Santa Rosa council wants maximum fines for handicap placard fraud

<p>A proposed $750 fine for people who abuse disabled parking privileges isn't punishment enough for the Santa Rosa City Council.</p><p>The council requested a steeper fine for those caught using forged, altered or expired disabled parking placards.</p><p>“This is about fraudulent use of a privilege,” Mayor Ernesto Olivares said. “It's inexcusable.”</p><p>“I have no sympathy for anybody who abuses this law,” said Councilman Jake Ours.</p><p>A 2009 state law allows cities to levy parking fines of up to $1,000 for misuse of placards, which allow people to park in marked handicapped spaces or metered public parking spaces for free.</p><p>There were 32,000 people in Sonoma County last year with such placards, a 165 percent increase since 1994.</p><p>Olivares wanted to know why the city should give offenders a “break” by not charging the maximum allowable under the law. </p><p>City parking supervisor Toni Guanella said the city came up with the $750 figure after looking at other communities. San Francisco's fine is $935.</p><p>Olivares said he wanted to see a fine similar to those of surrounding communities.</p><p>“I think we need to set the bar. This isn't something that should be taken lightly,” he said.</p><p>Because it was a public hearing, the council couldn't set a higher amount at Tuesday's meeting, and instead asked Guanella redraft the proposal with a steeper fine to be considered at a later meeting.</p>