Turner lobbies against parking meters

Just one week before downtown parking meters are put into action, Vice Mayor Terry Turner made one last effort to stop their implementation.

“It’s not too late to stop,” he said at the May 16 City Commission meeting.

Turner asked his fellow commissioners to join him in seeking a delay.

But only one, Commissioner Paul Caragiulo, agreed to do so.

Turner has maintained that parking meters constitute an unfair tax on downtown businesses.

City Manager Bob Bartolotta said in fact it was too late to stop because the meters are already installed.

“We have spent close to five years and $500,000 to $600,000 on this,” Bartlotta said.

Other commission actions
• After hearing a request from community leaders armed with resident petitions to remove all benches from Selby Five Points Park, commissioners unanimously agreed to take out the remaining three benches. Six benches were removed from the park more than a month ago to try to dissuade transients. Residents said that initial step did not work.

• Commissioners decided to hold a series of public two-hour workshops to try to set their own agenda, instead of having city staff and various downtown groups set it for them. Beginning this month, the commission will hold a workshop every other week for two months.

•V ice Mayor Terry Turner asked city staff to investigate the possibility of dedicating the home page and a few other pages of City Hall’s website to promoting local businesses.

• Slightly higher business taxes were adopted. Commissioners raised the local business tax by 5% on all businesses operating within the city limits.