The Positive Side of Paid Parking Patrol
“A real patriot is the person who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works.” —Bill Vaughan
Nobody loves feeding parking meters, but the metered parking spaces in Lambertville’s Central Business District generate a significant amount of municipal income. At the July 17th City Council Meeting, Mayor Nowick reported that parking revenue from the prior month alone was around $50,000.
Metered parking helps prevent visitors from occupying prime parking spaces for an entire day or more, and that’s where Jack Angeloni comes in. Over the past two years, Jack has worked as a Parking Patrol Officer for Lambertville.
“Let’s say a visitor comes and pays for four hours, has dinner, walks around, and goes shopping, and then gets back in their car and leaves” Jack explained, “that opens up a spot for somebody else, and then they'll come in and pay. It's basically a rotation system. My main job is to be out there monitoring. If people don’t comply with paying for the meters, sadly I have to issue them a citation.”
Jack is exuberant about his work, but not because he enjoys giving out tickets. He’s the first person in his family to work in law enforcement, and he’s on a career path that he’s been interested in since he was in grade school.
As a resident of Frenchtown, Jack had a lot of learning to do in Lambertville since parking patrol officers often work alone, and they cover a lot of ground.
“When I started here I was super nervous. I didn’t really know anything. I came in, slowly adjusted, and made positive as much as I could about everything. There's nobody else around. It's just you and whatever happens,” he said.
It took about a year for him to feel completely comfortable in his role, because he was being presented with new people, information, locations, and situations.
Now that he’s settled in, the job is basically how Jack originally imagined—he monitors metered parking spots. That comfort has Jack looking to the future, and wanting to become a full-time patrol officer, ideally here in Lambertville.
“I enjoy this place a lot. I enjoy the people. The whole town is relatively safe. Just being out and showing people, ‘Hey we're not all bad.’ That’s what I care about,” he mused. “We’re here. We’re friendly. That’s my goal.”
Jack treats everyone with respect, and with equal deference to the law.
“It doesn’t matter who you are and where you come from. If you don’t pay the meter you’re going to get a ticket,” he stated.
When asked what the job has taught him personally, Jack responded quickly.
“Try to be as positive as you can about everything. Some days are good, some days are bad—with anything, not just with law enforcement. School. Work. Anything along those lines. Just keep your head up. Be positive. Stay positive.
“Always think about what’s ahead of you. It may be bad now, but you can always get past it. There’s always a way around things. As long as you remain positive it changes your entire perspective. Like, I mean, you could see somebody having a bad day and try and comfort them. That’s what our job is. So, just be positive. That’s what I get out of this.”
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