Mayor Katz Says Village Employees

Not Exempt From Parking Regulations

COOPERSTOWN – A letter to the editor in allotsego.com’s sister newspapers this week, saying village employees are flouting parking regulations, brought a quick response from Mayor Jeff Katz.

“The village policy is that village employees are held to the law,” said Katz.  “If that’s not happening, then village government will look into it and address it.”

He added, “I’ve paid parking tickets.”

The letter, from resident Stephen Mahlum, who is often seen walking along village sidewalks as part of his exercise regimen, said he’s noticed a “de facto permit system” that exempts “village employees, certain elected officials and several other people” from paid-parking regulations everyone else must follow.

“The de facto permit system allows the permitted people to park their personal vehicles in two-hour parking and other restricted parking spaces for indefinite periods of eight hours or more without being ticketed,” said the letter, which was published in this week’s Freeman’s Journal and Hometown Oneonta newspapers.

Mayor Katz said he intend to bring up the question at Monday’s monthly Village Board meeeting, adding, “I’m certainly going to seek out an answer … There’s no sense the village thinks its people are any less required” to follow the law than anyone else.