Riley Schubert; a part-time employee at Taco Lucha and Fat's Bar & Grill was forced to adjust her schedule due to Aggieville construction and the new parking regulations.
Riley started working at Taco Lucha two years ago, and with all the changes to Aggieville that she has seen; she says that the new parking laws that are making employees pay $25 a month for a parking pass is wrong.
"I think it's pretty messed up that just because I work in the Ville I have to pay for that. Employees should be exempt from that rule because there is limited parking. It would definitely affect me with my shifts, and the income I make would have to be put back into the parking costs that I have to get to my job for."
THE CITY & AGGIEVILLE BUSINESS ASSOCIATION
EMPLOYEES FEELING "LEFT OUT OF THE LOOP"
As employees have adjusted to the changes in Aggieville; they increasingly have felt like they've been left out of the loop. It has put them in a position to believe that the only reason why the city would charge them for parking is because they only care about making money. Averie Thurston an employee of The Dusty Bookshelf had this to say about the parking garage pass.
THE PETITION
Employees like Averie shared how they signed the "Free Parking for Aggieville Employees" petition.
"As a college town, a lot of workers are college students having to pay for tuition, rent, etc. Many cannot afford to pay these monthly fees. This is both unreasonable and unfair, causing numerous complaints from employees already. In order to make this situation better, we ask for your support in asking the city of Manhattan to grant free parking for employees getting to their workplaces." (Quote from petition)
6,000+ SIGNATURES
THE CITY COMMISSION MEETING
Dozens of supporters for changing the cost of the parking passes showed up for the public comments section of the city commission meeting.
The first hour of the meeting was filled with comments made by dozens of residents, employees and former employees speaking up about the impact that the cost of the parking pass would have on them and the rest of the business district.
"The parking system that we have in place; that is how we pay for our parking; that's what they have in Washington D.C., that is the capital of the United States. This is not the capital of the United States. We need to scale it back and do something smarter for the economy"
Kara Authic
Final speaker during public comments
Want to hear more?
Beginning at 12 minutes and finishing at 59 minutes; listen to Manhattan residents share their stories about the impact the new parking laws are having on them.
THE RESPONSE BY CITY COMMISSIONERS
"I think we're gonna have to do something and chat about this some more. Six months of free parking for Aggieville employees or something. We've already got all of the equipment and people hired to enforce parking so we can't stop everything. But there ought to be some way to provide some relief; for some period of time; at least till we get North Manhattan open or something. We can't do anything tonight because it's not on the agenda and people haven't been noticed. So, we will see about talking shortly and if the majority of commissioners want to put it on an agenda we can do so."
Mark Hatesohl
Mayor of Manhattan