental event!) there is plenty of opportunity for confusion when it comes to where people are allowed to park.

And what happens, then? A wonderful night turns into a serious downer. And if you're from out-of-town, would you ever want to attend an event in Birmingham again?