Towing Cars

[the scar]

Theres an article in the Argus Courier dated Dec 7,2012 about towing abandon vehicles. Ive called the petaluma police non-emergency # to report vehicles left for months on Baywood Dr, sometimes they send out a public service person and they put a courtsey notice on the windshield. the vehicle moves a few feet and sits for another couple of months. Theres a suv with a trailer attached parked in front of my neighbors house on Cottonwood Ct its been there for 3 weeks going on 4 weeks. theres so many cars people are parking in the crosswalks kids going to school have to walk around the cars into the street. Wheres the Police ? Baywood DR between ST Francis and the Valero gas station is a nightmare, I know some people that live in the Baywood apts have 4 vehicles 3 of wich they dont use/ HELP !!!!!!!!!!

[da shaman]

Scar,
PPD has one fulltime Community Service Officer that, in addition to a whole bunch of duties, tries to find the time to mark some of the vehicles in question (either onview or reported). Unless it has been changed, the statute indicates that the vehicle has to be moved a minimum of a half a mile on the odometer. Some folks will take the car around the block a couple times and park it back in the same spot. Unfortunately, that is legal.

Suggest you contact one of the higher ups and make your complaint to them. Good luck. Nothing can ruin a neighborhood like a bunch of crappy cars taking up spaces.

[JEH]

You're right da shaman, but what about cars and boats and trailers parked on front yards and side yards? That is the BIGGEST NEIGHBORHOOD EYESORE !!!!

People! Clean out your garages and park your cars where they belong!

[da shaman]

JEH,
I think the city has a code enforcement officer. His name is Joe Garcia and he works out of the PPD bldg. Has done a helluva job getting eyesores taken care once he explains the fine schedule to those in violation.

[Chris Weber]

I have had some dealings with Joe Garcia. A few years ago, we were helping an elderly friend who lives in the old houses off of South McDowell by Safeway when the city decided they were going to clean things up.

I found Joe Garcia to be condescending, unreasonable and inflexible. We ended up going to his boss, and if you recall, that entire matter ended up in front of the city council and it's surprising that litigation did not result.

[da shaman]

I stand by my opinion of Garcia. I find him to be personable, very competent and knowledgeable. I have no knowledge of the contact you had with him so I cannot comment.

[mongoose]

While I do not disagree with da shaman often on this one we will have to agree to disagree. I have found Joe Garcia to be waste of a position. He spends more time figureing how to get out of doing his job instead of doing it. While we all know abandoned vehicles are an eyesore the police department does an excellent job in prioritizing their calls for service with then limited resources they have. In a perfect world they would be able to attend to these concerns in a timely manner but calls for the preservation of life and property have to take priority.