City of New Bedford Has No Choice But to Tow Cars [OPINION]

The first snowstorm of the winter season has come and gone and a lot of cars are now gone, too. The city has to tow cars that violate snowstorm parking rules.

When David Koresh lived in New Bedford, he understood the reason the city had parking rules for snowstorms and he complied with the reasonable rules. He went out of his way to help out the city and his neighbors by making a church parking lot available for overnight parking during storms. This is the same David Koresh who later fought the federal government to his death at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

The city must be able to clear the streets during and after a snowstorm. It is impossible to remove the snow adequately if people don't move their cars off the street during the relatively brief period of time the city employees need to do the job. This isn't hard to understand.

If people don't move their cars, the city is forced to do the job the individual car owner hasn't done. That costs money. Who should pay the costs for the job of removing cars so the snow can be removed? Should the taxpayers shoulder the additional costs or should the car owner?

The answer is obvious: the car owner should shoulder the burden. Either the car owner takes some extra time and aggravation and moves the car to one of the lots made available by the city, or they can pay the city and the tow truck company for doing the job for them.

Otherwise, the city taxpayers will be forced to pay for a valet service for the lazy and inconsiderate car owners. Should Mayor Jon Mitchell, the city council, police officers, and firefighters be out there shuttling cars around the city? Of course not.

The next time it snows, ask yourself if you are being as reasonable and courteous of your New Bedford neighbors, as the now-deceased cult leader David Koresh once was during snowstorms.

Chris McCarthy is the host of The Chris McCarthy Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact him at chris.mccarthy@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @Chris_topher_Mc. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.