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Tickets won't take holiday, panel says BY JIM DAVIS Medford parking patrols will continue to hand out tickets on some holidays, although debate over the practice continues. The city's parking committee decided Thursday to keep its new policy of ticketing on Veterans Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Columbus Day. "Those are still considered retail days," said Phil Cam, who chairs the committee and who owns the downtown business Pacific Diamond Precious Metals Inc. The city sparked anger from veterans and a downtown property owner Nov. 10 when the patrols marked tires and ticketed on Veterans Day. Mike Miles, who owns property on East Main Street, said he thinks giving out tickets on holidays will incense customers and the community. "I believe we'll be the only city in Oregon that will enforce parking on Veterans Day," said Miles, who himself got two tickets on that holiday. A quick survey suggested that Miles may be correct. Generally, cities hand out parking tickets only on days that their city hall is open. In Portland, the parking patrol doesn't run on Veterans Day or Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but tickets are given out on Columbus Day. The same holds true for Eugene and Corvallis. In Salem, the downtown core has free parking for customers at all times, but employees' cars are tracked and ticketed if they don't park in designated lots. That policy is enforced every day but Christmas. In other parts of town, however, Salem doesn't hand out tickets on any of those three holidays. A little closer to home, Ashland doesn't hand out tickets on any holiday. In Medford, the problem came to a head on Veterans Day when veterans were holding a parade downtown. The patrols handed out only eight tickets in the morning and were told to hold off until the afternoon when veterans became upset. The entire day, the patrol handed out 23 tickets -- half a normal day. But Miles and several veterans complained about even seeing the patrol. On Thursday, the parking committee for the Medford Urban Renewal Agency reviewed the issue and decided to keep the policy, Cam said. The parking patrols are just trying to get customers in and out of downtown, he said. "There's a resource to use here and it just takes management," Cam said. "There's always going to be people with different viewpoints." Mike Webber, who is in charge of downtown parking for Urban Renewal, said there are few on-street spaces available. "No customer wants to get a ticket," Webber said. "But no customer wants to come down and not be able to find a parking spot." Webber said the city is going to look at possibly handing out tickets only for on-street parking and leaving parking lots alone on holidays. He said the city is also going to put up directional signs showing customers to the city's 38 parking lots in Medford. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA