Commissioner Turner Says "We Don't Need No Stinkin' Parking Meters In Sarasota

A scant 40 years ago, the City of Sarasota determined that having parking meters downtown was a bad thing. Now, the present City Commission has apparently seen the error of that outmoded thinking and voted 4-1 to re-install parking meters on city streets, despite pleas from merchants, the Downtown Improvement District and reasonable people everywhere who have noticed that there is a recession going on.

Ignoring evidence that there is an average of 15% open spaces on city streets at any one time, the commissioners declared that the city cries out for parking meters, apparently to help organize the chaos that is sure to come this spring with the choking influx of Baltimore Oriole fans flocking to the Suncoast to follow their team during spring training. Either that, or one of the commissioners couldn't find a parking space in front of their favorite downtown watering hole one afternoon.

The only commissioner voting against the meters was Terry Turner. "Why, there's plenty of parking spaces out there. In fact, I found an empty one right out in front of city hall today right before the meeting."

Commissioner Turner demonstrates the fine art of finding an open parking space in downtown Sarasota, prior to the vote on the installation of parking meters.