Upset at getting a ticket for street sweeping the day after Christmas. I had tweeted about it and many had expressed their annoyance with their tickets.  On New Year’s Eve, a couple in Long Beach was killed while moving their car for fear that they might get a parking ticket the next day for street sweeping.

Vannaly Tim and boyfriend Sarith Em were killed within the first hour of 2009 outside of their apartment in Long Beach, CA on New Year’s Eve.  The couple was concerned that there might be street sweeping on the streets in the morning and while moving their car were each shot dead and pronounced dead within the hour.  Vannaly had a five year old son Adam, which family members say was the “first person she wants to see when she comes home.”  They even went onto say that Sarith was almost of a father figure in his life and that Adam was even like a son to him.

I was out celebrating on New Year’s Eve in Long Beach and heard firecrackers noises on my way to my car from a bar.  Many say that on NYE it’s hard to determine the differences between firecrackers and gunshot noises.  According to the Press Telegram Tim’s family members say that they were unaware of the gunshot noises because of all the different noises and didn’t discover that they had been shot until their bodies were found on the sidewalk by an aunt.

Maybe if Vannaly and Sartih had known that there wasn’t street sweeping on holidays in Long Beach they would be alive today. Still to think that two lives were taken over fear that they were going to get a parking ticket for $42 for street sweeping is ridiculous.  Think about that next time you write that parking citation Parking Enforcement!

Source: Press Telegram

NIECEE’s TAKE AWAYS:

• Notification Responsibility. Long Beach should really make an effort to notify people of certain things.  How are residents supposed to be aware of certain things like street cleaning days on holidays and the day after holidays? Many people like me figured that the day after holidays there wouldn’t be street cleaning since only one side of the street would be cleaned.  Instead you have tons of residents annoyed with citations stuck to their windshields and now two people dead!  If you’re a new resident, how would you know something like that? Sure it’s posted on LB’s Environmental website, but what if you don’t have access to the internet? Even jaywalking in Belmont Shore, officers are giving out tickets left and right.  If you’re not from here, how would you know something like that, there’s no signs posted!  It just seems like the city should take some responsibility for notifying instead of deceiving people.

On a lighter note….
HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! May you have a prosperous 2009!