In our newly formed, a typical society of “Me, Me, Me,” someone has responded to my posting on your site as a personal attack. Although this will be my last public response to this issue, I feel as though I should set the record straight and enlighten your readers to facts; rather than provide a personal defense to the rambling commentary of how parking is now free and that I don’t own Second Street.
In placing notes on a few select vehicles which have been consistently parking in front of our business, I asked these people to simply be considerate and respectful to our clients, patrons, and the surrounding businesses trying to make it in downtown Clearfield and to please park further down the street where there are no businesses. No where did I say, “Don’t park here,” or “Move your car,” nor anything of that nature. I simply asked those in question to consider being polite enough to park further down the street and respect our elderly clientele as our own employees do by parking further down the street. Remember though, it’s about….. Me, Me, Me.
No, I don’t own Second street. I actually do not even own the sidewalk, as it is Penn Dot’s “right of way.” I do though shovel and salt it, as well as the street parking spots, so that our clients can get in and out of their vehicles with ease. If I could, as suggested, would buy all of the parking spots around our building. But unfortunately, this is prohibited by law.
I understand that it is now free parking. This was not the case when I constructed the building. I even paid to occupy the 5 spaces around our property for six months while it was under construction. I believe my bill was over $500. I may not own Second St., but I did pay to construct all of the sidewalks around our building. I also purchased and installed new meter posts for the borough. They then reinstalled the meter heads on the materials that I purchased. It was not until last year that these parking spots became a free place to park. We’ve been here for six years and have not experienced this problem until now. The borough did not ask my opinion in this matter, nor did they ask any of the other businesses around us. Maybe, they just thought you needed a free place to park for eight hours a day…Me, Me, Me. What ever the case may be, I know I do not own the meters, I do own the posts that they sit on and the concrete that holds them in place and I would like my meters reinstalled. That was my only request in my previous statement.
Just curious Ms. Ralston; why does your employer not provide parking for you? When they came to town I’m sure that they knew they would need to provide parking for their employees and customers, why are you parking in front of our business? Can you not park in front of where you work? Are there actually parking meters in front of it like I used to have?
Due to the fact that I have heard nothing from our local police, I will continue to consistently place the road cones in our parking spots from 8:40 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. until I am other-wised advised by the police. When and if that happens, I will just have our employees park in these spots at the specific times and then have them move their vehicles further down the street at a later time. Either way, you loose your free parking spot in front of our building.
As a tax payer and a downtown business owner, I feel that I have the right to ask for my meters back. I really don’t understand who it is helping to not have these meters installed. Believe me, it’s not helping our business and we have the free parking in front of it. So who was it really designed to benefit? People who work uptown, I guess? As usual it is a circumstance that will benefit few and the rest of us will have to pay for it.
Not having the meters is a loss of revenue for the borough and causes congestion on these outlying streets. If you truly think parking should be free downtown, then remove all of the meters on Market Street around the courthouse, remove the meters in front of CNB Bank, CB&T bank, The Progress, and the YMCA. Im sure that none of these businesses or organizations would care if you parked in front of them for eight hours a day, would they?
All parking should be free,….. RIGHT? Yea,……. right. There would be riots in the streets if you’d remove the above’s mentioned meters. Why don’t you, Ms. Ralston, go to the borough and you ask why there is meters in front of your place of work and not mine? You knew when you took the job downtown you’d have to find suitable parking, right?
As for the Dance Company traffic and parking, if you check out the local borough ordinances, you would see that downtown parking meters are only enforced until 4 p.m.. This is why our classes start at this time. By choosing to build on a corner lot of two one-way streets our traffic keeps flowing as parents drop off their children in the “Dance Company Loading and Unloading Zone” that was authorized by the borough, you may have seen the sign.
Kindness, politeness, and courtesy are truly things of the past. As I worry about providing close and convenient parking for our customers, there will always be those that worry about themselves and their issues. Never thinking to themselves that, “Maybe someone’s 80-year-old grandmother may need to park here to get her hair done later.” Just think to themselves, “How dare someone put a note on MY car! It’s free parking!”
I truly apologize for politely asking someone to park an other 100 feet further down the street; I am selfish. I would never want anyone to have to walk further away from where they are going and provide a courtesy to others. This is just an other example of why our country now has to mandate designated handicapped parking spots. No one in today’s society of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Me, Me, Me, would ever think of leaving an open parking spot close to the place that they are about to enter or have to walk to work to make it easier on someone older, weaker, or less fortunate than them. Don’t forget, It is all about Me, Me, Me!
You know who……..The mean guy who puts nasty notes on cars,
Ben Timko
Clearfield