The fearless mayor of Toledo, Ohio, the honorable Carleton S. Finkbeiner, got caught by the cameras of WTVG 13abc (watch video here) on Friday evening.  The 11:00 newscast featured a story about the mayor parking in a handicapped parking spot… illegally…and getting a ticket for doing so.

This happened outside an office building on the north side of Central Avenue, in the Westgate area of Toledo, near the Sears store.  Apparently he had an appointment in the office building and made the decision to park illegally before heading inside.  The television station’s cameras first shot video of the mayor’s car parked in the handicapped space with the ticket on the windshield and then proceeded to wait for the mayor to come out of the building so they could get his explanation. 

Oh, wait, I forgot something.

 The mayor left his dog in the car as well.  Yup, he left man’s best friend sitting in a hot car.  Oh, but don’t worry, the rear windows of the mayoral SUV were rolled down.  The dog, I believe a yellow lab, sat in the GMC for at least 45 minutes till Carty came out of the office building and watched as his owner was confronted by the reporter.

When asked the obvious why did you do it question the mayor replied with 2 answers.  The handicapped spots were the only parking spaces near the office building that weren’t in direct sunlight so that his dog, Scout I believe his name is, would be able to stay as cool as possible.  The other reason was that he has a partially torn achilles tendon and the parking space was closer to the office.  In the news story he said this last reason in a way that we, the viewers, were supposed to swallow the idea that he was “sort of, partially handicapped” and that it was ok that he park there.

OK…..time to be completely fair to the mayor.  In the report he did state, and the camera showed, that there were 4 other handicapped spaces currently empty at that office building.  He also stated, and the camera again verified, that there were lots of empty regular spaces in the lot and that they were indeed in the sun.

 But does that make it ok?  Hmm? Does it?

The story on the news then went on to talk about how several months ago the mayor’s chief of staff, Bob Reinbolt, parked illegally and received a ticket.  At that time Carty was asked for an on camera response and he spouted off something along the lines of how his staff needed to follow the law to the letter and not expect any kind of special treatment.  Yup, I guess that’s why the Toledo Police Department left that special little note on the mayor’s windshield.  

He was asked by the reporter why he had left the dog in the car and had not either taken the dog home before his appointment or left the dog at the office.  Yeah, he takes the dog to work sometimes.  He explained that he didn’t have enough time to drop the dog off anywhere before he was due at his appointment.  Perhaps he thinks it’s inhumane to leave the dog at home alone.  So the dog was supposedly happier in the car than at home or the office?  I couldn’t find an exact temperature for that particular parking lot but the National Weather Service states that the highest temperature Friday was 93° at 4:07pm and the lowest was 71° at 11:59pm.  So let’s be generous and say that in the early evening hours in Toledo it was about 85° or so.  That’s pretty warm for a dog to have to sit in a car wearing a fur coat, even if the windows were down and the vehicle was parked in the shade.

Now let’s look at what the mayor could have done instead of facing a TV camera due bad parking judgement on his part.

I guess the thing that jumps right out at me immediately is that if indeed the mayor does have a medical condition that makes it hard for him to walk and he attends a therapy session to get relief for this condition then why doesn’t he simply ask his doctor to write a prescription for a temporary handicapped parking permit?  If he doesn’t have time in his day, then certainly there’s a lackey around One Government Center that could be dispatched for this important duty.  The Ohio BMV form seems pretty easy to fill out.  It’s the Ohio Revised Code, Section 4503.44 Application for Disability Placards.  A temporary placard costs $3.50.  Apparently all that’s needed is for the applicant to fill out some basic information and then attach a prescription from a doctor or chiropractor along with payment.  There are 7 conditions listed and you must have one of them for the state to issue you a placard.  The one that seems to me to describe the mayor’s condition would be:

6. Is severly limited in the ability to walk due to an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition. 

A partially torn achilles tendon would fit into that category wouldn’t it?

On the same form at the bottom of the page is some information about what the ramifications are for illegally parking in a handicapped space. 

According to Ohio Revised Code, Section 4511.69

Any person parking, stopping or standing a motor vehicle in a special parking space designated properly for persons with disabilities without being operated by or transporting such a person and displaying a disability placard or special license plates is guilty of a misdemeanor.  The fine is at least $250.00 but not more than $500.00, is not punishable with imprisonment, and is not a criminal offense.

Wow!  $3.50 vs. $250.00

And the dog,  I feel bad for the dog.  I don’t think Carty will be accepting any awards from the Humane Society this year.  The mayor has a wife, why couldn’t Amy meet hism somewhere between downtown and Westgate to pick up the dog?  The mayor has plenty of staffers, why couldn’t he ask one of them kindly to help him out?  (heehee, I typed the words mayor and kindly in the same sentence, heehee)  The mayor certainly has a couple friends at least, why not give them a call?

Things that make ya go hmmmm…..

Mr. Mayor certainly didn’t look happy to be caught on camera but he tried his darndest to look professional and innocent about the whole thing.  But in this viewers eyes he failed miserably.  I’ve seen enough of Carty on television to know that he was fuming mad.  This wasn’t the calm Carty on display.

He tried to cheat the system and got caught NOT following the letter of the law.

UPDATE 7/5/2007

I added a link to the video on 13abc.com near the top of my post.  I also found a small article on toledoblade.com about this incident.  The Blade article states:

The fine for parking in a handicapped space is $100, according to the Downtown Toledo Parking Authority.

Does city law ($100 fine) supercede state law ($250 fine) in these instances ?

ALSO 7/6/2007

If you’d like to learn more about Scout’s role at One Government Center you can read this article in theToledo Free Press from January, 2007.

UPDATE 7/6/2007

Maggie Thurber was able to provide some clarity on the fine.  In the comment section for this entry she writes:

…it depends upon how he was cited. If he was cited under state law, then the state fine amount applies. If he was cited under the city code, then the city fine applies.

Thanks Maggie

I also wrote a second blog entry about Carty and Scout concerning a similar instance that occured Monday.

FINAL UPDATE 9/4/2007

It appears that the story ends here.  The Toledo Area Humane Society has closed it’s investigation of the two incidents in which Carty left Scout in the car.  In this article, the Toledo Free Press reports there simply wasn’t enough evidence to bring charges against the mayor.  Since agents were not at the scene, the matter has to be dropped.  The mayor has, however, agreed to be in a public service announcement that will warn pet owners about the danger of heat stroke in dogs left in hot cars.  I guess that’s something at least.