POTTSTOWN — Hundreds of unpaid parking tickets issued in the borough turned into citations late last week.
After receiving a pair of warnings, those that haven’t paid off parking or other related tickets will now be dealing with citations in court, according to Pottstown Police Chief Rick Drumheller.
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Berks County state constables make hundreds of thousands of dollars each year serving warrants for unpaid citations issued by the Reading Parking Authority.
Last year, the authority helped draft a state bill that would allow it to handle its own delinquent parking tickets and collect an estimated $500,000 lost to what city officials call inefficiencies in the city’s constable and district court system. The measure, House Bill 1803, cleared the state House in June and was referred to the Senate.
Last month, fearing for their livelihoods, the constables launched a lobbying effort to kill the bill.
Led by Thomas Impink, elected state constable for Wernersville and president of the Pennsylvania State Constables Association, the constables pressured state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, a Delaware County Republican, to send the bill to committee, stalling its progress.
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
With a constable waiting to take her to jail, bookstore owner Melody Williams wiped tears and called a friend.
Williams told her to pay the shop’s electric bill and rent. She also said she might have to pack up her apartment.
Struggling for composure, Williams, 36, explained that Senior District Judge Jene Willwerth was sending her to jail for overdue parking fines.
“It was a short and sweet hearing,” recalled constable Karl Salisbury, who took Williams into custody at her store on May 31. “The judge said, ‘You owe $2,300 collateral. You’re being committed to Lancaster County Prison.’ ”
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