11-17-2007, 08:26 AM
In the past four months alone, Miami has received more than 740 violation notices for employees driving city-owned vehicles.
Who says government bureaucrats can't move quickly?
Some city of Miami employees, in city vehicles, have been zooming through highway toll plazas by choosing the automated SunPass lane -- without paying.
City Hall has received more than 740 toll violation notices in the past four months. That figure includes both warnings and actual tickets -- and because multiple notices may be sent for the same violation if the citation remains unpaid, the total number of violations may be somewhat smaller.
Still, the toll-running is clearly enough of a problem that Miami's personnel director this month warned all employees via e-mail that the practice needs to stop.
The Nov. 9 e-mail from Employee Relations Director Rosalie Mark states that ``the City of Miami continues to be inundated with SunPass violation warnings and citations. . . . Disregard for the law as well as for city policies will result in disciplinary action.''
Employees are eligible for reimbursement of tolls paid while on city business, but employees will be held responsible for any fines incurred from toll-running. Fines start at $25 and increase if not promptly paid.
SECOND WARNING
Mark's missive echoes a similar warning that went out earlier this year.
''We have to just get on people to take care of this,'' Mark told The Miami Herald. ``We're asking our people to be considerate, and pay your toll.''
Mark said two factors may be contributing to Miami's scofflaw ways. First, some employees may actually have a SunPass -- but haven't linked it to their city license plate.
That can be a problem if the SunPass doesn't work because of drained batteries or some other hiccup. The SunPass gate automatically photographs the license plates of vehicles that don't register tolls as they pass through. If the plate that's photographed has a SunPass registered to it, toll administrators will charge that SunPass account after the fact.
But if there is no SunPass on file for that plate, a violation notice goes out.
The second factor: City employees may mistakenly believe that all government vehicles are exempt from tolls. In reality, only police and fire department vehicles on official business are.
`STUPID ENOUGH'
Charlie Cox, head of the city's general employees union, is usually a staunch defender of his membership. Not on this issue.
''If you're stupid enough to go through the SunPass lane and you don't have a SunPass, or you don't have money on it, and you're driving a city vehicle, then I guess you're going to have to pay the fine,'' Cox said.
Miami-Dade County and Broward County governments have little trouble using SunPass correctly. Within the past year or so, Miami-Dade County vehicles have received ''less than five,'' violation notices, according to county spokeswoman Suzy Trutie.
Broward County -- which has fewer toll roads than Miami-Dade -- hasn't received a single violation, according to Greg Sitnek, Director of the Fleet Services Division for Broward County Government.
Miami City Manager Pete Hernandez said he will look into automatically installing and registering SunPasses on city vehicles that have a reason to drive on the highway -- ``to avoid this confusion.''
And city employees who continue to take the fast lane without paying will not only have fines to worry about, but also formal reprimands.
''It's up to us to really manage ourselves accordingly,'' Hernandez said.
Who says government bureaucrats can't move quickly?
Some city of Miami employees, in city vehicles, have been zooming through highway toll plazas by choosing the automated SunPass lane -- without paying.
City Hall has received more than 740 toll violation notices in the past four months. That figure includes both warnings and actual tickets -- and because multiple notices may be sent for the same violation if the citation remains unpaid, the total number of violations may be somewhat smaller.
Still, the toll-running is clearly enough of a problem that Miami's personnel director this month warned all employees via e-mail that the practice needs to stop.
The Nov. 9 e-mail from Employee Relations Director Rosalie Mark states that ``the City of Miami continues to be inundated with SunPass violation warnings and citations. . . . Disregard for the law as well as for city policies will result in disciplinary action.''
Employees are eligible for reimbursement of tolls paid while on city business, but employees will be held responsible for any fines incurred from toll-running. Fines start at $25 and increase if not promptly paid.
SECOND WARNING
Mark's missive echoes a similar warning that went out earlier this year.
''We have to just get on people to take care of this,'' Mark told The Miami Herald. ``We're asking our people to be considerate, and pay your toll.''
Mark said two factors may be contributing to Miami's scofflaw ways. First, some employees may actually have a SunPass -- but haven't linked it to their city license plate.
That can be a problem if the SunPass doesn't work because of drained batteries or some other hiccup. The SunPass gate automatically photographs the license plates of vehicles that don't register tolls as they pass through. If the plate that's photographed has a SunPass registered to it, toll administrators will charge that SunPass account after the fact.
But if there is no SunPass on file for that plate, a violation notice goes out.
The second factor: City employees may mistakenly believe that all government vehicles are exempt from tolls. In reality, only police and fire department vehicles on official business are.
`STUPID ENOUGH'
Charlie Cox, head of the city's general employees union, is usually a staunch defender of his membership. Not on this issue.
''If you're stupid enough to go through the SunPass lane and you don't have a SunPass, or you don't have money on it, and you're driving a city vehicle, then I guess you're going to have to pay the fine,'' Cox said.
Miami-Dade County and Broward County governments have little trouble using SunPass correctly. Within the past year or so, Miami-Dade County vehicles have received ''less than five,'' violation notices, according to county spokeswoman Suzy Trutie.
Broward County -- which has fewer toll roads than Miami-Dade -- hasn't received a single violation, according to Greg Sitnek, Director of the Fleet Services Division for Broward County Government.
Miami City Manager Pete Hernandez said he will look into automatically installing and registering SunPasses on city vehicles that have a reason to drive on the highway -- ``to avoid this confusion.''
And city employees who continue to take the fast lane without paying will not only have fines to worry about, but also formal reprimands.
''It's up to us to really manage ourselves accordingly,'' Hernandez said.