One Small Victory

By Steve Lopez

Remember the story of Shari Kahane, the West Hills doctor and terminal cancer patient who had one really bad day in Century City last month?

As I reported in early February, Kahane and her husband, Dr. Mark Baskin, couldn't find a disabled parking space in the garage at their attorney's office, where they had an appointment to sign her will and last testament. Running out of time, they exited the garage and parked briefly in a red zone, so Baskin could help his wife into the building and then go search for a spot. Baskin was aiding Kahane, who is bald from chemotherapy and was carrying an oxygen tank, when a traffic officer pulled up and began writing a ticket.

The two doctors explained the situation, but got no sympathy from the officer, who stuck a $70 ticket on their windshield as Dr. Baskin asked him what kind of human being would do such a thing.

Kahane and her husband filed a complaint and reported the incident to me and to Jennifer Lozano, a field deputy for Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine. After my column, and the intervention from Zine's office, Kahane e-mailed me to say the ticket had been rescinded. Here now is the letter that was sent to Kahane's husband:

Dear Mr. Baskin:

RE:            TRAFFIC OFFICER CONDUCT – CITATION # 987754913

This is in regards to the encounter you had with one of our Traffic Officers while taking your wife, Ms. Kahane, to your lawyer’s office on Century Park Boulevard East.

The investigation of the incident revealed that this situation was not handled in a manner that is consistent with our expectations as it relates to good customer service.  It is our policy to be courteous and professional at all times.  All Traffic Officers are trained in Human Relations and we expect them to act accordingly.  While the citation itself was legal and issued in accordance with the Los Angeles Municipal Code, I am requesting that the citation be permanently suspended in the interest of justice due to the extenuating circumstances at the time the citation was issued.  In addition, because of this situation, I will personally review our confrontation policy and our training module on human relations to determine if there are other options that we can provide our employees in dealing with incidents of this nature.

I apologize for the actions of this Traffic Officer. The Traffic Officer will be provided with additional training regarding his behavior with the public. 

Sincerely,

JIMMY L. PRICE

Chief of Parking Enforcement and Traffic Control

Comments

[Elizabeth]

I am glad the couple got their ticket dismissed. At least they got the ticket to protest. I was mailed a bill for double (or more) the traffic ticket cost & told I had not paid for a traffic ticket I never had received at the time of the offense. I did park illegally one time on a street near a business I was taking my 92 yr old father to (a barber shop) because after reading the signs at the location, I thought I could park for 2 hours there. The barber told me no, I could not park there, I'd get a ticket, so I left after maybe 2 minutes & moved my car. A traffice officer was down the street apparently coming my way but not there yet. I had no traffic citation on my windshield. He did not wave me down to stop me. A month later I received a bill for a traffic ticket for that date which they said I had not paid. Again, I had not received it. I paid it with a letter describing the circumstances. No one ever wrote back. The City of Los Angeles ought to work on making their street signs clearer and instruct all their employees to be sure to give the violators a citation. I never got one until I got it in the mail & they told me to pay a penalty because I was late paying it. I never received it. P.S. This is my 2nd attempt to write here, it bounced me out once already. I hope this takes. Maybe it bounces out, maybe that is why there are less entries. Thanks for letting me tell this

[Frank Vargo]

I live in the Inland Empire, the traffic along the 60 fwy, either east or west bound, is congested with trucks as well as rude truck drivers who insist on driving in the number 2 lane. When you have this much truck activity during rush hour this does cause a tremendous traffic jam. Why would not the state/county impose a truck route, restricting trucks along one corridor during rush hour, either 91, 60, 10 or 210. Let the engineers determine which route and if this is done then have CHP enforce the restriction.

[Alan Brookman]

One solution to traffic congestion would be to set up a trading system so that one could *trade* one's home, distant from work, with another of equal value but closer one's daily destination. The trick would be to avoid all the usual hassles associated with selling your home: closing costs, increased property taxes, realtor's fees, etc. A web site could track and evaluate certain criteria of each home offered for trade: school district scores, crime, floor area, and so on. The state would have to approve the process to avoid triggering increased taxes.

[Gretchen]

I have a continuing problem with the city over a parking ticket that was issued under extenuating circumstances. While I am frustrated at the slow process in resolving this, it cannot possibly compare to the suffering that couple has endured. Hopefully there will be an actual improvement in relations.

[Justin]

It's sad that it happened in the first place.
I'm glad for the couple, and I wish them the best.
The times recently reported that the number of reports of assaults on traffic officers has risen. That's distressing, but not suprising.
Yet I don't see the number of comments on this blog that I expected. This also troubles me.

[Justin]

It's sad that it happened in the first place.
I'm glad for the couple, and I wish them the best.
The times recently reported that the number of reports of assaults on traffic officers has risen. That's distressing, but not suprising.
Yet I don't see the number of comments on this blog that I expected. This also troubles me.

[Raul Garcia]

The only reason the ticket was dismissed is due to Mr. Lopez bringing it to our attention. I myself have been screwed over by the Los Angeles parking enforcement officers abritrary decisions many times while extenuating circumstances existed.