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Photo by Jim Craven Veterans Don Elliott, left, and Mike Footh talk about holiday parking patrols at the Medford VFW post Thursday. The Medford Urban Renewal Agency added patrols on three holidays each year, including Veterans Day. Holiday parking tickets sneak up on parade crowd By JIM DAVIS The Grinch came early this year, and he was riding a Medford parking patrol scooter. A new policy to issue parking tickets on some holidays -- including Veterans Day -- angered some veterans and the owner of a downtown Medford building. Mike Footh, a Vietnam veteran who was at a Wednesday breakfast at the Medford VFW Post, said the patrol put a damper on their parade. "There was a general consensus running through the parade, `What are they marking tires for?"' Footh said. "People were saying, `Isn't this a national holiday?"' Don Burt, director of the Medford Urban Renewal Agency, which oversees the parking patrol, said the parking monitors stopped after seeing crowds gather for the parade this year. "We told them to back off and after lunch resume business as normal," Burt said. The new policy will be reviewed by Urban Renewal's parking committee, Burt said. The policy started on Columbus Day this year and includes that holiday as well as Veterans Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Downtown merchants asked for the patrols to keep parking spaces open for customers, Burt said. Because of the new policy, the city has been replacing the parking signs that indicate unlimited parking on holidays. Burt said there are only a few such signs left, and parking monitors don't ticket cars parked in those spots on holidays. Mike Miles, who owns a building on East Main Street, disagrees with the new policy. "It should be a laid-back situation," Miles said. "People expect not to be given parking tickets on holidays." Miles, who was ticketed twice on Veterans Day, said the policy would offend some customers and possibly cause them to shop elsewhere for life. Footh and Don Elliott, a World War II veteran, said more than 100 people showed up at the VFW post from several surrounding communities. Elliott said people were turned off by the parking patrol. "We had a heck of a turnout," Elliott said. "It was shock to see they were ticketing." Burt, however, said there were only a few complaints about the ticketing. He said more people were upset with the city's decision to stay open on Veterans Day and close on the day after Thanksgiving. Burt said only 23 tickets were given out on Veterans Day -- about half the number issued on a normal day -- and only eight of those were handed out during the parade. "I don't think you can say we took a that's-too-bad attitude," Burt said. "We backed off real quick." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA