Published: July 10, 2009 12:16 am      

CITY OF LOCKPORT: Parking amnesty drew 1,400 cans and boxes of food, $4,000 in fines

Parking tickets can be a pain. But apparently they can help, sometimes.

Over the past month, people in Lockport with parking tickets had the opportunity to pay off some of their fines by donating non-perishable food items. The “ticket amnesty program” as it is called, would then offer help to everyone. Tickets would be taken care of, the donated food would be given to local food pantries and the city would see some revenue from fines that weren’t covered by the food donations.

Mayor Michael Tucker said the program was the brainchild of Amy Wiltse, Lockport Police Department parking coordinator. More than 700 cans and boxes of food were brought in and then matched by the police department for a total more than 1,400.

“It’s a win-win,” Tucker said. “It comes with great benefit for everyone.”

Police Chief Larry Eggert said Wiltse approached him with the idea for the amnesty program. He thought it was a unique idea and, despite his initial skepticism, Eggert said the program worked out well. The program also produced $4,000 in revenue for the city in fines that were paid.

“It was nice to see people coming in with bags sagging full of food,” Eggert said. “It was a nice way for people to catch up who otherwise may not be able to afford to.”

Wiltse said she had two boxes full of unpaid parking tickets before the program started. Now she is down to one, because the program cleared up 200 tickets, about half of the total, Wiltse estimated.

“One woman had 18 tickets paid off,” Wiltse said.

The idea came to Wiltse when she saw a similar program in the news. She also noticed that a lot of people were having problems paying off delinquent tickets. Wiltse said the program’s success would not have been possible without the support of the police, city and residents.

“I thought we could do it in Lockport,” Wiltse said. “And without their support, it would not have been successful.”

Parking tickets usually start around $25 and can go as high as $50 with additional charges as time goes on. When a ticket remains unpaid and reaches $75, a warrant goes out, which doesn’t include possible bail money.

Lockport Salvation Army Director Maj. John Wheeler was present Thursday at City Hall to help receive the donations. Also receiving donations are St. John’s Outreach, St. Vincent De Paul and the Niagara Community Action Program.

“It’s a wonderful idea,” Wheeler said. “It’s good for the city, people and the organizations.”

Jim Haid of St. John’s said food pantries all over are facing the same problem — an increase in patrons.

“We’re seeing numbers rise. Some of our donors have become recipients,” Haid said. “So anything the community does is incredible.”

Wiltse said the program was a one-time occurrence. And like most things, there are people who had their reservations about it; after all — to participate, they would have had to get a parking ticket.

“You’ll always have your critics, but the people you helped will hopefully override that,” Wiltse said.

Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.