Commission Meeting

I plan to speak at the next City Commission meeting on February 20th.  There will be the second reading of a proposed ordinance on towing unauthorized vehicles, after which, if voted upon, it will become a done deal.

Our well meaning Commissioners, upon hearing of an incident in Sunrise where an ambitious towing company pulled 300 vehicles from a mall parking lot on Black Friday 2011, vowed to prevent such a horrendous act from ever happening in Hollywood. How?  A new ordinance of course!  One which makes it more difficult for a towing company to pull vehicles and is an inconvenience to the owner or property manager. And while they're at it, why not throw in a bunch of new provisions about signage, illumination and placement?

Like many other things that start with good intentions but end with unforeseen consequences, the Commissioners quickly latched onto this proposed legislation as a "no brainer".  Luckily I am here to point out to them that towing from a huge commercial parking lot is in no way the same as towing from a small private beach condo building where every spot is deeded to an owner and if an unauthorized vehicle is in that spot the owner has no where else to park.  We NEED our towing company to continue the unimpaired ability to tow the scofflaws who dare to think we are providing free beach parking.

At least I can try to convince them to modify the ordinance. Such is the beauty of our system of local government.  Just like a Norman Rockwell painting no?