PPA Hatchet’s Out For Knife Sharpener
BY NICHOLAS DePACE, JR./
Philadelphia’s most wanted man, in the eyes of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, is Robert Faraco. He grinds knives for a living and the PPA is now “sharpening its hatchet” to get him.
Faraco, who runs Faraco Grinding Services in Pennsburg, Pa., owes the City a total of $40,580 in the form of 430 unpaid parking tickets. He is the #1 parking-ticket scofflaw, according to PPA’s records. Faraco has accumulated these violations using 73 tags on 70 different vehicles.
PPA Executive Director Vince Fenerty says Faraco is running a fleet of vehicles that are unmarked, so there is virtually no way of identifying them as being a part of his knife-grinding service, nor is there any way of telling that they are delivering something. He is getting his tickets primarily in Center City.
PPA has hired the law firm of Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson to initiate court action on its behalf against all 25 individuals and businesses on the list. PPA assures many more lawsuits are planned for the future.
The money collected from these lawsuits will go to the City’s General Fund and towards its schools for improving education.
In this fiscal year alone, the newly-implemented “Registration Suspend” program has brought in $1.760 million (and it’s currently only nine months through the fiscal year). This program kicks in when one gets six parking violations on the one license plate.
Furthermore, PPA has created what it calls a “heavy-hitter list” to better target individuals and businesses who are the biggest parking offenders. Booting crews boot between 80-105 vehicles a day at random so that everyone has a fair chance at getting caught. Fenerty says, “We are stepping up our efforts on people who are ‘heavy hitters’.”
Fenerty and the rest of PPA want to stress that their citations and fines are meant to “act as a deterrent to foster compliance with parking regulations”. On average, over 77% of all fines are paid. Fenerty emphasizes, “These are good citizens who should be applauded.”
It is because of the major scofflaws – the remaining 23% – that PPA feels the need to increase its efforts and why the Parking Authority is compelled to take such drastic legal action.
“We hope it will make people more honest,” adds Fenerty, “that it will encourage people to come forward and pay their fines.” Most importantly, this firmer stance by the PPA will teach offenders to respect our City’s parking laws as a way to protect the safety of its citizens.
Faraco, whom 6ABC’s Brian Taff characterized in a report last week as showing no remorse of shame for continually violating the City’s parking laws and running up the exorbitant number in unpaid fines, claims the PPA is not showing him the same courtesy it normally would towards other companies which regularly make deliveries.
In response to being singled out, Faraco says his company, which has been a staple in the City of Philadelphia for 90 years, is relatively small and can’t afford to have more than one person in a vehicle at a time. They make, on average, 50 deliveries a day, each delivery lasting, at most, only a couple of minutes. Sometimes, the deliveryman even sees a PPA official approaching before leaving his truck and politely lets that officer know he’s just making a delivery and won’t be there long. Despite this, a ticket is issued nevertheless.
Faraco has already paid a number of tickets and has been booted several times. He emphasizes every ticket he has ever gotten is from a delivery. Faraco has gone into PPA headquarters and spoken to a judiciary board, but he says the woman with whom he spoke never got back to him thereafter.
In total, the City’s top 25 parking-ticket scofflaws owe a combined total of $308,193.70 for 3,490 unpaid parking tickets. Like Faraco, many of the offenders have multiple vehicles, and most are individuals. All relevant data have been collected within the last six years.
Sergio M. Claudio is #2 on the list, owing $21,444. With a number of 299 tickets left unpaid, he is one of the few individuals on the list who has done so using only one vehicle.
Philadelphians on the list include (in order of amount owed): Sergio M. Claudio; Sharwin L. Coates; Alberto Galue; New Century Travel, Inc.; Sharonda Everett; Anthony G. Dowd; William Nafis; James P. Fiscaro; Faith Brown; Kenneth Brockington; Lafayette Outen; Christopher Harden; Frederick Tarsatana; Abraham Vaughn; Joseph Doe; Arnetta Johnson; Joanna Pakuris; Colmon Holmes; Shirley T. Bryant; Kesha Blue; Avery Copeland; and James Brunson, Jr.
Also named on the list are three individuals and businesses not from Philadelphia, including: Faraco Grinding Services, Pennsburg, Pa.; Donagnew Builders, Drexel Hill, Pa.; and Tom & Susan McShane, Maple Shade, N.J.
“These are people who accumulate tickets, congest our streets, park illegally and don’t respond,” according to Fenerty. “Not only do these scofflaws refuse to pay their tickets, they violate our parking laws and create dangerous life-threatening situations by parking illegally in front of fire hydrants. They block curb access for the handicapped – and in many cases – park illegally in spaces reserved for the handicapped – as well as double parking and parking in no-stopping areas that causes congestion in our streets.”
The city/PPA is pathetic. They really think they are owed money for not providing a service. They are the lowest form of scum and trash. I have no respect for anyone who wears that ridiculous uniform and sorry badge. The whole parking idea is a scam to make money. It’s not based on helping the citizens of Philadelphia, only helping generate money. The most pitiful and desperate thing is when I see one of these people with the PPA uniform gives a citizen a ticket when there are numerous empty parking spots around the car that’s “in violation”. I could not in good concious do that. Just like I could not give someone a ticket at 9:52pm when there is free parking in 8 minutes at 10:00pm. How is that helping our citizens? How is that justifiable? How is that fair? How?