TICKET FIX

Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. The IRE Journal, Sep/Oct 2005 by Lakamp, Patrick

"I was appalled," she wrote. "Perhaps the city could hire someone who can follow the same laws he is paid to enforce."

Parking Enforcement Director Leonard G. Sciolino said the News' findings will prompt him to "probably re-adjust some of my thinking."

Still, he defends the letter-writing appeal that accommodates government officials, business people, and lawyers, among others, who get ticketed in the course of doing their jobs.

He calls it "being user-friendly."

"This is my policy, and I will continue to do it that way, without being abusive," he said.

City Hall backed Sciolino, although the mayor said he told his brothers "to knock it off."

Above all, "The Ticket Fix" required patience. Sorting through data for almost 430,000 parking tickets and 24,000 hearings takes time.

Guided by Susan Schulman, who heads our investigative reporting team, deadlines were pushed back as the story took on a stronger edge and needed additional reporting. Stan Evans, the deputy managing editor in charge of the local news staff, agreed to the later deadline and edited the story.

One lesson - not a new one - is to review what others have already written. David Armstrong's account of his Boston Herald parking ticket stories in the January 1995 Uplink proved helpful, as did his stories. They provided ideas on what to look for in our investigation.

While we didn't have Armstrong's three-year challenge in getting a database, our struggle was for the names of ticketed motorists. The parking bureau initially said the license plates should suffice for identifying individuals getting tickets.

That was unsatisfactory, because we would not be able to tally the totals for those who drive more than one car.

Fortunately, Robert J. Freeman, the executive director of the New York State Committee on Open Government, maintains an archive of his advisory opinions. His office supplied us with his opinions in other cases in which newspapers sought names of those ticketed.

Armed with his opinions, we talked with the city corporation counsel about our request.

The preparation paid off. The database with owners' names soon followed, and it included the four tickets the corporation counsel got dismissed.

BY PATRICK LAKAMP

THE BUFFALO (N.Y.) NEWS

Patrick Lakamp is a member of the investigative reporting team at The Buffalo News.