I am a legal resident of River Forest, but my fiancé lives in Forest Park. Her building has a private parking lot which allows visitors to park until 1 a.m. without a resident sticker issued by the condo association. Since I have my own place, this is not a problem, as I am always out of the lot before the cut-off time.
Imagine my surprise, as a River Forest resident, when I was issued a citation by the Forest Park Police Department for not having a Forest Park village sticker while parked in this private lot! The ticket was even placed right next to my current River Forest village sticker, to add insult to injury. Naturally, I chose to contest the ticket, and was even told by a village employee that the ticket was bogus and should not have been issued.
Of course, I was told in a prior conversation with a different village employee that I should “just come in and get a sticker” despite not meeting the legal requirements for one, as I do not reside in Forest Park or house my vehicle overnight in Forest Park. I was told that getting a sticker was “the only way” not to keep getting citations, despite the illegitimacy of the citations and my lack of meeting the legal requirements for a sticker. I submitted as evidence a copy of my vehicle registration, and a copy of a bill sent to my address in River Forest after I’d been issued my parking citation. If I was surprised by my ticket, I was even more surprised to discover today that the Village of Forest Park decided, despite the evidence, that I am still liable for this ticket.
Apparently, in Forest Park, the only thing that matters is money, and making it through scamming non-residents. I’ll be thinking twice before spending any of my money in Forest Park again – they’ve made enough from me already.
Kevin Baker
River Forest
