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City to Study Privatizing Parking Meters. Price = $500,000
At yesterday's city council meeting, a nearly unanimous vote prompted a half million dollar study on whether the city should sell its parking meters and six city parking garages to help fill massive budget gaps. The one councilman who stood up for common sense was the Northwest Valley's Greig Smith. "We're selling property at the bottom of the market. What a stupid idea," he said. "If we were stockbrokers, we'd be in jail with Bernie Madoff for this kind of scheme. This is foolhardy economics." Will JP Morgan Chase own Los Angeles' meters someday soon? The parking lots in question include Hollywood & Highland complex, Pershing Square and the Cinerama Dome.
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