Downtown bar owner objects to hard-line meter-readers

By Sam Skolnik

Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Over the past several years, Las Vegas City Hall has bent over backward to assist businesses looking to set up shop in downtown’s Fremont East District.

In an effort to bolster the slowly growing night life district, city officials have tried to reduce the bureaucratic hassles that often come with opening a small bar or restaurant.

But the line apparently is drawn when it comes to enforcement of parking regulations.

Or so says Michael Cornthwaite, owner of the Downtown Cocktail Room, who recently brought his concerns to city officials.

In a recent e-mail to Parking Enforcement Supervisor Cathy Shepard, Cornthwaite complained of the “continuing harassment” of customers and employees by the meter-readers.

There have been times, he said, when he has seen cars ticketed just moments before 6 p.m., when parking becomes free. And other times he has run out of his establishment to feed a meter for a customer only to find a parking enforcer there — sitting in her vehicle saying it’s too late because she’s already started writing the ticket.

He said the consequences have been clear: Customers aren’t returning because of the added cost and hassles.

“I understand that parking enforcement is a revenue generator for the city, and that everyone has a job to do,” Cornthwaite wrote in the Jan. 14 e-mail. “However, there is something to be said for working with people, and supporting the local businesses that are bringing the people to the area in the first place.”

The next day, George Dorsey Jr., an administrative officer with the city’s Detention and Enforcement Department, which the parking enforcement unit is a part of, responded.

Dorsey said he would make sure that parking enforcement officers understood the goals of downtown business owners.

“However, I would like to add that one of the purposes of the Parking Enforcement Unit is to ensure a smooth and orderly flow of traffic and that every citizen/visitor has sufficient access to parking,” Dorsey wrote.

His officers are able to do this in part by installing parking meters — and then ticketing motorists who don’t pay what the meters demand.

“Please understand that without the implementation of these types of parking and traffic control measures,” Dorsey wrote, “the probability of other individuals being able to visit your business and others would be lessened due to reduced parking turnover.”

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Glenn Trowbridge, a candidate for the Ward 4 City Council seat vacated by Larry Brown, recently was made chairman of the Las Vegas Planning Commission.

Richard Truesdell was elected vice chairman at the same commission meeting this month.

Trowbridge, who has headed the Clark County Personnel and Parks & Recreation Departments, has served on the commission since 2005.

Though the filing deadline for the City Council race hasn’t yet arrived, it appears likely that Trowbridge’s main competitor for the seat will be Stavros Anthony, a Metro Police captain and a member of the state university system’s Board of Regents.

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City and Clark County officials and advocates for the homeless are searching for at least 1,000 local volunteers for an unusual mission: Find and count the county’s homeless people.

The head count is critical to securing the funding necessary to feed and house the homeless. This will be the third effort to locate as many of them as possible.

Rural and outlying areas of the county will be covered on Jan. 28; urban areas will be combed the following day. Organizers say they need volunteers who have their own transportation and cell phones. To participate, you need to attend one of the training sessions being held this week.

For more information, call 455-5832, e-mail [email protected] or visit the Web site helphopehome.org.