Tom LaBonge Regrets Voting to Increase Parking Meter Hours

Now that parking meters are enforced beyond 6 p.m. with a two-hour limit in the NoHo Arts Distrct, the whole experience of going out to dinner and seeing a theatre show doesn't really work unless you want to keep moving your car to a new space. Tom LaBonge, who represents the area, spoke to FOX News last night. He voted to increase rates and hours and is now trying to find a solution after community unrest. When asked if he felt "dooped" by the Department of Transportation by submitting the out-of-touch proposal, instead of blaming them, he blamed himself for not thinking through the consequences. "I feel I should have done a better job."

The city council had tunnel vision last summer when they voted on the issue. It's a recession, after all, and well, the city coffers are in need of hundreds of millions of dollars. You can't call this unintended consequences, just the acceptance of poor planning. It's very much the opposite of what Gail Goldberg, the city's planning department director, has as a mantra--"demand real planning."