Mayor’s SUV gets booted for parking on sidewalk
Spokeswoman: Mayor didn’t drive or park the car, will make sure it doesn’t happen again
- TheWacoKid13/Reddit
Private ticketing and booting companies are the bane of most Atlantans’ existence. It’s why Mayor Kasim Reed has pledged to get rid of PARKAtlanta once the city’s contract expires in 2016. But even that won’t fully stop the problem.
The mayor experienced that first hand this week during his lunch hour. Reed spokeswoman Anne Torres confirms that a private company booted a SUV used by Reed’s security detail to drive him to his various appointments. But the mayor himself didn’t drive or park the vehicle, she says.
“He was unaware his officer parked it on the sidewalk,” Torres tells CL. “He is going to make sure that it never happens again.”
Whether or not the mayor’s GMC Yukon XL Denali was booted this week has been the subject of debate for the past 24 hours among Redditors. One user, TheWacoKid13, posted a photo of the black SUV, which was parked on the sidewalk outside Chinese Buddha located off 10th Street in Midtown. After going into the restaurant for lunch, where the mayor was spotted grabbing a bite to eat, the user said he saw two boots on the Denali.
“When we went inside, we saw Kasim at another table,” said TheWacoKid13, who gave CL permission to repost the photo. “On the way out we noticed the two yellow boots and the parking attendant driving away.”
The speculation poured over to Twitter as well:
Atlanta mayor @KasimReed got his car booted today while eating at a restaurant in Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/1zItT2aY0y
— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) February 20, 2015
Can we just take a moment to laugh about that @KasimReed was booted today? Park Atlanta spares no one, apparently. https://t.co/U32uN47BpY
— Robbie Medwed (@rjmedwed) February 20, 2015
Even #Atlanta Mayor @KasimReed gets booted for parking on the sidewalk while he eats lunch. Gonna pay the ticket? pic.twitter.com/Oz7DEZZDgh
— Stephen Bradley (@sbrad) February 20, 2015
Torres says the boots were removed because the mayor’s SUV is classified as a police vehicle.
Note: This story has been updated to include additional information.