nothin Altoids In Hand, Ray Spreads The Meter News | New Haven Independent

Altoids In Hand, Ray Spreads The Meter News

As Ray Willis started taking plate numbers outside Orange Street’s Style 2000 beauty salon, a small stampede of drivers rushed to the sidewalk. Even though 7 p.m. had passed.

Willis has the popular job of handing out parking tickets. He usually leaves the beat by 7 p.m.

But new rules hit downtown meters this week: You have to feed the meter until 9 now.

So Willis greeted sundown in uniform Wednesday, the second night the city has enforced its new and controversial parking regulations.

Under the new rules, drivers have to pay until 9 p.m. to park at one of the downtown meters, but can stay for as long as they want after 5 p.m. The parking plan, meant to raise extra money for the cash-strapped city government and free up spaces for visiting customers (as opposed to employees) outside businesses, stirred controversy among business owners, employees, and customers — and resulted in a compromise. (The original plan would have charged until midnight.) Under the plan, drivers can park at meters all four hours, rather than just one or two hours, between 5 and 9 p.m. The signs don’t say that yet, but they will soon.

One of the warning notices.

Luckily for the salon stampede, Willis wasn’t handing out tickets in the new late-hour period Wednesday. He and a newly beefed-up retinue of meter-checkers handed out warning notices (pictured) and patiently explained the new policies to people. Officials aren’t saying how long this warning period will last.

With the new parking policies came a promotion for 29-year-old Willis, who has worked at the traffic department for two years. He is now field supervisor for the evening shift, a position created specifically to manage the three new officers hired by the city to enforce the later paid parking hours.

Willis reported that neither he nor any of the officers he supervises have encountered any problems enforcing the new rules so far. His approach to the job helps. Easy as it is to get mad at a parking ticket, it’s hard to get mad at Willis. The lifelong New Havener goes to great lengths to make his job — which city transportation czar Jim Travers called the most hated in the city” — a little more lovable.

Care for an mint?” he asked, pulling a case of Altoids from his pocket as he walked down Chapel street checking meters. I always try to carry mints or chewing gum with me. Most of our job implies talking to people at a close range, and we’re giving them bad news. Having bad breath would be adding insult to injury.”

Although Willis issued several warning notices through the shift, most of his interactions with drivers came in the form of verbal notifications. (Click on the play arrow at the top of the story to watch some of them.)

Get out!” remarked one of the women rushing out from Style 2000 when Willis told her about the new regulations. Oh my God! They need money, don’t they? I can understand, it’s kind of rough right now.”

Did he give me a ticket?” asked another.

Nope,” replied Willi., I haven’t given anyone on this block a ticket yet.”

One motorist during Wednesday evening’s rounds asked Willis if it would be all right to finish his cigarette before running to refill his meter.

We aren’t handing tickets tonight,” said Willis. Just warning notices.”

So, that means tonight I’ll get a warning,” replied the smoker, but another night it might be a ticket?”

Tonight’s the warning night,” said Willis. We are just trying to get the word out that people do have to pay until nine.”

What Better Job?”

Nicolás Medina Mora Pérez Photo

Willis said that he loves New Haven, and that he feels his work make the city a better place. He’s familiar with people who run the restaurants and bars on his beat; he said he hopes that the enforcement of the new rules will help them in the long run.

If the waiters and waitresses park a little further down to save money and free up the parking spots right in front of all these businesses,” he said, then more people will come here. It will be a lot more convenient for our visitors.”

What better job could there be?” Willis reflected as the sun set and he headed back to the city transportation office at 200 Orange. You get paid to walk around a beautiful city at a leisurely pace and enjoy wonderful summer days like this.”

What about the winter?

I try not to think about the winter,” he replied, laughing.

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