ANOTHER OPINION: P.P.A. Workers Have One Tough Job

BY FRANCIS HALBHERR, President, AFSCME Local 1637/ Recent columns, articles and editorials criticizing parking-enforcement officers employed by the Philadelphia Parking Authority unfairly mischaracterize these individuals and distort the work they do and the manner in which the vast majority of these hardworking men and women perform their duties.

There are several hundred parking-enforcement officers who issue thousands of parking violation citations a year. With all of this activity, there are a handful of complaints about the manner in which these men and women conduct their activities. There has been absolutely no mention in the media of the abuse to which a number of the parking-enforcement officers have been subjected. Over the past month, I have personally witnessed two instances in which two ticket-writers were horribly harassed.

A parking-enforcement officer by the name of Joe wrote a ticket for an illegally parked vehicle in the Downtown area. A woman who appeared to be in the nursing profession abused Joe verbally with venom I can’t quite describe. She stated to the PEO she hoped he would have a heart attack and she would walk away from him. Joe explained it’s no big deal and its part of the job.

On another occasion, a female ticket-writer named Danielle stopped to talk to me when two civilians, who were not acting like gentlemen, stood behind her and made sexually inappropriate comments while staring like kids in a candy store. I personally felt if there is a justified time for a physical altercation, this was it, but as Joe before her, Danielle didn’t flinch and explained this happens all day, every day and its part of the job.

I find it disturbing that a woman, who is someone’s daughter, sister and wife, takes this abuse on a daily basis and then gets vilified in the press afterward, adding insult to injury.

I can personally state that 99% of PEOs, along with our other members who are employed by the PPA, are good, decent people who do their job to the best of their ability and at the end of the day go back home and take care of their families. And like any other person who is responsible for caring for a family, they will put up with whatever abuse they have to in order to feed and clothe their children and keep a roof over their heads.

While we welcome any training parking-enforcement officers may receive, I feel this group of workers have been mischaracterized in the press in a manner which is misguided, unprofessional and suggests that it is acceptable to verbally and in some cases, physically abuse this specific group of hard-working, decent people. To the nay-sayers, I suggest that you walk a beat with a Parking Enforcement Officer and your attitude will surely change.

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