Wilmington to ignore City Council call for audit of parking enforcement practices
In a largely symbolic gesture, Wilmington City Council passed a resolution calling for Delaware’s largest city to audit its parking, towing and booting practices.
It’s likely the request will go nowhere – Mayor Mike Purzycki’s administration has denied there being a need for an audit of its practices, even as the city is in the throes of a federal civil rights lawsuit over those practices.
“I think we know the audit isn’t going to get done, and our support for it is just symbolic, but I would encourage everybody who gets a ticket – audit yourself. If you don’t deserve that ticket, don’t take it silently,” Councilperson James Spadola said before the council vote Thursday. “Please reach out to somebody and fight it because that’s how we fix the system as a whole.”
Council members have continued to hear from constituents about issues with parking enforcement, booting and towing in the years since the lawsuit’s filing in 2021, and committees and task forces have met to discuss the issue at length.
It was the continued complaints from residents that led to an 11-2 vote supporting the call for an audit. Council members Albert “Al” Mills and Yolanda McCoy voted “present.”
MORE: Parking woes targeted for audit in Wilmington as federal suit goes to trial
A resolution calling for an audit of Wilmington’s red light camera program, however, was defeated 11-2 with council member Shane Darby and council President Ernest “Trippi” Congo supporting the measure.
Why City Council wanted an audit
Much like the motivations behind the request to audit the city’s red light camera program, Darby’s motivation for an audit of Wilmington’s parking, booting and towing practices was also rooted in ensuring equity.
Council members also pointed to a shifting dynamic in downtown Wilmington. Once busy only during the weekday work hours, now more people are visiting the area in the evenings and weekends – when there is no parking enforcement.
“We still enforce parking downtown like it’s 30 years ago,” Spadola said.
RELATED: How a downtown Wilmington business took parking enforcement into its own hands
Other aspects that council members wanted to explore:
Frequency of street cleaning in Wilmington’s neighborhoods
What department parking enforcement should fall under (it’s currently under the city’s Finance Department)
Parameters and rules of engagement for towing companies operating in the city
Why Wilmington administration says there isn’t a need
Purzycki’s deputy chief of staff John Rago previously said there wasn't a need for an audit. He reiterated those sentiments on Monday.
"We do not plan any additional audits at this time," he said. "There are already financial and operational audits underway of the parking enforcement program which are part of our normal review schedule."
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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Wilmington council calls for audit of parking enforcement practices
