Some have racked up thousands in Salem fines

SALEM — One afternoon in October 2004, a parking attendant ticketed a red Pontiac registered to George Peterson of East Sandwich.

The next day, the same car was ticketed on Washington Street. And the day after that, on Front Street.

In fact, in the seven months between May 2004 and January 2005, Peterson racked up a stunning 93 parking tickets, mostly for failing to pay the meter and a few for parking on a crosswalk.

Peterson owes the city $4,680 in parking fines and late fees, according to city records. He tops the city's 37-page list of parking-ticket scofflaws, drivers who owe the city hundreds or even thousands of dollars and, in many cases, have accumulated dozens of unpaid parking tickets.

City records show that 83 drivers owe the city $500 or more in outstanding tickets, costing Salem more than $67,000.

And those are just the worst offenders. The city estimates it has a total of more than $1.25 million in outstanding parking fines and late fees, dating as far back as 1990.

"It's amazing to me the backlog we have," Driscoll said.

At a time of looming layoffs and severe budget cuts, the city's lost money is no small amount.

Angela Sullivan of Salem owes the city $3,595 for the 72 tickets issued to her black Mitsubishi between June 2004 and June 2005. Almost all of the fines were for $10, but with $40 late charges, they've ballooned to $50 per ticket.

Alfred Beckford of Salem owes $2,410 for 54 outstanding tickets racked up in a three-month span in 2000. His black Mercedes-Benz was often hit with two tickets a day for not feeding the meter on Sewall Street, and the German import blocked street sweeping 18 times in six weeks.

City officials say they make extensive efforts to recover the money. At least a half-dozen notices are mailed out to the offenders. After five or more tickets, the city puts the vehicle on a tow-and-hold list, allowing police to impound the car until the owner pays up. The Police Department also just purchased a mobile license-plate reader capable of scanning hundreds of plates in seconds.

But the city routinely runs into roadblocks. Some drivers move out of state and never need to renew their license. Others rack up the tickets in a rental car or leased vehicle. Sometimes the motorist's license becomes suspended or revoked. Some are college students who move away.

"Some of them we'll never collect," Driscoll said. "We don't have a lot of leverage besides the RMV and putting a mark on their license. There are a lot of folks who just choose not to pay."

But there is always hope.

Sometimes the parking culprits do pay up, even 20 years later. That happened in Cambridge two years ago when a man about to begin an extensive job interview finally paid the 17 outstanding tickets he had racked up between 1988 and 1991 while he was in law school.

The scofflaw's name?

Barack Obama.

salem's Top 10 parking-ticket scofflaws

NameTown/CityTicketsOwes

George PetersonEast Sandwich93$4,680

Angela SullivanSalem72$3,595

Alfred BeckfordSalem54$2,410

Daniel Earl MaherLynn30$1,950

Diana CurrierLynn33$1,650

Tammi Lyn GuySalem24$1,475

Jesus PenaSalem20$1,250

Jose RodriguesUnknown19$950